The Hard Graft of Getting into TV & Media Production

by Jeremy Pang

Finding your feet in any job is a hard task. I’ve worked in many different environments, albeit short-lived in the corporate world at the beginning of my career. Since starting School of Wok in 2009 my team and I have dipped our toes in a few different industries, from hospitality to grocery, retail and FMCG (School of Wok wok-range and meal kits), and more recently I’m lucky enough to see some successes in the TV & Media world, which has led us smoothly into the video production world that we now know and love. I often think about why I do what I do, and much like many others, question it… but then I look back and remind myself why the hard graft is worth it.

I used to think that TV production was an almost impossible industry to crack because it’s an industry stuck in its way, run by those who have already made it to the top, with decisions often made by just that one person. However, over time, as with any industry and career, you learn to open your mind. TV and Media aren’t that dissimilar to the rest of the industries we have been in. With our School of Wok meal kits, which we eventually managed to get into over 1000+ major supermarket stores, we tried, we failed (and you never know, may still try again in future), we learnt the hard way, that it’s always hard to play in any industry full of uneven playing fields and well established competition, but whether you fail or succeed, there’s serious life learning to be had.

Whatever your world of work, some people are stuck in their way, yet others are willing to take a ‘risk’ that the more rigid among us won’t and eventually, when there’s a healthy mix of risk takers and those with firmly cemented roots in an organisation (both, absolutely required in any good business), new opportunities arise and if you’ve put in the hard work and built the right relationships, the opportunities become yours to grab.

Don’t get me wrong, getting into TV is not an easy feat. There’s the years and years of the same old supermarket hard graft, where an 8-hour filming day on a Sunday morning live TV show is considered an easy half day where all you got to do is ‘hold your smile’ for the 10 minutes, or where an unpaid 2-day shoot that gets cut down to 6 minutes of TV as a contribution to someone else’s prime-time TV show eventually gets cut completely and instead finds itself put somewhere in a corner of the digi-verse. It’s really not as glamorous as it seems, the cameramen, editors and lighting engineers are the ones that slap on the ‘glam’ for TV not us presenters.

But like any industry or career, there are always silver linings, and you’ll find that corner and quickly turn it into the long-term opportunity. Funnily enough, what we all know with the internet, is once a page is there, it pretty much exists forever unless someone sees a need to take it down.

Looking back at that clip now, as a creative director to our very own production company (you know which 8-legged character I’m thinking of! It’s crabby and tastes delicious!), I can see why it was cut, because I just look awkward the whole way through – but there-in lay and still lies, my opportunity… Over 10 years later and the number of emails I’ve sent with that link in it, has subsequently won me over a hundred ‘half days’, full days and many more contributions to other TV shows here and there, which led to a handful of conversations with both the risk-takers and level headers in the industry for advice more than anything. As with any other industry or job, I created a living folder of my career progression that those at the top have been able to see and scrutinise over time.

My learning? Working your way through any industry or company, however big, small, traditional, or modern will always have its highs and lows and the bureaucracy will always be there, but you just have to drown it out and put do your thing. Follow your passion, be yourself, put in the hard graft, and you’ll get there… eventually. Working with integrity gains trust and trust is the biggest long-term tool you can have in any business… it’s the foundation to any relationship. My dad always loved the phrase “It’s not what we know, it’s who we know”… I rather tweak that advice to “It’s not ONLY what we know, it’s who we GET to know”. Life isn’t ever as easy or glamourous as it may seem…

I can guarantee you one thing here at Curious Crab Productions is that our team is full of HARD GRAFT and won’t let you down.