As the extraordinary journey from developing to delivering series 2 of Teacup Travels draws to an end, we would like to focus a bit of attention on two people who have made an invaluable contribution to all this: our wonderful Creative Skillset production trainees Catrina Rose and Gabriel Costa. We hope they gained as much from the experience as we did from working with them!
The nine-month stepping-up programmes were created in partnership with Creative Skillset especially for Teacup Travels so that Gabriel and Catrina could have the opportunity to work across the entire life of the programme from early stages to delivery.
Gabriel’s training programme was designed to give an emerging producer an intensive insight into all aspects of producing a children’s television series. Gabriel worked directly with senior producers and production executives, with Plum’s own Micky MacPherson and Tina Foster acting as his mentors to guide him through his training. What he learned, allowed Gabriel to take charge of projects key to the delivery of the programme – including creating and producing assets for Teacup Travels.
“This traineeship has allowed me to see the full picture of the production process and contribute to the different elements in one way or another. It has been hard work, good fun, and a rewarding experience! “ – Gabriel
Catrina’s training within the stepping-up programme focussed initially on research, with cross-over into script development/editing. Catrina had previous experience of working in broadcasting within development and research, and the training saw her use these skills in a senior researcher role which naturally progressed to encompass assistant script editing. Catrina was mentored by Head of Story and Producer Simon Parsons and worked closely with Plum’s production team in her training.
Funding for the scheme came from Creative Skillset’s Skills Investment Fund which aims to up-skill talent to ensure the strong, skilled, creative workforce we need for the future.
