CV for Rebecca Bangay rebeccabangay@gmail.com | 07702 313 933

PERSONAL STATEMENT

A BBC trained, multi-skilled content creator in specialist factual and factual entertainment; self-shooting filmmaker, Field Producer/Director, Edit Producer, Senior Digital Producer & professional photographer with Producer/Director TV credits.

Projects include:

The Secret Lives of Animals, Prehistoric Planet, Blue Planet, BBC Springwatch, Birds of Paradise: The Ultimate Quest, Africa: Countdown to the Rains, RTS awarded Hippo: Wild Feast Live, Planet Earth Explorer, Big Climb, Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief.

SKILLS

Audio-Visual

• Single camera director  (BBC trained Elstree 2005)

• Self-shooter - most recently on FX6/FS7 

• Experience editing on AVID, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and DaVinci

• Stills/location photographer (Photoshop and Lightroom proficient)

• Time-lapse photographer

• Licensed access to all Adobe Creative Suite Software

Digital

• Live streaming and VOD production

• VR/360 production

• Writing for online [Former content creator and editor on BBC Earth and BBC Wildlife Finder; iWonder Producer]

• Social media content creation [Formerly responsible for setting up and producing  BBC Nature & BBC Earth social media channels]

• Proficient on Mac & PC

• Basic Javascript & Html

Personal skills

• Naturally curious, and inquisitive, I am good at unearthing ideas and teasing out peoples’ passions and skills to uncover great stories

• Effective and experienced at liaising between contributors, production staff and presenters, leading to productive relationships

• Highly organised, efficient and attentive to detail

• Resilient and determined

• Work well under pressure to meet deadlines, remaining calm during live events

• Resourceful problem solver; I seek solutions not excuses

Kit

• Nikon DSLRs including D6, D850 and D800 with prime, zoom and telephoto lenses, flash, tripod and slider

• Ninja V

• GoPro Hero 11 and accessories including underwater housing

• DJI sound radio mics and Rode Pro Mic

• Portable Studio lights & camera mounted lights

Other

• iVisa US

• Clean UK Driving Licence

• Confident van driver

• Basic conversational French

KEY PROJECTS

BBC Studios | Bristol      March 2020 to Feb 2024

AP/Self-shooting ‘making of’ producer & edit producer | ‘The Secret Lives of Animals’ 10x30 | Apple | Factual series on animal behaviour. Collaborating closely with the Deputy SP, production team, scientists/contributors and film crew on location, I was brought in mid-production to produce 10x5min ‘making of’ sequences that ended each episode. Three, I planned, completed risk assessments for, filmed & directed, offline edited and edit produced with editor Caroline Hamilton.  Others, I logged rushes, developed ideas, wrote film briefs/scripts, identifying key characters, potential themes, story arcs, pick-ups, tone and style.

Assistant Producer & Field Producer/Director/Editor | ‘Prehistoric Planet 1 & 2’ 10x40 | Apple | CGI rich natural history series on prehistoric life 66mya. I researched and created detailed CGI character briefs for animators, researched ideas and wrote story beats for sequences. Sought and consulted experts, fact checked scripts. Developed animatics with the Producer, working closely with storyboard artists. Devised and constructed/contracted solutions for practical effects. Created briefs and oversaw build of props. Found and recced locations. Set up complex natural history shoots including Plate shoots, Practical Effects and VFX shoots abroad and in the UK, some in extreme environments for which I produced risk assessments. Created rough edits on location in Premiere Pro. Field produced/directed on shoots in UK and Canada. Devised story beats and scripts for Prehistoric Planet Uncovered. ‘Making of’ self-shooter (scientist interviews and on location) and time-lapse photography. Copyright clearance.

Freelance | iBex Media | Bristol            August 2011 to 2020

Field Producer/Director | ‘Animal Embassy 10x30’ | Silver Fox Productions | Australia | A series on Loro Parque Zoo in Tenerife. Responsible for directing new sequences, pick-ups, audio and key interviews with zoo Director and staff requiring sensitive communication skills to direct and interview multi-national staff, few of whom spoke fluent English.

Self-shooting Producer/Director/Editor | ‘Hippo Wild Feast Live’ 24/7 | Endemol/Tigress | Channel 4 | A 24/7 live event streamed over satellite from the banks of the Luangwa River in Zambia. I transformed a simple brief ‘to deliver a live feed with reports updated in the UK’, to an ambitious ‘Springwatch' type event, for the same budget. I produced, scripted and directed this event with a daily live show presented by Mark Evans with visiting scientists and local experts, filmed VTs, created social media, VOD and online content. Shot and edited a daily TV promo that drove the Channel 4 audience to that evening’s show, streamed over satellite.  Won RTS Media Effectiveness award & nominated Best Multiplatform Project, Broadcast Digital Awards.

