BA (Hons) Film, TV & Theatre Production alumni Robbie Tweedale, who graduated in 2022, offers interesting insight into life post-degree and a look behind the scenes of working for one of Britain’s most well loved television soaps  ITV’s Emmerdale, where he works as an Editorial Assistant.

If you are interested in a career in film & TV read on to find out more about Robbie’s role and first stages into the industry:

Let us know about the projects and work experience you had after graduation leading up to your current role!

In the summer after I graduated, I was part of a week-long shadowing experience on The Dumping Ground for the BBC. This was through North East Screen who are constantly running courses and placements to help graduates get a foot in the door. It was a really great way of getting some practical experience in multiple departments and getting to know a few contacts in the industry. One of these contacts, who was the Edit Assistant on the show at the time, helped me out massively with my application to my first role at Emmerdale.

You are currently working in the editorial department for ITV’s Emmerdale, how did the opportunity come about?

So this is a bit of a long story! Initially I started in Post-Production at Emmerdale as an Edit Assistant. I had always had an interest in scripts, but found it difficult to understand what an ‘entry level job’ looks like in that area, and so decided to apply for Post-Production work instead as it felt like I had more demonstratable skills to apply with.

After about a year or so working in Post-Production, I met the head of the Pre-Production team and managed to get some time shadowing in scripts. Eventually a role became available in the Pre-Production team and I was drafted in (firstly on a secondment, and then full time) as an Editorial Assistant.

What is a typical working day for you, can you tell us a little bit about your role?

My role is all about supporting the editorial team e.g the writers, and script editors, and in that it’s really varied. We read every script looking for anything that might cause problems for compliance, write summaries of episodes, distribute scripts to cast and crew, and even time them. Timing days are absolutely crackers! We basically have to sit in a room with a stopwatch and act out every scene of the episodes. From this we can advise the Script Editors whether a given episode is looking like it’s going to overrun or underrun it’s required transmission slot. You get quite good at impersonating some of the characters…

Can you tell us the challenges and rewards of the role?

The challenges and rewards of the jobs really feed into each other. Emmerdale airs a new episode five days a week, and never takes a break, and so it really is a well-oiled machine. At any given time, we’ll have around 40 scripts being worked on simultaneously, and so it can be a lot to keep track of at times.

But because of that constant turn around of story, no two days are really the same. You’re constantly dealing with new problems arising from new ideas and storylines, which makes the work really rewarding.

Do you feel your time on your degree helped you prepare for working in your industry?

My time at university definitely helped prepare me for work in the industry. Emmerdale is a really tight-knit production with a lot of crossover between departments, and I really feel our course encouraged us to learn multiple skills, and work with students from all over the building which helped prepared me for that. Having a base-level understanding of lots of different areas really helps to handle problems in a fun way and work collaboratively across departments.

What would be your advice for students about to graduate?

Talk to people! If you’re applying for a job, try and find a contact who works in that area and ask them for advice. In my experience the industry is full of lovely people who just want to help, so don’t be afraid to ask!

If you are interested in a career in film make sure you check out our dynamic degree programme today! Our collaborative degree immerses students in every phase of stage and screen production—from pre-production to post-production. Whether your passion is directing, producing, scriptwriting, cinematography, sound design, or editing, you’ll gain hands-on experience while collaborating with talented peers across our stage and screen faculty. Find out more here.