FILM PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

I wake up every morning thinking how lucky I am to still have my own small independent production company, and to be able to create films I’m passionate about. It is, for me, simply one of the best jobs in the world.

What I love most is getting people to open up on camera and tell deeply personal stories on issues that matter. These can range from testimonies by the last survivors of the First World War (as in our recent BBC Four series The Last Tommies) to the protests of Hull fishwives for better safety at sea (as in our BBC Four programme Hull’s Headscarf Heroes).

One of the films I’m proudest of is Sex in a Cold Climate (1998), in which young women locked away in Magdalene laundries in Ireland told their stories. It led to one of the biggest helpline responses in Channel 4’s history, directly inspired Peter Mullen’s feature film The Magdalene Sisters and helped expose abuse in the Catholic church. I feel it helped change the world a little bit for the better, which is the ultimate aim of the films we make.

I got into the TV industry in the 1980s, helped by a doctoral thesis and book – Hooligans or Rebels? – based on interviews I’d done with unruly workingclass children. It documented strikes against the cane by schoolchildren in 1911.

I knew nothing about the technical aspects of the industry then – and still don’t. For me it is all about identifying a powerful untold story and getting the right people to tell it.

A history degree can help get you to an interview, but you don’t necessarily need one. What you need is to be passionate, tenacious and strong-willed. And you need to get lucky. There are so many applications for researcher jobs in TV – and that’s the best way in – that you have to make yourself stand out.

The first rule is to research the company you are applying to, watch some of what they have made and mention this in your application. Another rule is to go to TV festivals – hang out in the meeting places and bars and start networking. The final piece of advice is: don’t take rejection personally. There is a lot of rejection in this business as it’s so competitive. It’s all about dealing with it in a positive way, keeping going – and feeling lucky!

“Attempt to deal with rejection in a positive way, keep going and feel lucky!”

Steve Humphries’ 1998 film explored the stories of women who worked in Magdalene laundries such as St Mary’s Training School, Dublin ( pictured here in 1935– 38)