Self-Shooting Director Pool, Rip Off Britain Series 17 - BBC Studios, Documentary Unit Self-Shooting Director Pool, Rip Off Britain Series 17 - BBC Studios, Documentary Unit

As a Self-Shooting Director you will take consumer stories developed by our editorial teams and bring them to life as short films, shooting on average one film each week. You won't typically take the films into edit, so you must ensure that your vision for each VT is well communicated, working closely with the Edit Producer to ensure they are across how the intricacies of the story might have evolved on location, and how you adapted your plans or approach.

You'll work closely with the Story Producer, researchers and Series Producer to ensure the often complex stories are told entertainingly, sensitively and fairly. And on location you'll work with and lead the Shooting Researcher(s) to ensure your directorial vision is effectively delivered.

You'll shoot creatively while maintaining journalistic rigour, and ensuring all legal notes and fairness considerations are built into your plans from the outset. We're looking for a creative and experienced director who is capable of bringing their own original journalistic, visual and editorial ideas., Joining the pool will mean that you will be offered work as and when opportunities arise. Our focus will be over the next 12 months starting December 2024. Appointment to the pool will not entitle candidates to permanent contracts with the BBC, those will have to be applied for in the normal way. The Talent Pool serves as a database of Directors who have the necessary skills and experience to work with us, and forms a group of candidates that will be considered as a priority should a (non-permanent) position become vacant.

You must demonstrate extensive experience of shooting and directing short-form current affairs or consumer VTs, writing scripts, and working to tight budgets and schedules.

You will be highly confident shooting on FS7 / FX6 cameras, recording sound, and lighting interviews. Other skills such as using go pros, gimbles, and a drone licence advantageous.

You'll be full of ideas for how to make your films stand out and you'll be great at communicating your creative vision to others. But you'll also respond well to feedback and creative input from the Story Producer and Series Producer to ensure you deliver the agreed treatment.

You'll have extensive experience of working with members of the public to get the best out of them on camera. You'll be able to quickly understand the ins and outs of their stories, and sensitively anticipate the emotional impact events had on them, being able to carefully work these into the film where appropriate.

You'll be a real team player, keen to work in a team of directors and shooting researchers, and to help support the Junior Director and Shooting Researchers in their own development.

You'll understand the BBC's diverse audiences and will be passionate about delivering factual content to them. Naturally you'll be able to work well independently and as part of a team, and will thrive under the pressure of demanding production deadlines.

The Documentary Unit at BBC Studios is the home of high quality, thought-provoking and award-winning factual television. Powerful storytelling is at the heart of what we do - underpinned by real journalism viewers can trust. The Documentary Unit, Salford produce a wide breadth of content including The One Show and Rip Off Britain.

Rip Off Britain is the consumer-affairs powerhouse of the BBC Daytime schedule, regularly gaining over 1m viewers. It mixes incisive consumer investigations, compelling human stories and invaluable advice; it holds to account the companies getting things wrong, leaving people out of pocket, or failing to make things easier for their customers.

In 2023 we refreshed and relaunched the familiar Rip Off Britain format, and it's been a resounding hit with the audience ever since. For Series 17 we'll building on those changes and we're looking for Self-Shooting Directors with the creative skills to deliver entertaining and original VTs, tell heart-felt human stories, and explain often complex narratives in an engaging, accessible way.