"There’s no industry in the world I’d rather work in" says Elizabeth Hagan, a freelance Film Producer who graduated in 2003.

Some background….

I grew up in a town near Liverpool, and left my Catholic comprehensive to take a place at Oxford in 2000. After graduating from St Hilda’s in 2003 with a 2:1 in Law, well OK Jurisprudence, I turned my back on law to embark upon a career in the film and TV industry. Recently I’ve been freelancing in film and TV, whilst also writing treatments and trying to start up my own film company.

Moving towards drama….

Drama had always been my passion and I spent a significant portion of my time at Oxford (in my tutor’s eyes – too much time!) acting in plays and short films. In the summer after Oxford, I went up to the Edinburgh Fringe with a play called The Fine Art of Falling to Pieces written by a good friend of mine (and now professional playwright) Lizzie Nunnery. It was one of the winners of the Oxford New Writing Festival and we had performed the play earlier in the year to a very enthusiastic reception so decided to take it to Edinburgh. I played two characters – one of which was based on my own Mother! The Fringe really inspired me – I just fell in love with the vibe and the ‘work hard, play hard’ lifestyle. Having felt for a few years that I wouldn’t ever be a lawyer, management consultant or banker, it was at this moment that I finally knew that I was never going to have a conventional job. And looking back, this also cemented the idea that I wanted to work in drama.

“I panicked and applied for a training contract, knowng deep down it wasn’t right for me….”

By the end of my second year at university, I’d had enough of law. I'd chosen Law as I originally wanted to be a solicitor and I thought it would be a challenging job, which would allow me to marry my skills of public speaking and analysis. I enjoyed my course, but the thought of doing this for the rest of my life was off-putting. When others were applying for internships within the Magic Circle, I was acting in ‘Educating Rita’. But I panicked that summer and applied for a training contract - despite knowing deep down that it wasn’t right for me. I didn’t get a place (which now I’m thankful for) and so decided that I wanted to take a gap year after university. In this year I went back to Liverpool to get my life together and started temping to give me an income while I thought. I found myself a local agent and halfheartedly attempted an acting career, as I thought that this would be the best place to start my career in drama.

An introduction to film.…

When my acting career (unsurprisingly) failed to take off, I turned down a move to London to stay in Liverpool and take a job as a PA to a TV and Film Producer in a small production company, as I thought this would be a great way to start in drama. This job was a shock to the system as well as being a great introduction to the industry, as I got to work on the production and development of many types of projects from feature films through to short films. As an assistant, you get to see everything that’s going on and it’s a good way of gaining experience in the industry. Being a small company, we all pitched in on projects and the various roles I undertook gave me a good all round understanding of the industry; it’s high and lows, it’s demands and it’s frustrations. I did this job for two years and it taught me skills that I still carry with me.

Placement at Working Title

I had always been a fan of the films that Working Title made and when the opportunity arose to apply for a place on their Action! programme, I just knew I had to apply (although if I had known that 1500 others also had the same idea, it might have dampened my enthusiasm a bit!). Action! is a one year internship designed to train the Producers of tomorrow. Through my previous role, I’d already decided that I wanted to become a Producer, and my passion for film led me naturally into this area.

Working Title was amazing. The Action! programme gave me an invaluable insight into the film world and during my year, I worked in both the Production and Development departments. They were making films such as Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Atonement and it was fascinating to watch their progression from page to screen. I also made some great friends, which made the move from Liverpool to London that much easier.

Working on new films….

After leaving Working Title, I decided to go freelance and worked as the Producer’s Assistant on a film called The Young Victoria with the company that made The Departed. After spending a year learning how films are developed and produced in-house, it was great to experience the filming process firsthand and work with a large crew. The film is a period drama and we spent many weeks on location at various stately homes around the country, where I learnt why the term ‘work hard, play hard’ is used so often when describing the film industry!

Starting own film company….

After the film finished I took some time out to develop my own ideas and so I began to put together the structure for my own film company and to write treatments for various TV and film ideas I’d been having. It was at this time that I was offered a job working for The Duchess of York, (who is one of the Producers of The Young Victoria) on a documentary that she was making for ITV1. As I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn more about the making of documentaries, I jumped at the chance and have been working on this project for the past few months. It’s been a fascinating experience.

Aspirations….

For the future, I’m going to carry on freelancing and will hopefully start to develop my company. My dream is to be able to see my ideas and projects come alive onscreen, just as I have seen so many other people’s ideas make that transition.

Advice for others….

For anybody thinking of a career in the industry, the first thing you obviously need is a love for film and/or TV. As for attributes, when I think back about all the people I’ve worked with, the one thing they all have in common is confidence. This is probably the most important quality to have when thinking of a career in the film and TV industry. I believe that my Oxford experience is what gives me my confidence and I draw on that whenever I need to find strength for a difficult task. Film and TV is a very competitive business and you have to be determined and never give up, as the hours can be long and the work very demanding (and demeaning at times). You have to be willing to work for very low wages at first and able to network at every opportunity. But having said all that, I feel so lucky to do what I do – the highs are incredible and there’s no industry in the world I’d rather work in!