Hi, I’m Elsa Sharp, a TV Producer turned TV Talent Manager and author. I wrote How To Get A Job in Television, a book about working in television, which gives advice on getting into and progressing in TV. It offers advice on CV writing, covering letters, how to come up with ideas as well as targetting contacts, doing successful interviews and researching.
I work at leading factual TV production company Dragonfly Film and TV, my role is to crew up new productions - finding key researchers and producers at all levels.
Please do email me your CV and look at the ads above on my twitter feed for the latest job vacancies at Dragonfly Film and TV.You can find more information about the company on its website.
Dragonfly make of One Born Every Minute, The Hotel and World's Toughest Truckers. It recently made a fast turnaround documentary on called Terror At Sea, sinking of the Concordia and make programmes for all broadcasters.
Prior to joining Dragonfly, I worked freelance working for Firecracker Films, Raw TV and Gogglebox Entertainment as a talent manager and as a development producer at Two Four Broadcast.
I trained as a journalist and got my first break in TV as a researcher at Wall to Wall Television in 1994. I’ve worked in TV production and development and made shows for all broadcasters with leading independent production companies such as RDF Media, Endemol and BBC Entertainment. I worked on The Big Breakfast for a period over five years up to series editor level, I’ve been a freelance series producer for different indies and the BBC worked in development at RDF, Fox TV and Celador.
How To Get A Job in Television gives practical advice - fron my own experience but also features interviews with the industry's most prolific TV producers at the UK's leading independent production companies such as RDF, Endemol and Objective, as well as and broadcasters and key talent managers at Channel 4, ITV and the BBC. The advice includes:
- How to target companies, write a covering letter and get work experience
- The 'seven stages of CV'
- The golden rules of interviews
- The do's and don'ts of work experience
- The skills you need as a runner
- Skills for researching - from contributor and location finding to writing briefs and scripts
- Devising ideas, creating formats and writing up ideas and treatments,
- Plotting your career path from Assistant Producer, Producer/Director to Series Producer