Throughout the first year, we were given the opportunity to attend lectures by guest speakers, who have a career within the media industry. When hearing the guest speakers, you can the endless possibilities the media industry holds when it comes to what career we as students could later obtain. Personally giving me vital knowledge about how to become more employable in the field I want to have a career in. The guest speakers who I chose to write were the ones who generally interested me the most. I will write be writing about Johnny Fewings, a media consultant/producer, Abbie Trayler-Smith, a portrait and documentary photographer, and Dr. Greg De Cuir Jr.
Johnny Fewings.
Johnny Fewings lecture was very insightful. Being the producer of movies such as Mrs. Browns Boys D’Movie. A very in depth lecture into his career kept me quite captivated. Only being interested in what he was saying I was never really interested in working on the more practical side of media or in Fewings case production. As I have always been more interested in the creative side of media. However, this didn’t stop me from exploring my own possibilities. In fact, Fewings lecture prompted me to thoroughly think through my future career as perhaps I might like to also do something similar. After sitting down with myself thinking it was very clear that I didn’t want a similar career than Fewings, but that didn’t make his lecture redundant as I now have knowledge on how people or even future colleague will have to work making me gain a better understanding of their industry as well as my own. To conclude Fewings helped me realise that when working in the industry it’s all about timing. Fewings got to where he is now by being in the right place at the right time. Helping me realise that it’s not all about who you know. That eventually hard work does prevail. What stood out to me was the fact that it's necessary to work your way through corporate ladder. There is no shame in gaining experience first.
Abbie Trayler-Smith.
Trayler-Smith is a documentary and portrait photographer who has been in her field for about 20 years. One thing her lecture taught me is that a simple hobby can be transformed into a career. I found Traylor-Smith lecture to be enlighten and full of advice from her personal experience. The mains topic within her lecture were focusing on how crucial it was in gaining experience in the industry. This came with such importance as the industry we hope to work in is a very cut-throat industry. Also the importance of gaining industry contacts without being intolerable. She gave some very valuable advice about rejection. Saying to us that being rejected doesn’t hurt your career but it can help their career. Making me understand that rejection helps you to improve what you have already done or made, and encourages you to work harder on your products. In addition, her advice about getting experience, encouraging us as students to create our portfolio from now as we have the time to do so. Proving that from early on your proven that you have the capabilities to do the job. To conclude Trayler-Smith constantly expressed the importance of being rejected and how important it is for us to start working for ourselves making it easier to be in the industry we want to be in.
Dr. Greg De Cuir Jr.
Dr De Cuir main
focus of his lecture was the amount of importance we should put on collaboration
amongst different sectors of the media industry. Having worked in film production
and being a festival curator. A big part of De Cuir career is to work with
other people in different parts of the industry, so you can see how this was
very important. Now De Cuir works independently in Serbia doing odd jobs in the
media industry. He often works with universities, providing lectures, carrying
out research projects and publishing his works. It is very evident that De Cuir
enjoys working for himself. He is constantly travelling visits different
countries spreading his knowledge about the industry. Whilst doing this he
still has the time to write about what interests him. To conclude De Cuir makes
it very obvious that it is not only crucial to gain media connections with
people in the industry but to create links with the people in your class. As that
is the key to a very successful career in the future. Especially in the creative
fields. I believe the reason that De Cuir stresses the fact of making media
links is simply because it has got him so far in his career.
