Team

Michelle was part of Crow TV, the company that was acquired and became Radiant in 2016. She started out as a runner before moving into the tech department and working her way up through the tech ranks and joining the online department in 2017 – a career achievement she worked hard for and is deservedly proud of.

Enthused by any kind of content, Michelle does nonetheless have a few favourites she’s worked on. One is Sue Perkins into Alaska which she did both the grade and online edit for. James Martin’s Saturday Morning involved plenty of delicious food to pour over, while Chateau DIY has included several incredible transformations over the years.

A degree in film studies and a New York course in film editing set Michelle up for success. But her top tip for success today is having as much direct client contact as possible, to fully get to grips with the end-result they’re after.

So there aren’t many online editors who also have their commercial airline pilot license. If fact there’s only one we know of and that’s Owen who dipped out of post production to fly through the clouds for a few years. He started as a post production runner whilst at university, progressed to tech assistant then tech manager, and from there progressed to online editor. At which point he took to the skies, before coming back to us to 2022.

Owen sums up post production brilliantly – making things sparkle and getting everything finished in time. That’s the polish and dependable service Radiant is known for. He’s put these skills to practice on many-a-programme at Radiant, including Somewhere at Sea, which he describes as irreverent and a joy to work on, and The Lie of the Land, the Channel 4 BAFTA winning documentary. Mysteries of the Terracotta Warriors was Owen’s first Netflix documentary. Nothing, he says, beats the winning formula of a team giving it their all. Experience plus a willingness to take things on equals a truly successful project.

With a career in post production spanning 30+ years, including 10 years at Radiant and senior roles at many well-known UK post houses, Steve is a go-to source off insights for colleagues and clients alike. He’s had the opportunity to work with some of the best creative and technical practitioners in the business and leads the delivery of multiple complex projects for UK and international broadcasters, always meeting the spec and fulfilling diverse delivery requirements.

Steve rightly lists Royal Television Society Awards and Emmy winning shows as career highlights but still gets the biggest buzz from crafting and delivering a project for an appreciative client. He’s worked on a really varied palette of shows at Radiant, particular favourites being being Escape to the Chateau, Dogs Behaving Very Badly, anything Monty Don (although he possesses not one green digit!) and BBC’s SAS: Rogue Warriors.

To deliver projects brilliantly, talent and professionalism are essential, of course, says Steve. But communication, compromise and not taking yourself too seriously are just as important for getting the job done, without losing the room. He looks forward to seeing you in a darkened suite soon!

Still – after 20+ years in the industry – Terry maintains that every day is a learning day. With new techniques, technologies and strategies to embrace, to solve ever- evolving creative challenges. It’s these knotty problems, the buzz of solving them and sharing knowledge with the next generation that keep the role of online editor and colourist really motivating for Terry. He says he was really lucky to have some amazing mentors along his journey and it makes him happy to play the same role for others.

Terry’s experience includes wide-ranging content including drama and factual entertainment. A standout show has to be Breaking Bad: Britain’s Unlikeliest Drug Dealer. Just as captivating was a brilliant history of female rappers, First Ladies of Hip Hop, broadcast first on BB4. While Inside The Tower of London was a fascinating tour of history, with relevance still today. Terry’s tip on any production is try to be the least stressful part of the process and keep a good selection of biscuits on tap to keep those energy levels up.

George is an audio man with much more than just the technical know-how to deliver seamless and evocative audio mixes. He’s been interested and involved in music since he was four, playing multiple instruments and passing grade five piano by the time he was 10. On top of that, he was senior chorister in a church choir and played guitar in bands, which is how his love of audio engineering developed, tinkering around with the formation of demo tapes. Then to make some extra cash while he was at university, George played in function bands and set up live PA systems and live sound. So a career in audio was a very natural step.

From his first position as runner, George moved quickly into the technical department, then progressed through the ranks from junior to senior tape operator, before making it into the audio department as junior dubbing mixer. With his dedication to his craft, George soon established a reputation for working hard, mixing thoughtfully and demonstrating great attention to detail.

Career highlights have bene working with great people on powerful documentaries, meeting some personal heroes and hopefully adding value to their work. George continues to enjoy experimenting with new techniques and fully aligning sound with the narrative. One of the biggest audio challenges was working on Ottoman Empire, a programme shot on location with a tiny crew and no sound recordist, which George needed to make up for in the edit.

Young Chorister of the Year 23 took George back to his roots and he enjoyed the challenge of working with a multitrack live recording. While from a pure content point of view, George has been proud to work on Mr Bates vs the Post Office, and Lost Women Spies, a docudrama including an episode on Stockwell local hero Violette Szabo, the first woman to be awarded the George Cross.

Listening to closely to clients’ needs across any programme is essential says George. So pay attention, be prepared and don’t wing it! Plus, do what you can to ensure sessions are relaxed, to get the best out of everybody.

Sitting in the editing suites with clients after arming them with several rounds of teas and coffees – as all runners must do – was Matt’s starting point for understanding the career direction he wanted to move in. He progressed from runner into the tech room and stayed across all technology developments, gaining knowledge on Beta SP and Digi, then as time went on, tapeless camera formats.

Staying up to date with all the technology is one of the most challenging parts of post production, says Matt, but it’s the way we get better and faster at what we do and continuously deliver to each client’s expectations. Using technology to achieve creative solutions and walking away from projects knowing you’ve given it your best, makes the work really motivating. You can feel proud of what you do.

One of Matt’s earliest milestones was gaining his first credit for a show he graded and onlined for BBC2, called Show Me The Monet. It was a big creative challenge, tackling the colour grading for this X Factor style programme for the artworld. A more recent milestone for Matt was grading his first HDR/SDR show for Netflix, which was a huge learning curve. But everything he’d learned previously about matching shots seamlessly and adding creative flare to a scene to realise a client’s vison, gave him the grounding he needed to succeed.

Perhaps the pinnacle for Matt was sitting in a private screening room with the West Ham squad, their manager and Ray Winstone, who were all part of Iron Men, a film about the football club moving from their existing stadium to the Olympic Stadium. Being involved in the film, watching it on the big screen, surrounded by people who were in the film and enjoyed it, was a great moment.

Matt’s tip for success is try to build a rapport with every client. It goes a long way to ensuring a successful project. And on top of that, get as much experience as possible, which really does involve sitting in rooms chatting to your clients and fellow creatives, participating in the conversations and decision-making and picking up tech tips too.

Even after three decades in the industry, it’s good to know Claire’s favourite shows to work on are the ones she knows her mum will watch! At Radiant that definitely includes Monty Don’s Spanish Gardens and anything else with Monty in, in fact.

Claire chalked up her many years of experience, starting in a small production company, where she began as a receptionist/runner and left 27 years later! She worked through the production ranks before moving on to be head of production at Portland TV.

Claire moved into post production to initially work on short form adverts, then when Portland TV bought Channel 5, stepped into long form post, setting up the in-house facility, which she rightly counts as a major career milestone.

With the expansion of Channel 5, the post team also expanded and Claire continued to manage the department as Channel 5 was bought by Viacom, now Paramount. In all her roles and now as executive post producer for Radiant, Claire has had two consistent tips for a great post production service.

The first, build brilliant relationships with production managers. Second set rules and boundaries and manage expectations early on. That will give everyone a shared understanding of what’s achievable and you’re in a stronger, more informed position when you need to flex and adapt.

These are tips Claire has passed on to those who are up and coming in post. One of her greatest pleasures and achievements, she says, is seeing people who’ve been part of her team grow and progress in this industry. Claire is a proud mother hen to many who have started out as junior edit assistants and gone on to become offline editors, online editors, colourists and sound assistants on films.

Martin brings a huge mix of experience to Radiant and our clients, having worked as senior post producer at ITV for six years and at several leading post houses. He started out in the creative industries as a rostrum-camera operator in corporate communications, so he has a great eye for visual delivery as well as top notch workflow management and client liaison skills. He also co-founded and managed the first totally non-linear post production facility in Soho.

Show highlights include coordinating a large post production team for Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway at ITV, a programme Martin worked on for two years. Plus managing GFX-heavy shows, Home Made Perfect and Your Garden Made Perfect at Radiant. Soccer Aid involved a constantly evolving brief and a large number of VTs for this major live event, which put Martin’s listening skills to the test. Listening closely to what your client wants is the route to success says Martin, as is making sure everyone’s voice is heard.

Joseph is a master at keeping projects on-time and to budget, offering timely and constructive solutions to any challenges that arise. Clients regularly comment how across their project he is, in every way possible. He cut his teeth on high-pressure programming when he worked on Comic Relief, a time-sensitive production involving diverse content and multiple geographically dispersed teams.

With a degree from Salford University in audio engineering, Joseph is technically astute too, starting out as a technical operator before progressing to post producer. A favourite show he’s worked on at Radiant is another high-intensity programme – Drama Queens. The name says it all! But despite the deadlines and the pressure, the whole team made it fun. Open lines of communication with everyone involved is Joseph’s advice for a smooth running project. It ensures the best quality is achieved, even when time is extremely tight.

Andy is the highly experienced sounding board our post producers turn to when challenges crop up, supporting them with the delivery of projects and working with them to make sure our creatives have all the information and resources they need. He secures, plans and delivers projects, consistently liaising with all our clients to understand their needs.

He started out working at British Moviestone News, which made news reels in the 1960s (no, Andy isn’t that old!), before they became an archive library. After that, Andy worked in the master duplication department and QC departments at facilities TVi, 4MC and Oasis TV, where he was paid to watch TV. Pretty much Andy’s dream job. Following technical roles in commercial shortforms, Andy moved to Crow TV to lead the quality control and delivery department. His next move was becoming a post producer and finally working in rooms that had windows and daylight.

