The Start Of My Industry Experiences: True North, September 2019

On my first day at True North, I worked in the Development Department. I was designated a series of topics to explore which were to be used as springboards from which to develop future tv programmes. The topics were as follows: travel, property, food and design. I was then instructed to search through a selection of magazines, newspapers, catalogues and online articles linked to these topics to find interesting stories and features which potentially could be developed into either entertainment or factual TV programmes.

Day One was exciting, challenging and illuminating. Being thrust into the pre-production stages gave me a new incite into how ideas are generated and developed. It also highlighted the difficulty of coming up with fresh, new and original ideas as one is easily drawn down a path of regurgitating old ones.

On my second day at True North, I was invited to pitch my programme ideas to two senior members of staff. I was given feedback which took the form of questions to consider, areas to research, putting my own stamp on ideas whilst also critically looking at them to dismiss those that did not reach the mark.

On days three and four, I continued researching and developing my ideas but then was directed to focus more specifically on developing one of them. This involved writing a treatment for the programme, briefly detailing the logistics of each episode and carrying out extensive research to find local talent who might be best suited to presenting the show.

At the end of day four, having generated a number ideas and developed one of them in detail, it was satisfying to hear that embryonic idea that I had started to develop had the potential to grow into a daytime TV programme.

The remainder of my time at True North was spent with the Devon and Cornwall team where I got to explore the casting and editing process for the programme.

I remain in touch with some of the team at True North and will utilise this bank of contacts in the future.