Mike George

As the Multimedia Producer & Coordinator for the award-winning Brand Hub at Visit Wales, I bring a wealth of experience in creating, distributing, and monitoring content for our marketing strategy. This includes film and video, photography and graphic design, written content for our website and social media channels, and asset management. 

With over 20 years experience of working in digital content production, I have a proven ability to effectively create and coordinate a range of content in line with Welsh Government strategies, while maintaining close working relationships with external partners and stakeholders to achieve a common goal.

Examples of my daily activities are:

• Filming and editing high quality branded video content and photography for the Visit Wales websites and social media channels. I use a range of hardware and software, such as Blackmagic and Canon cameras and DJI drones to capture footage and photography, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premier to edit video content and animations, and Adobe Creative to produce and edit photography, graphics and illustrations

• Working closely with the Social Media, Website, and Campaigns teams to schedule, produce, and monitor adverts and promos to enhance the Visit Wales brand and to market Wales as an attractive tourist destination. We work together in tandem to ensure that we cover important events and opportunities taking place across the country and to effectively communicate those events to our social media audience of more than 1.6 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

• Coordinating and monitoring our assets via content management systems such as Brand Kit, Portfolio, and Photoshelter, and using Dropbox, WeTransfer and iShare to archive and share assets with internal staff and external clients.  I create and analyse reports for the Content Delivery Manager and Head of Brand to monitor where and how our assets are being used, and I make recommendations based on those reports

Over the past 10 years I’ve worked as a Multimedia Producer, acting as a lynchpin for an in-house production team where I’ve developed a broad set of skills in camera operation (ground and aerial), video editing, sound recording and design, music production and supervision, live broadcasting, and post production work.

Being part of a production team requires me to always be flexible so that I can adapt to any situation that may arise. This means I need to be prepared for frequent changes in the team’s workflow, particularly when working to tight deadlines. No two days are ever the same, for example, one day I could be attending an event to conduct interviews and capture b-roll (this includes areas such as sport, music, culture and heritage, and news), and the next I’ll be locked in the editing suite, logging footage and creating stringouts for TV producers or promotional videos for social media campaigns.

I am a highly skilled video editor with a deep understanding of editing techniques and principles, having used software and programmes such as Final Cut Pro, Premier Pro, Avid, DaVinci Resolve, and Parsec in my everyday work for the past 20 years. I use a range of cameras and recording kit, including Blackmagic, Canon, Sony, DJI, GoPro, Tascam, Zoom, and Rode. For audio design and production I use Logic Pro X and Audacity.

In my current production role, I frequently collaborate on visual and textual projects with the Social Media Team, The Content Management Team, the Campaigns Team, and our external media partners such as Orchard Media, so good interpersonal and communications skills are absolutely imperative for my role. I’m very much a people person. I’m very affable and

approachable, but I’m also hard-working, dedicated and tenacious. I love working in a team where I have the opportunity to learn from others and to share my knowledge and skills with them.

Another part of my role as Multimedia Producer is managing our Image Support service where clients request permission to use our photographic and video assets. On a daily basis I liaise with media personnel from every corner of the globe, and I develop and maintain friendly ongoing working relationships with them. These include TV and film producers, news broadcasters, and content creators from Wales, the UK, Europe, and beyond. I manage our database of assets and provide each client with assistance for their respective project, whether it be for a TV documentary, a news segment, or a social media promotion.

I’ve been a CAA certified drone pilot since 2018, having conducted hundreds of shoots across the length and breadth of Wales. I produced and edited the Welsh Government’s Aerial B-Roll Library which contains over 100 individual stringouts of various locations and attractions across Wales. It is used on a daily basis by broadcasters, producers, and content creators all over the World.

I am highly proficient in IT having used both Mac and Windows operating systems in my daily work for the past 20+ years, so my digital literacy skills are of a very high standard.

I have a GCSE in Welsh and I’m able to understand basic conversations and text, and I can hold basic conversations in Welsh. I have also taken Welsh Government courses in Welsh, and I work alongside many Welsh speakers on a daily basis so I try to use Welsh as much as possible in my everyday work.

