Tells us a bit about your career route to your current role?
I started off as an intern at Shine Group, rotating across multiple departments at their Head Office in Primrose Hill. After the six month internship, I was extended for another year before I moved into production at Shine TV on The Island with Bear Grylls. I spent years working up in production, moving to Researcher and then Assistant Producer before working in development, creating ideas and pitching them to different networks. I straddled production and development for a few years and moved up to Producer/Director, shooting factual entertainment series and documentaries, before taking on my role as Head of Development at Ten66 Television.
What would you say to people who are considering joining the scheme?
The scheme is a great opportunity to get your foot in the door and learn more about the television industry. There are so many different paths in television and the scheme gave me the opportunity to try out a few and learn about the different areas of television, like production, sales, marketing and international formats. You get out what you put in so if you’re eager to learn and do well, you’ll find people willing to take the time to help and train you.
What two key things did the Pact Indie Diversity Training Scheme give you?
The scheme gave me access to a network of television professionals and, in an industry where networking is crucial to success, this helped me find work after the scheme ended and move up later on in my career. I also received excellent training in disciplines like filming and research which were instantly helpful during my internship and have proven to be the foundations for my career in television.
What do you love best about your job in TV/Film?
You get to travel across the UK and around the world and I’ve had the privilege of spending time in Ibiza, Mexico and Los Angeles. The best thing is the people you meet across the world and the privileged access they give you to their lives. You get to meet and share experiences with people you’d never usually cross paths with.
What is your big ambition?
I want to continue creating and producing large scale factual entertainment and reality formats and, eventually, move up to Managing Director of a production company or Commissioning Editor at a broadcaster or streamer.
What was your most memorable or favourite part of the Scheme?
I remember turning up to the two day intensive filming course and being completely clueless as to what all the buttons and knobs did – shooting is much harder than it looks. At the end of the course, we were all shooting sequences and I’ve now gone on to direct three documentaries for the BBC.
Please note: this profile is a snapshot of where Dean was in his career in 2023, when we celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Pact Indie Scheme.