Self-shooting Producer/Director | ‘Africa Countdown to the Rains: Rains Undercover’ 3x30| Endemol/Tigress | BBC Red Button Natural history production capturing life on the edge of the dry season in Zambia. Responsible for scripting, directing, edit producing, health & safety and risk assessments, social media strategy, studio set-up and delivery via satellite of three programmes recorded ‘as live’ with presenters Kate Humble and Simon King, guest scientists and local Zambian experts.

TV AP/Edit Producer/Digital Producer | ‘Birds of Paradise: The Ultimate Quest’ 2x60 | Tigress | BBC Two | Frank Gardner & Benedict Allen journey through Papua New Guinea on a quest to find birds of paradise. Initially employed for copyright clearance of sensitive and seemingly untraceable material I successfully cleared. Supported the Exec in the edit, researching, fact checking and script writing, and promoted to edit produce two episodes for BBC Worldwide and all material for digital platforms.

Producer/Director/Editor | ‘Dream, Discover, Explore’ 1x12 | Skylark Media for Exmoor National Park | Promotional film for the the NP visitor centre. Short film I researched, pitched, scripted, storyboarded, produced and directed wildlife cameraman Richard Jones, and offline edited. Involved helicopter aerial shoot I set up and directed with a Cineflex Gyro camera and aerial cameraman. The film featured drone aerials, green screen elements, animation and originally composed music. 

Digital Producer | ‘iWonder’ Interactive | BBC | Researched, developed, successfully pitched and produced interactive natural history digital content with specially shot films (“How  do  you  build the world's biggest dinosaur?” with David Attenborough and “Do spiders have super powers?” with Alice Roberts), animations and associated social media content.

VR Producer | ‘hyperelements’ | British Council/Start-It Hackathon | A multi-sensory, 360 virtual reality experience made in Unity.

BBC Natural History Unit | Bristol     April 1999 - August 2011

Self-shooting Senior Digital Producer & Interactive TV AP | BBC Earth

I pitched and produced digital content for multiple platforms including social media, interactive TV [Digital Cable, Satellite and Terrestrial Television], web and mobile,  often simultaneously for concurrent projects, several of which were live events. I managed complex digital teams of in-house and external technical, design, editorial and TV production staff on several landmark series (inc Life of Mammals, Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Wild Africa) and high-profile digital projects including the BAFTA award winning BBC Open Earth Archive and Planet Earth Explorer.

PROJECTS INCLUDED:

• Springwatch – I was the first digital producer on the pilot project Wild in Your Garden, and continued onto Britain Goes Wild, Springwatch and Autumnwatch. I have been credited with innovating and developing the digital production into what it is today with video on demand, live web streams, a strong online community built through social media sites I set up, campaigns such as ‘Make Space for Nature’, red button and mobile content. I filmed and produced 10 short VOD films with presenter Mike Dilger to accompany Springwatch, during which I trained up the digital team in single camera directing and film production.  I won an RTS award for Educational Multimedia for the Springwatch with Bill Oddie ‘First signs of Spring’ campaign developed with the Woodland Trust.

• Abyss Live & Interactive - I produced content on multiple platforms for Red Button services for this live streamed digital/TV event. I devised and directed several VTs presented by Ben Fogle driven by a social media campaign I ran. I set up film locations and sourced permits, contributors, approved boat handlers and divers on location in the Monterey Bay area in the USA.

• The Big Climb, Comic Relief – I interviewed climbers, filmed, edited and sent via mobile satellite, syndication packages for a social media campaign documenting the ascent of celebrities climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for Comic Relief. The event raised a record breaking £3.5 million for Malaria prevention.

• Battersea Dogs Home & Animal Hospital - Working closely with the TV team and experts I produced companion/promotional digital content, which featured behind the scenes films I shot on location and edited.

EDUCATION

South Bristol College  Print and Radio Journalism | City & Guilds | Distinction

Berkshire College of Agriculture  Habitat Management & Conservation | Diploma | Distinction 

RHC University of London Geology | BSc

PERSONAL INTERESTS

I have an insatiable appetite for exploration, be it discovering new trails in Somerset with my dog, searching for orang-utans in a Sumatran forest, or a wild pitch for my campervan on the Isle of Mull; and always with a camera in hand. I enjoy tennis and love all water sports, especially dinghy sailing. I was British Gold medallist, and World U23 Silver medallist in rowing. I spent a year cycling over 9,000 miles from Montreal to Panama, and 1000 miles around France. I fulfilled my ambition to learn to fly and gained a Private Pilot’s Licence in the USA.

REFERENCES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST