Engelske Stephen Minty på 22 fik efter sin bachelor i Film- and Video fra University of East London job som runner på et produktionsselskab. Men døren til Londons mediebranchen er svær at sparke op.

medievaerk bringer i hvert nummer en artikel af en udenlandsk studerende, der kommenterer på mediebilledet i sin del af verden.

“Well, it’s a foot in the door at least”.

That’s the response I often got when I told people I’d managed to secure a job as a runner in a Soho post-production facility. I was ecstatic just to have got a job in mid-recession London, let alone one which could be the start of my career in media. And I still love my job. Granted, my responsibilities are mostly akin to those of a café waiter, and I’m highly disposable - I don’t bear influence on the production of our shows, and there are hundreds of eager graduates ready to fill my shoes - but it’s a good company, and I know more about television post now than I did five months ago.

But it’s not going to last. As a company rule, no runner has their employment contract extended beyond 11-months. Whether this rule is in place to allow more graduates job opportunities, or just as an exploitation of a tax loophole, I do not know, but it is set and definite with no exceptions.

This used to actually form a good system, forcing runners to actively chase the skills needed to get promoted. As a result, most of the current tape-librarians and edit-support team are ex-runners. It’s a natural progression. Recently, however, librarians and edit-support guys have left the company, but no promotion opportunities have been offered to runners. The company is ‘making-do’ with less staff. We runners are now facing a ticking clock towards unemployment, unless we can find jobs elsewhere. Essentially, we need to find new doors to stick our feet in to.

But what guarantee do we have that we can squeeze through any of these other doors? I recently passed a runner from a similar company at which I was on an unpaid placement nearly two years ago, and he’s still there in the same position. He’d been there for a year already when I worked with him. And he worked hard; he was reliable, intuitive, a small but intrinsic cog in the clockwork operation of the company. He’s done his time. He’s proven his dedication. Yet the ‘creative’ job opportunity he’s worked towards these past three years still doesn’t exist. If it did, I’d bet it went to an external candidate who’s already worked the same job elsewhere.

So how did those in the position we’re working towards get there in the first place? Well, if I knew for sure, I’d not be where I am still, but I have a few theories. Compare a typical Soho runner to a typical client in the jobs we want: We, the liberal, bohemian, creative youth. They, the middle aged, middle class conservatives, on a diet of cocaine, sushi and earl grey. Sadly, like in most industries in Britain, I fear class, wealth, and age bear more on our chances than the raw talent and determination so many runners offer.

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