Andy Taylor

How did university prepare you for your career?

I gained a huge amount of practical experience in professional environments working at music festivals and on real client work with Solent Productions, alongside the support and freedom to experiment on my own projects. I also learnt how to network and build a base of contacts which helped hugely – after all, the TV industry is heavily based on networking!

Favourite Solent memory?

Directing and editing my final major project film was the most stressful, most fun, and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. I learnt such a huge amount and had some amazing experiences with some incredible friends, and in the end we came out with something that we were all really proud of.

Tell us a little about your career story so far

I started full-time as an edit assistant at Sunset+Vine on the Monday after my final hand-in back in May 2016. Since then I’ve worked in Middle Eastern deserts, Australian beaches, tropical islands, Chinese city centres, and everything in between. I started off doing a very technical job, but before long it was noticed that I could edit. Six months to the day after I started at the company I gained my first broadcast editor credit. Soon after that I was editing pretty much full-time, and then it wasn’t long before the powers that be noticed that I could shoot.

Tell us about what you are doing now and what it involves

Now I find myself shooting and editing digital media content at events – it sounds cliché but every day really is different. Sometimes I’ll wake up at 5am to get out and rig for an event, sometimes I’ll be holed up in an edit suite all day, and sometimes I’ll do a mixture of both! It’s hard work but it’s incredibly rewarding.

What’s your career highlight?

Spending five weeks in Bermuda shooting news coverage at the 35th America’s Cup. I had two days off out of 36 in total, but it’s quite hard to have a bad time in Bermuda! I also shot my first ever live links for the BBC, which was good fun if you like a bit of pressure!

What is it like working in TV?

Hard work and long hours, but incredibly rewarding.

What tips would you give to someone wanting a career in your industry?

Work hard, grab every opportunity you can with both hands, and make sure you leave every job having been a positive influence.