BBC Studios Extends Assistant Producer Program

BBC Studios Productions has extended its Assistant Producer Accelerator Program, with a further 15 researchers to be chosen for one-year contracts.

The debut program last year saw 14 candidates recruited to work in factual entertainment, natural history, entertainment and music, documentaries and science across BBC Studios Productions bases throughout the U.K. The second annual program will replicate the first, with training, mentoring and paid job placements.

Titles that the first cohort have worked on include Top Gear, The One Show, Last Night of the Proms, Inside Culture, Imagine, Children in Need and Kelvin’s Big Farming Adventure.

Researchers with at least three paid broadcast or online credits are eligible to apply for the 2022 program through February 13.

Ralph Lee, CEO of BBC Studios Productions, said: “The first cohort of APs to come through this program are making a fantastic impact in production, so I’m delighted to be able to renew the scheme and offer this opportunity to 15 more emerging editorial stars. We are committed to growing talent and skills in these key production roles across our genres and also ensuring that stand-out talent from across the U.K. and from all backgrounds are nurtured and given opportunities.”

Melissa Clay-Peters, senior head of talent at BBC Studios Productions, commented: “This is significant, but we’ve already seen a worthwhile commitment from BBC Studios to support the widest range of brilliant and diverse talent. We’re thrilled with the success of the program’s debut year, and I’ve no doubt that the assistant producers will go on to be trailblazers in our industry.”

Reece Finnegan, one of the Assistant Producer Accelerator Program’s first-year candidates, working in entertainment and music, added: “Being registered blind in TV, it can often be difficult to find and access new opportunities and achieve career development. This scheme, however, has given me not only invaluable experience in a range of areas across my genre, but it has also grown my confidence exponentially while moving up to AP level. I have so far worked on Strictly It Takes Two, where I scripted shows, helped to edit VTs and brief talent; on the rebrand of Question of Sport, where I developed games and assisted on location; and in the entertainment development team, where I pitched some of my own ideas to commissioners.”