I create subtitles, captions and descriptive text in both English and Welsh (and often in German) for all videos which require text. This is in line with Welsh Government policy to make all visual and textual content as accessible as possible to everyone interacting with it.

I’ve worked closely with a range of TV, film and media companies and organisations over the past 10 years to create and coordinate visual and textual content, including BBC, ITV, Sky, Orchard Media, Lucasfilm, Warner Brothers, WWE, Nitro Circus, Cadw, Cruise Wales, Creative Wales, Business Wales, Tiny Rebel, Eisteddfod, Green Man, Hay Festival, Zip World, Qatar Airways, P&O Cruises, National Library of Wales, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff City Football Club, Swansea City Football Club.

I regularly cover ministerial engagements where I coordinate and film interviews and speeches from Welsh Government ministers and staff, and I edit the content into videos which are used internally and externally to educate viewers on Welsh Government policy and strategy.

In my everyday work, I am under constant pressure to adhere to strict deadlines and I’ve worked that way for the past 10 years. I thrive in a busy, fast paced environment and it inspires me to do my job effectively because I love the challenge of producing a high quality piece of work within a certain timeframe, under a strict set of parameters.

Projects change quickly from day to day, for example, at any time I can be called into the office for consultation work on a production, or I’ll be asked at short notice to drive across the country to capture content at an event, then I’m trusted by senior management to edit the content ready for distribution on the same day. So I have to be flexible, focussed, positive, prepared, professional, and able to turn things around very quickly.

From 2005 to 2013, I worked as a Location Supervisor for Cadw where I was responsible for overseeing film and TV productions taking place at monuments in the care of Cadw, such as Doctor Who, Merlin, and Da Vinci's Demons to name a few. I worked many early mornings, late nights and weekends, so I’m very accustomed to shift work and more than happy to put the time in.

I was also a regular contributor to Cadw’s quarterly publication, Heritage In Wales, where I wrote about film and TV productions taking place across the country. I also lectured at Cadw events on my research regarding historical film and TV productions which had been filmed in castles and historic buildings across Wales.

I’m an accomplished music producer and audio designer with the ability to use a range of instruments and recording equipment to create music and audio. I’m highly skilled on DAW’s such as Logic Pro and Audacity, and as a freelancer I’ve been recently commissioned by Amazon Studios and the BBC to compose music. Amazon commissioned me to write music for their Red Oaks comedy show, and the BBC commissioned me to write music for a short film by a Welsh director.

I consider myself to be a perpetual student. I’m a very skilled production specialist, but I strive to continuously learn and develop. It’s so important to avoid stagnation in the field of production because technology in particular progresses so quickly year on year, so I’m always pushing myself to stay up to date with developments. I attend as many training courses as my busy schedule will allow, and I actively seek out opportunities to work on projects with media partners so I can learn as much as possible from them to enhance my skill set.

I pride myself on consistently producing high quality work which falls in line with organisational policy and strategy, and I always strive to go the extra mile to show my commitment to the organisation.

When I manage a production, it is paramount that my team fully understands the approach I have in mind, so I always maintain that accuracy and clarity is of the utmost importance when communicating a concept. This is key when, for example, we attend an event as a production team. Each member has to fully understand their role and stick to the schedule so every facet of the event is covered in detail. Therefore, I always communicate effectively with each member of my team during pre-production, production, and post-production, to ensure that there is no room for error. In much of the work I do, there is only one chance to capture a moment, so I always make sure everyone is fully prepared for the challenge, including myself.

I’m a BAFTA member, regularly attending events and voting for films during award season.

If you would like to see a show reel of my work, please let me know where I should send it.

Thank you for your consideration.

I have an MA in Film Production, a BA in Digital Video Design, and a double award A-Level in Media and Film Studies. I also have 11 GCSE’s (A*-C).

In 2009 I graduated with an MA in Film Production. I was trained in scriptwriting, producing, directing, cinematography, editing, and film theory.

During the degree I was mentored by the late great Ken Russell, who guided me through the production phase of the short film I directed for my final exam. It was subsequently nominated for Best Film at the Ffresh Film Awards in Aberystwyth in 2010.