Georgina Beard, a BA (Hons) Film student at BU, spent her placement year at Reel Figures
Going on placement has been one of the best decisions I have made during my university life. I am currently studying BA (Hons) Film and have spent the past year working for corporations such as Disney, HBO, Paramount and Warner Brothers.
I first chose to go on placement because I felt that I needed more experience and to build my understanding of which particular career path I might follow.
I spent the last term speaking to my lecturers and going through the areas I was interested in, and which roles may suit me. Through these meetings I started to apply for placement jobs in film production, ranging from runners to production assistants to production accountants, and managed to secure a placement in post production finance with a small start-up company called Reel Figures.
This job was found through a simple post of my CV on a Facebook group called London Production Accountants.
Over the past year I have been taught about budgeting different films and TV shows, and have had the chance to manage some of them myself.
I have learned about petty cash on Disney film Aladdin, which was the first film I worked on. Working on the Game of Thrones spin off The Long Night I learned about credit cards and how the industry sets up new shows.
I have helped with the funding of films and seen how that gets spread across different departments on Rocketman, appreciated the importance of networking - making contacts at the cast and crew screening for Chernobyl, which was introduced by the director, producers and writer.
My placement has given me the ability to develop new skills and grow my understanding of the film industry. It has given me the opportunity to talk with different crew members in the film and TV industry, discuss their roles and work out which avenues would be interesting for my future. Knowing that I have taken a year to work and meet such amazing people, I now can feel confident about finishing university and having a job ready for me waiting, with new opportunities to explore within the industry.