In an extensive career, Andy can point to multiple highlights, a major one being close involvement in the transition from tape to file, when his role was helping clients to understand the advantages and taking away the fear. In some ways that’s similar to his other favourite role, of supporting talented creatives and helping them grow. The fact that so many work their way through the ranks at Radiant, a few even leaving and coming back, is indicative of the supportive ethos that exists in the business.

Content-wise, Andy says he’s enjoyed working on everything. But two personal favourites are Ben Fogle: Inside Chernobyl, which was truly gripping and insightful with Ben Fogel showing genuine enthusiasm and interest in people’s lives, and People vs The Post Office: The True Story. This told such a difficult and important story, and has been powerfully effective in helping to bring justice for the victims.

No matter the production, Andy recommends always putting yourself in your client’s position, to understand their challenges and how best you can help them achieve their goals. That’s the most important soft skill you can nurture.

Now managing director of Radiant, Ben has worked with the Group’s constituent business for over 15 years. First joining Rapid, then overseeing the acquisition of Crow TV which became Radiant, and more recently establishing our Manchester facilities and Radiant Post Production Group, the company that brings all our skillsets and experience together into one incredible offer for our clients.

Ben started as a runner aged 18 and worked his way through technical roles and project management to several positions in facilities management, before becoming joint MD of Radiant in 2014. Today he is responsible for leading business operations and strategy, maintaining strong client relationships and continually developing Radiant’s services and infrastructure to meet the ever-changing needs of the industry.

With his in-depth experience, Ben’s tip for success may have been cautionary but in contrast he says you need to accept the challenge! Media production is demanding, with large workloads and tight deadlines, so if you can tackle the challenge head-on and release the pressure for clients – finding quick, cost effective, superior quality and hassle-free solutions for them – you will retain them as clients.

It’s no surprise then that one of Ben’s programme highlights at Radiant has been Inside the Ambulance, a high volume, fast turnaround series which produced lots of media coverage. Creating and managing the workflows and hitting every deadline, was a great team achievement. Two more of Ben’s favourites are Escape to the Chateau, a really fun collaboration with the production team, and Queen: Days of Our Lives. Simply an amazing story, with awesome, never seen before footage.

Jon’s first career was in theatre lighting before he took the role of runner at BBC Television Centre. This was in the days of tape when runner really did mean runner! Since then, by remaining curious and enlivened by all things post, Jon has overseen multiple technical transitions in the industry, guiding clients and colleagues alike through new ways of doing things to improve quality and create efficiencies, meeting a range of delivery specifications. Jon was workflow manager at a major post house just as the industry moved away from tape to file acquisition and delivery – a period of exciting change.

At Radiant today, Jon is responsible for ensuring our technical support and quality control departments are delivering a streamlined and accurate service. He works closely with all contributors to understand the detailed needs of each production and to manage workflows effectively. Two of Jon’s career highlights are conforming  an early series of the X-factor and more recently, at Radiant, coordinating delivery of Dolby Vision/Dolby Atmos HE content to Netflix. Throughout every stage of his career, his top tip for providing a great post service has remained the same: stay curious and retain a good sense of humour when things don’t go to plan!

Lara has been with Radiant for almost seven years, starting her career as a receptionist in a Soho post house, then moving into bookings, working on big profile projects including Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Eggheads, and also chalking up 320 episodes of one gameshow in the space of two years. One of the first volume deals of its kind.

Now as head recruiter for Radiant, Lara is responsible for sourcing and facilitating all hires and making sure we retain the best people. She’s also the main point of contact for all HR related questions and is central to the initiatives we have in place to make sure our great culture and working environment are maintained. Our focus is making Radiant people enjoy coming to work and our clients have the best time when editing with us. Radiant being recognised as a Broadcast Best Places to Work, four years in a row, is a true testament to Lara’s role in the business.

The month of December, says Lara, is when Radiant’s supportive culture really kicks in. Production levels and seasonal illness are at their highest, but still the team get everything delivered with maximum laughs and minimal drama. Allow time for good communications is Lara’s recommendation, no matter the time of year. It’s what gets projects delivered, because it ensures sure everyone is on the same page about what a project needs to get finished.

Tom has had two happy stints working at Radiant (as he says, it’s really not unusual for people to leave and come back!). He was part of the team when Crow TV was acquired and became Radiant. Then following a senior engineer role at another major post house, returned to us in 2022, to help set up our Manchester facility, designing and building it from scratch. Today he keeps both our London and Manchester facilities in tip-top technical condition, staying across systems and software for sound and visuals, and ensuring effective security and storage.

Tom’s technical insights into what makes a great facility have been gained through an expansive career in the industry. He started out as a runner, became a VT operator, and progressed through operator and editor roles to become technical manager, engineer and ultimately our head of engineering. Technology never stands still, so Tom is continuously reviewing how our facilities operate to provide the best possible service. Investing in the best technology is key he says, to keeping productions on track and delivering to the highest possible quality.