I think it might be a bit harsh
to call us mugs. a bit naive maybe, but not mugs. Personally, I had never worked in that industry before. Going into the job I was told by a lot of people who work in the TV industry that "perseverence is the key to working in this industry". That's probably true of most industries.

I had decided after my first week that the job was a big pile of shit and I hated it. But this is one of the biggest TV companies in Britain, I just assumed that this was the way it was everywhere.

Everything I had been told by everyone up to that point was along the lines of "it's tough at first, then you'll move up, but stick with it because they're a really big company". I had worked for the BBC before this job, so I took their advice as read.

Literally, the day I was told I wasn't being kept on I had made the decision that I was going to quit that afternoon. They beat me to the punch by about an hour.

I don't feel like I was a mug. I was fully aware of how shit it was, and how shit I was being treated. But I was also desperate to carve out a career in probably the most competitive and over-employed industry in Britain. The fact that I put up with it for so long only serves to illustrate how much I give a shit about doing what I do for a living. I now work as a freelance film-maker/editor and a part time lecturer at a college, where I'm now a fully credited Avid Certified Instructor. I now teach the people I was previously making cups of tea for.

I still earn fuck all money, and the hours are still pretty ridiculous sometimes, but no-one tells me what to do and I actually make a living by being creative now whereas then, I felt like I was sucking dick for money.
( PMGT -Bacon., Sat 14 Apr 2012, 17:59, Reply)