Train Hard, Find Work Easy
The quality of the set-up at its HQ in Tralee, County Kerry can be seen by
the department’s recent shopping list, which includes state-of-the-art HD and
tapeless cameras, studio equipment, dollies and jibs. Says course leader Paul
Dolan: ‘This year we purchased JVC’s HDV cameras and Sony HVR-Z1s. We also saw
what was going to happen with ENG and decided to go for Panasonic P2 (tapeless)
cameras – all from Mitcorp. After nine tenders Mitcorp came up with the best
package – not necessarily the cheapest but when back-up was taken into
consideration it was the best”.
Other recent purchases include six Firestone video storage drives, a Thomson
Kayak DD2 mixer currently being installed in the studio, several channels of
Song DXC D50 studio cameras, plus three Glidecams.
After basic training each intake of 18 trainees for the 44-week course is spilt
up into six crews of three. “Each crew gets its own ENG kit”.
The course’s real secret is that it is able to loan kit free of charge to
production companies and broadcasters, on condition that they take two of the
course’s trainees. Dolan reveals 85% get a job in the industry at the end of the
course.
One reason for the high strike rate is that the trainees have a host of
practical know how, from taking down and setting up monitors, to wiring suites,
changing CPUs and testing cables. “Companies like us because we turn out people
with skills who can talk the language, are not afraid of the equipment and can
work their way up”.
Stuart Switzer, managing director of Dublin-based Coco Television, has taken a
number of FAS graduates. “It works for us because we are a busy production
company and don’t have six months to let somebody settle in – they have to be
useful from day one,” says Switzer.
“These guys know how to operate the machinery and don’t have to be asked to pick
up the camera cases and tripod”.