Where I Used to Work

Following on from Max’s post I thought I’d fill you in on where I used to work. In 2005 I blagged some work experience at NHNZ (Natural History New Zealand), as a production assistant on the National Geographic series Ultimate Disasters. As a production assistant I was responsible for anything and everything from fetching coffee, transcribing interviews, researching archive footage, filing the release forms to organising pick-up shoots. I even made a fleeting appearance as a Japanese Tsunami survivor in one episode!

In 2008 I hit the jackpot and got a short contract working as a development researcher. Development researchers spend their time researching and writing new program treatments that will then be pitched to broadcasters around the world. It’s gruelling work, for every 100 hours pitched about 10 make it into production, of those 100 pitched there are countless others that never made it past the initial idea. Every year NHNZ pitches at least 600 hours of programming, not bad for a team of about six people.

To turn that into a fun factoid, at an average of 4 hours TV viewing a day that’s 150 days of programming.

During my last contract as a development researcher I was looking for talent that we could develop new shows around. This was harder than I thought as it turns out that most scientists aren’t great on camera. Also, as Ian mentioned in class on Monday, recruiting talent is a double edged sword. Your both luring them with the promise of television fame and fortune while simultaneously letting them know they will probably never make it on screen.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work at NHNZ; it was all about being in the right place at the right time and making the most of it. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best in the industry, and learn an incredible amount from them. I also met and worked with a load of graduates from the old PgDip in Natural History Filmmaking course, and was encouraged to apply myself.

But I also see how hard it is to make a living in the television industry. NHNZ, like most production companies, largely relies on freelance contractors. You never know where the next job will come from or if you’ll have work in two months time. It’s not uncommon to take an extended ‘holiday’ because there’s no work going.

Where I Used to Work

This is the museum in San Francisco where I used to work.  I grew up going there on school field trips and was lucky enough to get a job there after I finished my undergrad.  The museum moved temporarily in 2003 from its location in Golden Gate Park to undergo a massive $1/2 billion renovation, it re-opened in September 2008.

Some of the most interesting features and exhibits are the green “living” roof, a 4-story indoor rainforest dome and my favorite: 20 live African Penguins.

I worked as the program assistant for the Careers in Science intern program, which is a way for youth (high school and college teens) to work at the museum teaching, learning and conducting science.

Here is a short video I made of a training where they learned how to handle reptiles for outreach classes they would later be teaching.

This is their blog.