Welcome to the College of Production

Welcome to the brand new College of Production website!

The days when the BBC could rely purely on its own, largely London based, staff are gone. The BBC's programmes are increasingly made all over the UK and by a wide range of people - whether that's in indies or in-house on a contract. So the BBC is reliant on a vast pool of fluid and freelance labour. Radio is slightly different but there too the BBC is no longer served only by staff people in staff jobs.

So this website is for all the people, all over the UK, who are making or want to make programmes and content for the BBC. Our aim over time is to share as much BBC knowledge and learning, skills, tips and advice - about all aspects of radio, TV and online content creation.

That's a big mission, and we've got a long way to go - but you have to start somewhere, so we've started with a mix of short videos about a limited number of topics eg. working safely on a shoot; self shooting; directing with a crew; and some basics on editing and post production.

Although he never worked in television or radio, Confucius was spot on when he said: "Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand." With that wisdom in mind, we want to create a wide range of resources - videos, articles, podcasts and talks with the biggest talents in broadcasting today.

We want this site to be for programme-makers and by programme-makers. Even at this early stage talents as wide-ranging as QI inventor John Lloyd, Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie, Mark Kermode, Chris Evans and Jenni Murray are all in here.

Passionate as I am about this website, I should be upfront about something very big and true. You can't learn everything you need to know about making programmes just by going on a website. One of our TV trainers compares it to learning to fly a plane: You need proper hands-on training. And then you need to get the flying hours under your belt. The more the better - in all conditions. Learn by doing.

So what role can this website play?

It should sit alongside - not substitute - on-the-job learning and formal hands-on or classroom training. We want to be a good first port of call and a basic guide. We can provide prep before a course and useful reminders and refreshers afterwards. We want to inspire you and link to partners who can build on this knowledge. As John Lloyd said - quoting Will Rogers - "Everyone is ignorant. Only on different subjects".

Making programmes is insanely collaborative and so too - it turns out - is building a website. So please let us know what you think. Tell us what videos you'd like to see and who you'd like to hear from in our talks and podcasts. Together let's build a resource for everyone who makes or aspires to make great content for the BBC.

We're running the site in a beta, test phase for a few weeks. If you spot something that doesn't look quite right please use the Contact Us link at the bottom of each page to let us know.

Eddie Morgan