Case studies: Television floor manager: Steve

Steve graduated with a degree in electronics and computing. A placement year during his degree helped him get his foot in the door.  He now works as a television floor manager in London.

I graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 1997 with a degree in electronics and computing. During my degree I was lucky enough to spend one year working on a placement with the BBC in the Special Projects department. This particular area of the BBC was directly related to my course: they use a combination of electronics and computing to design tailor-made applications, such as voting, scoring and gaming systems, for shows. During this year I was able to shadow all areas of the industry and it was then that I decided to become a floor manager.

On leaving university, I took my first runner job at The London Studios near Waterloo. This allowed me to meet the many independent production teams making shows there. Once I had built up a few contacts, I became a freelance runner on two-to-three month contracts working for a range of production companies. I finally convinced one production company to let me work as an assistant floor manager on their show. Thereafter, the floor manager I had been assigned to work with provided me with many more assistant floor manager jobs, for a range of companies.

Armed with this experience, I was then able to contact other floor managers and production managers and make a career as a freelance assistant floor manager and, ultimately, as a senior floor manager.

My degree has been quite useful in my work. A floor manager must have a broad knowledge of all TV jobs, particularly those on the studio floor, so my degree certainly enabled me to grasp the technical areas. It also helped me develop my people skills, essential when working as part of a team. My placement year was also very valuable: it helped me get my foot on the ladder - almost a way in through the back door!

On a day-to-day basis my role is very varied. The floor manager works directly with the director and has overall responsibility for the smooth running of the studio floor. The director, based in the studio gallery, communicates via a headset with the floor manager and other members of the crew. Tasks vary from job to job but often, with the aid of assistant floor managers, include:

• instructing the talent on their staging and contributions;
• playing the role of presenters/contributors in rehearsals;
• timekeeping in a busy studio environment;
• overseeing the seating and well-being of the audience;
• coordinating make up and costume timings;
• cueing and giving time counts;
• overseeing the studio floor crew;
• the health and safety of all staff and contributors on the studio floor.

What I really enjoy is that every day is so different. You meet so many new and often very interesting people, all combined with the excitement of working on a live show. 

I work on a freelance basis. Companies such as the BBC and ITV used to have staff floor managers but these days nearly all floor managers are freelance and are employed on a daily basis. The few staff jobs still available are often poorly paid. I enjoy being freelance - there are never queues in the supermarket on a Tuesday afternoon! There can be quiet periods, though, and you have to account for this. Some days can be very long and you often have to work at weekends, which might not suit everyone. You have to be on top form even when you’re not feeling at your best.

My advice for getting into this position is to only pursue this career if you really want to do it. As with all media jobs it can look glamorous from the outside, but it is very competitive, the money to begin with is awful and there are a lot of knock backs. It is very likely at first that you will have to work for free to gain your initial contacts.

Be prepared to spend a lot of time sending CVs and making calls. Contacts are the key and they can take months, or even years, to build up. Call production companies and find the name of the head of production or human resources. Always address CVs to a real person rather than just the company title, or your letter will get no further than the receptionist.