10L: A few simple questions about how leading professionals see their work.
About Georgia
Georgia has a background in youth and social work which went in parallel with launching a niche online magazine and running sell-out comedy events in North East England. She moved into film-making and video production when she moved to Brighton in 2010. She also has a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, an MA in Digital Documentary, and a business planning award on her CV. With experience in everything from operating a teleprompter to directing a documentary, Georgia understands the possibilities and pitfalls of production and is an unashamed advocate of process and efficiency. Georgia loves genuinely collaborative projects and working with lovely people who care about what they do.
So, what do you do dear? Describe your work to an elderly relative.
Organisations need to produce videos that will make their training / eLearning more interesting and engaging. I help them decide what types of video to use, work out how to produce it, and also how much it will cost. My main mission is to make it as easy as possible for people – as video production can feel intimidating / risky if you don’t have much experience of it.
What was your favourite learning experience (Could be work, personal, school…anything is valid)? What were you trying to do? Why did it work so well for you?
When I was 18 I went through a volunteer training programme with an organisation called Sahir House in Liverpool. They support people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS. I was the youngest person on the course and it was an extremely formative experience for me. The trainer, Cath Turner, was one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met – and probably the best trainer I have ever come across. What I learned that week shaped my values and opinions in unforgettable ways.
Enough already…What one thing do you wish people in your industry or profession would stop doing? (What gets your goat?
I have to unpick a lot of briefs for workplace drama that have been written by people who don’t understand drama / filmmaking. In a way, I am not complaining about this (because I get it – it’s a fun thing to work on and people get carried away!). But honestly, it would be a lot more cost-effective and the end products would be more effective / impactful, if you involve me sooner.
Same again please…What has changed for the better in your professional world as a result of COVID working practices? Should it be retained for the future (whenever that might be and whatever it might look like)?
People want more video. Also, the requests I’m working on seem to be more creative and open-minded than ever before. E.g. there is a big increase in L&D teams wanting to produce video assets that will complement their remote, facilitated training sessions. Everything from fun quiz show assets to dramatic scenarios that will stimulate group discussion. It’s brilliant, we love it, audiences love it, and yes it should be retained for future!
From the good old days…What do you miss most about working life from the pre-COVID world? Do you think it will return?
I miss the lack of worry and the freedom to make a plan without the extra layer of concern for myself and everyone around me. I believe that a version of it will return – but in the words of Mel C, things will never be the same again. (I didn’t set out with the intention of quoting Mel C btw!).
Theft is the sincerest form of flattery…Which part of which other industry or profession do you think we should learn from and adopt (or just steal)?
Television Drama! More high quality drama in learning would be fantastic. With more depth. For example, I would LOVE to produce a drama series for a corporate organisation that watches how the lives, relationships and careers of a handful of characters play out over time. Obviously, threaded through the timeline would be a range of workplace issues that would stimulate discussion about the culture and practices of the organisation.
You know who would be great for this…Which famous person (live or historical) do you want to join your team and why?
I’m going to go for Vicky McClure aka Kate Fleming of Line of Duty fame. One fun thing about working at Nice is that we get to work with professional actors and there is some fantastic talent out there.
If only I had…What did you learn from your most recent mistake?
I’m a football referee. But I am relatively young in referee years (1.5 to be precise). I won’t go into boring detail but I made a mistake during a match recently which would have been avoided if I had simply slowed down my decision-making. Refereeing is FULL of life lessons – slowing down is a massive one. And there is nothing more ‘sticky’ in terms of learning than a bunch of adult women footballers screaming at you for getting it wrong!
There can be only one…Which one tool or piece of kit would you keep if you could only use one from now on?
MacBook Pro; it does everything my iPhone does but it’s easier to walk away from. Although you can’t post to Instagram from a Desktop. Okay, I’ll keep my phone!
The picture of success…Which image or picture is a good representation of how you would like to develop your practice over the next five years?
Where can we find you?
- Email: georgia.rooney@nicemedia.co.uk
- Website/blog: nicemedia.co.uk
- Socials: @GeorgiaTRooney