UNIVERSITY of Bradford film and TV students have spoken about what it was like to work on shows from the likes of Netflix, Amazon, ITV and BBC.
The city has played host to a number of huge productions recently, from The Crown, Bodies and The Witcher to dramas including Ackley Bridge and medical thriller, Malpractice.
The Bradford Film Office is responsible for arranging location shoots in the district and puts current students and graduates in touch with companies looking for crew.
Read: TV shows and films shot in Bradford in 2022
Lily Culham is currently working as a Special Effects (SFX) trainee on Netflix's Bodies.
Lily has been operating rain machines, setting up fake explosions and dropping bricks onto cars.
"It’s great fun and a good challenge, but all in a day's work in this crazy industry," she said.
Sam Robinson is another recent BA Film and Television Production who has taken advantage of such opportunities.
He said: “I had an incredible experience while working on The Crown as they were filming an episode portraying Queen Elizabeth II's motorcade on a state visit to Russia."
Donnie Horvath, 25, studied MA Filmmaking and graduated in 2020.
He worked in the locations team on BBC One’s Better, a five-part thriller filmed in Leeds and Bradford in spring 2022.
Fran Peel, 29, is a trainee locations assistant at Emmerdale, having graduated with a BA in Media Production and Technology in 2014.
She said: “Without Bradford City of Film, I wouldn't have ever considered a career in locations within TV or film."
Banita Bangar, 21, worked as a marshal on The Witcher and The Crown while studying for a BA in Film and Television Production.
She was responsible for moving props and keeping the public out of shots.
Usmaan Arshad, who graduated with an MA in Digital Filmmaking in 2016, has worked as a camera trainee on Apple TV’s alien series, Invasion, The Last Bus and Channel 4’s thriller, The Undeclared War, starring Simon Pegg.
Rachel Bottomley and Conor MacMahon, both University of Bradford graduates, have had their own experiences in TV and film - and now they assist Professor David Wilson Wilson as production coordinators in the Film Office.
Rachel said: “The first production I worked with at the Film Office was Peaky Blinders season four. It was in the middle of summer and the production was using City Hall to double as the Midland Hotel at Christmas time.
“Since then I have worked with productions such as Downton Abbey the movie, Victoria, Gentleman Jack, The Duke, Emmerdale and Bodies.
"Being a production coordinator in the Film Office, no two days are the same. Our job is to show Bradford off in the best light."
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