From a usb stick to a shredder

Being able to use technology is very important from a usb stick to a shredder, photocopier to various mobile phone devices. If you can use these as a runner then you will soon move up the ranks.

Whilst not being able to operate some of these wont hinder your work, breaking some might cause you to be relegated to the tea making and simple tasks.

Stop breaking the shredder

Not your home office shredder

Stop will tell you all about this, so far in their career as a runner they have managed to break 15 shredders, and these aren't your simple home office shredder these are industrial office strength machines that will take a hell of a battering before they give up the ghost. Banned from office tasks Stop is now relegated to Chief of Felicitations.
I was forever being asked to pop upstairs to fix them after people had jammed them with too much paper. After unplugging from the wall and poking about with a letter opener a quick tug and twist the jam would free and the machine would limp back into life.

Broken Shredder

As you can imagine these machines cost a lot of money and as productions have to destroy everything due to data protection and secrecy breaking them can cost a production dearly.

The Photocopier was my nemesis I was forever fixing the thing after it jammed or simply refused to work, wondering round the whole studios with a script, a reel of coloured paper and a heavy duty stapler, in the hunt for a working machine. Finally finding myself with 13 minutes to print 30 scripts and deliver them to the relevant people in time for rehearsal. It was a tall task but most of the time I made it. The excitement of a new photocopier being delivered was too much the new way to programme them and the new menus, meaning the Coordinators would have to write up instructions for everyone to use it.

So if you want to start off in TV learning the basics of Office admin or at least how to use a photocopier is essential to a quick transition up the ranks.

N for........Knickers

In this industry I have done a number of jobs. mostly to pay the bills, but its always good to have a few strings to your bow especially up north where there are quiet periods for work.

One of the many strings to my bow is Coordinating, I think it comes from my army childhood upbringing and the fact I like to have things organised and boss people about!

Coordinating is  dark art and you need a number of different skills to be really good at it.

The first thing is a good telephone manner, this is key as a lot of things you do are down the phone, be it negotiating a good deal, directing people to places or chasing up things that you need.

One coordinator I worked with didn't quite master the art of answering the phone right away, this lead to numerous occasions were the office where crying with laughter and would ring them just to see the panic in their eyes at the thought of having to answer the phone.

"Ive got to book a taxi to Ramsgate." one colleague said out load just before the coordinators phone rang.

Panicking they answered the phone...."Hello Ramsgate" cue bewildered faces all looking in their direction, "erm sorry hello?"!



"Hi I'm calling from a TV show oh hang on did I call you or did you call me?"

N for Knickers

When ordering stuff you always have to give your post code and this throws up another sticking point, do you know your phonetic alphabet? there is always that moment when they ask "And the post code?"... Your mind goes blank and you cant think of the words "erm... N for......" .... think, ......think "erm N for......Knickers"?! then its in your head your embarrassed that you got it wrong and all you can think of is swear words and rude ones too. "W for" (w***er is all that is in your head, why did you say knickers? your such a w***er) "erm.... WINDOW" arrrr thats it got there in the end.

Negotiating the best deal possible is always good, the TV industry never has any money (or says it doesn't) those at the top seem to have lots and those and the bottom have none. So the production managers are always asking you to get things as cheap as possible. this means it breaks easily and you have to then get another one so its a false economy but it satisfies everyone when you come in under budget.

Phonetic Alphabet

Ordering people about is my favourite part and having worked as a runner for a very long time I think I have earnt the right to boss people around and get them to do the dirty jobs once in a while! But there are ways to get this done nicely. With a smile and a Please can you just.... and a thank you after gets you far. It gets the job done and also gains you a little respect as they don't think you are just bossing them around!

So lessons in Coordinating are, Have a good telephone manner, practise your Phonetic alphabet, have a sob story to save money, and always be polite it gets the job done quicker!