James Jackson, Class of 2014 | Producer Quandary Productions

After graduating from Media Production in 2014 I immediately worked as a Runner for eight months in London at various Reality TV post-production companies. I had aspirations to become an Editor by working my way up the ladder. I did a lot of shadowing with Edit Assistants, Editors and Producers in the very little spare time I had. Imagining looking back in five years and not being proud of the path I took or the work I had created, I decided that I wanted to work on films I could call art and be proud of. The long shifts at awkward times make it difficult to have a social life outside of work and it was even harder to be creative. On a personal level that made me lose a lot of spirit.

Before I graduated I worked as a Production Assistant for Quandary Productions on their feature film Time and Place (2014). This film was released during my time in London. What Quandary did with their inspirations, technique and limited budget was amazing and it got me thinking that I didn’t need to work my way up anywhere to create films I am proud of.
JamesJackson_Producer-Spectrum-QuandaryProdsI got talking to Michael Henry, managing director of Quandary, about this and he was all for helping me.  He offered the position of Producer to me on his next feature Spectrum which I immediately took.  So I decided to move back to Lincoln.

James-Jackson_2014GradSince then we have been working on pre-production, shot a promo video, started crowdfunding and offered work experience to over 20 Lincoln film students. Everybody working on these films does it out of passion for the craft and it is a great environment to be in.

Maybe working in TV is for you, there is definitely a lot of money in it. Working as a runner is not well paid and living independently in London on minimum wage is almost impossible but in the long run it would probably be worth it financially. Personally I would prefer to work on a low-budget film, creating and working with people with great vision, on projects of artistic value, than simply bide my time.  

You can keep up to date with Spectrum, Quandary and me: 
Spectrum Crowdfunding |  Quandary Productions  | My Twitter