Since graduating last June as an award winner from BA (Hons) Poduction Design for Stage & Screen Alumni Charlie Poole has jumped straight into the industry, securing roles in art departments for big productions like House of The Dragon season 2 and Coronation Street and has landed another role on the TV show All Creatures Great & Small! We found out more about his work since graduating, read on to find out more.

You will be working on the TV show All Creatures Great & Small, congrats! How did the opportunity come about?

The opportunity first came about from a contact I made called Sarah, who is the production buyer for All Creatures Great and Small, while I was working at Darlington Hippodrome over Christmas Sarah very kindly dropped me a message and told me about a role opening and gave me the Production Designers email, and then the ball started rolling from there.

Charlie & his FMP installation

Tell us about the role!

My role for the show is the Art Department Assistant. I offer as much help as possible to other members of the crew and try and make their lives easier. For example, for the Production Designer, I read the scripts and done breakdowns including summaries, the sets included, and what props will be needed for each scene. As well as other jobs including collecting supplies for the construction team. Most importantly, the environment I am in allows me to learn from many experienced individuals from the industry.

As soon as I graduated last June, I tried to keep as active as possible. Even with the industry strikes I was lucky enough to find roles to build my experience. I was given Art Department Assistant roles on House of the Dragon Season 2 and Coronation Street. I worked at EPH Creative in the production department, and my most recent role was at Darlington Hippodrome as a stagehand for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. My most challenging time was when I was at EPH, due to the fact I was unsure which way to take my career path. EPH is a booming company growing bigger every month, but I had to take the leap and push for my top ambition, which I am still trying to achieve.

You graduated last year from Production design, what advice do you have for students starting out in the career post degree?

The best tips I could give to other new starters is to take every opportunity you get, whatever it may be, and not to get disheartened when things do not work out. Even though its small, I would say one of the best skills is being able to deal with people. Of course, it is useful to have a good skillset and a range of techniques, but being able to speak, communicate and work well with others will allow you to develop yourself professionally and technically. I cannot speak for employers, but from what I have learned so far, is that someone who is a team player and not shy, will stand out more.

What did you enjoy about studying at our school?

Studying at The Northern School of Art were three of the best years of my life. I built many new relationships with other students and tutors. Who I am very thankful for, for teaching me everything they know about the industry. Throughout my third year especially, I thought the school was a community full of support and interest in each other’s work. Collaborating was one of the things I enjoyed the most, more specifically, for my final project I worked closely with two other courses where I designed and built the set for a short film.

Check out Charlies Portfolio here.

If you are interested in studying production design at degree level make sure you find out more about our fantastic degree programme! The course is underpinned by live briefs and opportunities, last year students even had the opportunity to work behind the scenes on the Tees Valley based feature film Jackdaw. Find out more and apply here.