November 02, 2022
Frazer headed to Wise Owl Films in Leeds for his Grierson DocLab placement
One of the most important parts of the Grierson Doclab programme Is a 2- or 4-week placement working within a professional UK based production company. For me this placement came in the form of 4 weeks with Leeds-based production company Wise Owl Films who were kind enough to let me spend the time within their development team.
Huge thanks to Wise Owl Films for supporting Grierson DocLab!
I had to learn the job quickly as Wise Owl are currently in the very exciting process of launching their new youth division "Hoot."
Development isn’t something that I’d had much experience in before this placement and I can’t thank The Grierson Trust as well as Wise Owl Films for this truly amazing learning opportunity, which I feel has taught me lessons that I will keep close for the rest of my career in factual media. The team were motivated, in touch and daring in the subject matter we approached, as well as industry savvy enough to know how to make the concepts we wanted to explore into engaging and original TV. Over my time working there, I got to research material such as the scary aspects of the future of technology, as well as the growing rates of cosmetic genital surgery and its implications on young people’s body image.
As well as this, I got experience with and learnt all about the moving parts within a professional production company and how they work together to create amazing final products. The experience within the office made the 5am starts and long train journeys well worth it!
It was so encouraging to see such a forward-facing Northern company thriving and creating incredible work, and I would just like to say how hopeful it made me about my future in this industry. If I had told myself a year ago about the opportunities that Grierson would be able to set me up with, I would have hardly believed it. A huge thank you to Yen for organising this placement for me and to the whole Wise Owl team for an incredible experience.