WHERE ARE THEY NOW? – Connor Morgans

A look back at our past apprentices and a chance to see what they are up to now!

Any of you fancy being an Assistant Producer for Radio 1/1Xtra? Well one of our ex-apprentices is doing just that…and living his best life. Huge congratulations to you Connor!

 

Connor Morgans is a freelance Assistant Producer for BBC Radio 1/1Xtra.

 

A day in the life of Connor Morgans

I’m currently working as a Content Assistant Producer for Future Sounds with Clara Amfo on BBC Radio 1.

 

I start off every morning at midday. The first thing I do (like anyone) is check my emails and pick up anything that I may have missed from pluggers, producers or the team to make sure I’m on top of everything. It’s very common that things need to be changed last minute so being vigilant is paramount.

 

Once I’ve bedded in, I’ll start producing social media assets first and foremost for the features we have on Future Sounds. These include creating the Photoshop still assets for Hottest Record, First Play and Playing Live. In order to get the images of the artists I email the pluggers and PR teams to get what is required.

 

Once the assets are done for the programme, I turn my concentration to the actual programme. It’s my responsibility to comply songs and import them to the database with correct markers and meta data etc. This is to ensure the royalties are correctly distributed and reported. Additionally, I’ll start populating the weeks’ worth of programmes with the First Play feature. This includes adding the song to the running order and providing any notes that may be needed by the presenter; Clara Amfo. Furthermore, I may schedule the rest of the programme and import all the songs for the week.

 

Once the daily programme is accounted for, I will start to create the Proteus information. This includes adding the descriptions for the show (Proteus is responsible for what you see on your DAB radio, BBC Sounds and more). Finally, I’ll keep a record of the contributors, guests etc. and log them for the 50/50 which requires us to keep tabs on the gender split across BBC programmes.

 

Finally, once everything is more or less completed for Future Sounds, I am responsible for creating social media assets for the wider specialist music team at BBC Radio 1. This includes programmes like Sian Eleri’s Chillest Show and Danny Howard’s Dance Party. The production team of the relevant programmes would request the assets they wish to be created. It often involves using Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro to create either animated videos (like Danny Howard’s Hottest Record) or interview snippet videos for social media.

 

As a young person who has worked in radio for 6 years working at BBC Radio 1 has been a life-long dream, I’m incredibly fortunate every day I work there and hope to continue expanding my skill set and being a more and more skilled producer.