Bigtank Productions appoints first apprentice

Bigtank Productions, a video production company based in Blackburn, has appointed its first ever apprentice. Josh Parker.

The former Ribblesdale pupil from Chatburn in the Ribble Valley, is training as a production apprentice, learning all areas of the business.

Following the success of Bigtank's first university internship, the company wanted to develop its training scheme. Apprenticeships are a great way for students to obtain a recognised qualification whilst training on the job, learning about the industry and developing their professional experience and network.

Bigtank said: "Josh, who has wanted to be a filmmaker since he was a child, impressed us from the start. Josh was the outstanding applicant, he submitted an attractive CV and a quality portfolio and importantly displayed a confident and friendly manner. Video Production requires creative and technical skills but production crew are also client facing so ‘people skills’ are needed too. Those three aspects combined are highly but not easily sought."

The academic side of the training is a Level 3 qualification in Social Media provided by Lucky 6 Marketing through North of England training. Josh will be learning the principles of advertising and promotion and social media for businesses, this fits with Bigtank’s line of work as much of the work is producing content for digital distribution.

Day to day Josh will be learning from the production team, how to use and maintain camera and audio equipment, assisting and recording on set and location and in post-production with video editing and motion graphics. He is working with editing software AVID and is already contributing to production operations, he is currently working on the initial cut of a film for Rossendale Hospice. Bigtank added: "We are proud and excited to be involved in the apprentice scheme for Josh’s personal career development and for our contribution to further education. With a qualified teacher on staff we look forward to developing more training opportunities in the future."