BA (Hons) Production Design for Stage & Screen student Megan Anderson has secured a role with creative course partners EPH Creative. EPH is a prop and event hire company offering “a full range of design and build services, taking ideas from initial concept right through to production and manufacture.” Employing a skilled team of designers and makers at their production facility, creating “beautiful objects, immersive environments and unforgettable experiences.”

Speaking of her role Megan said “Whilst in the office, I respond to client calls and emails and transfer their enquiries. Recently, I have taken on a few of my own clients and created some proposals for them like the account managers do. Within my team, we also handle last-minute orders. These can be anything from 3 days’ notice to a few hours’ notice! I have already worked on a lot of install projects, which have given me a lot of creative freedom. I have used a lot of the skills I built at university to help me with this. Nonetheless, I still enjoy chatting with clients and coming up with various proposals for them.”

Megan commented on how the skills she developed during her time studying her degree benefits her in this role “A lot of the skills that I use often are the ones I developed during my degree. Working as a team, interacting with clients, and taking a creative approach to my work are some of the skills I use daily.”

“I recently had an incredible opportunity to work on Fan Fest 2023 for the game Final Fantasy at The Excel, London. It was EPH Creative’s largest job to date! The only reason I got to work on it was because I shouted up and offered to when other team members were no longer available. I was tasked with dressing one of the areas to recreate the Final Fantasy world within the Excel. I gained a lot of confidence during this install and had the chance to develop my skills further by learning from other installers and project managers. As a result, I’m currently working on as many installs as I can and moving to the sales department in January, which is exactly what I hoped for when I started working here.”

She also highlighted the importance of finding work experience whilst studying “I couldn’t recommend gaining work experience enough whilst studying. I strongly recommend shouting up and offering your help, knowledge, and skills, as I would not have been hired at EPH Creative without doing those very things. I would encourage students to be as creative as they can and to have confidence in themselves because confidence goes a long way! Whilst at the Northern School of Art, I found work experience with AJ Theatrical Productions. I worked as an assistant stage manager on my first show then moved to stage manager on the next. I wouldn’t have had this opportunity if the lecturers didn’t push me to get involved in the industry early. I gained a lot of confidence during this period of work, and I wouldn’t have been as prepared for my job at EPH without it.”

If you are interested in a career in set design find out more about our BA (Hons) Production Design for Stage & Screen degree programme here.