Peter Salmon Interview for Make It

As part of the Thoughtful 6 project we are currently designing a rough guide to the creative industries. It will take the form of a website, titled; Make It. The guide aims to show 14-19 year olds the breadth of creative talent in the North West and how they can be a part of it.

Our first interview for the site was with Peter Salmon, who has recently been appointed as the director of BBC North. The interview took a lot of preparation and our role was organising the event and making sure that everything ran smoothly. The biggest surprise was how much planning and preparation had to go in to making the interview a success. We were in charge of writing the questions, organising the set, planning the interview and most importantly making sure that we had all the right people there at the correct time and place. One hurdle we had to overcome was our cameraman couldn't make it at the last minute, which just goes to show that it is always wise to have a plan B, or even a plan C to fall back on, as this won't be the first or the last time a situation like this arises. Luckily, we managed to get Sayed, John and Rosemary from Little Wonder TV to step in and do the filming - who were brilliant. So, a big thanks to them for helping us out. 

After a lot of emailing and making last minute arrangements, we were finally ready for the day of the interview. We arrived at the BBC with plenty of time to spare, allowing us to discuss our requirements with the cameraman and the best area for the interview to take place. We had to think about camera angles, editing, how much time we had, and basically setting the right scene for the interview. As the audience is going to be 14-19 year olds, we wanted the interview to be relaxed and informal so that the audience can relate to it. We chose a relaxed environment within the BBC building, called the 'design den.' The room was open plan, with lots of brightly coloured sofas and tables. It looked welcoming and generally a fun place to be. We decided to shoot the interview on the sofas that ran along a wall with windows looking through to the main reception, which added to the relaxed atmosphere. 

When Peter first arrived we were quite nervous, but his relaxed attitude calmed our nerves and the interview soon developed in to a friendly conversation. Peter answered all of our questions in depth (we had quite a few!) and was also really interested in what we had to say and our views on subjects raised. Peter talked enthusiastically about his work and achievements, describing how passion and determination have driven him to success. He stressed the importance of being well educated, but also the need for good social skills and having a like-ability factor so that people will want to work with you. When asked what he would do differently if he was starting his career now, he said that he would develop his skills further, especially in hands on areas such as camera work and independently teach himself new techniques in order to impress employers.

The main thing we've learnt from this experience is that the job of a designer isn't solely 'designing'. Far from it. We've been told many times before but never experienced it first-hand - a junior designer doesn't just need to develop good mac skills and ideas - they need to be able to communicate clearly and possess good presentation and organisational skills. As well as being clean and smart, oh, and it helps to be on brief, on time and on budget, too!    

Overall, the interview went really well and it was a great opportunity for us to take the lead on a client based job and develop our own professional skills in a sector that we had little experience in. We'd like to thank Lisa and Liza from the BBC for making the whole thing happen and thank Peter Salmon for being our first interviewee and for giving us some time out of his busy schedule to do the interview. The nicest thing was that he genuinely seemed happy to be there talking to us. Now all that’s left for us to do is edit the interview, which will be very difficult as there is so much good information to choose from!