From being a runner on Love Island and Hunted to micing up Ronaldo during a mattress commercial, Edward Paterson has accumulated quite the list of credits. Wondering how you can land that all-important runner’s role and how best to impress? The 25-year-old breaks down the ‘dos and don’ts’ of being a runner to help you get your foot in the door.
Having always been more curious about the creation of his favourite TV shows and films, Ed began his TV production journey with a degree in Media (Film) Production. Now, with over four years in the industry and credits like The Voice: Kids and, The
Circle USA, he’s got a fountain of knowledge as to what works and what doesn’t as a runner. So, how did he land his first running job and what are his top tips for how you can do it too? Let’s find out.
“Facebook is the best place to find jobs, especially when you’re starting out. Join them all. My first job was a New Balance commercial, and I only got it because someone asked on Facebook at 11:00pm the night before if anyone could start at 5am. If I’m completely honest, it was probably the worst day of my life, but it gave me that all-important foot in the door, and every job since has gotten better.
“When I started out, a lot of people told me that if you stick with the same production company and do all of their work, they will eventually promote you. But for me, I have done the opposite. I have tried to do every single facet of work that I can. My main piece of advice is to try and do as much as possible because that wealth of variety is so beneficial. It means now if I wanted to apply to do Love Island again, for example, I could say I’ve done Love Island these two years and I’ve done this other reality show and this is why I’d be good at it. Or, if I wanted to go and work on a reality show, I’d say I’ve worked on The Traitors and this, that and the other.”
‘The Dos’:
So, having worked in the industry for over four years now, the 25-year-old is a seasoned runner with many impressive credits up his sleeves. So, what are his top 5 ‘must dos’ as a runner?
Edward’s first tip is simple but crucial: “It sounds obvious but turn up early for any project. Be fifteen minutes early, or even half an hour early, because if you’re late, that’s the worst impression in the world.
“Also, be nice to everyone. TV is very hierarchical. It’s very easy to treat the execs or your Directors of Photography and Producer Directors on this high level and maybe not speak to the other runners with that same level of respect. However, there have been quite a few times where I’ve turned up to a set and I’ve not known who anyone is, and I’ve ended up chatting to someone that wasn’t a runner like I thought. You should obviously be kind to everyone, but it is important to conduct yourself properly.”
Next up on the 25-year-old’s list? Tenacity. He says, “I like to tell people it’s 80% to 20% in this industry. The 20% will be the hardest jobs that you do but 80% won’t feel like work at all. I worked on a comedy drama, for example. It was my first drama job, and it was a different world to the stuff I’d done before. It was an underfunded shoot, and we took a lot of s*** on that job from the people above us. There were a couple points where I’d leave set feeling utterly distraught, but I knew that if I kept going, it would be okay. “Off the back of that, the production manager I worked with got me running on an Amazon Prime show called Mammals. I ended up working with Oscar-Winning actors and huge names like Sally Hawkins and James Cordon, but it’s only because I stuck it out on the s*** job that I got the good job afterwards. Tenacity is key in this industry.”
Ambition is also key to make it in the industry according to Edward. “If you want to do well in this industry, you need to get experience shadowing people and be asking the right questions to the right people,” he says. “There’s a very fine line between
pestering people and taking an interest. I’ve definitely seen runners in the past that are almost too eager, and they end up annoying people, but I’ve also seen people that are so nonchalant that it seems like they don’t care. Be interested in what
everyone’s doing, be asking the right questions, but also when it’s time for you to be working hard, get your head down.
“I was working on an Aitch music video. Obviously, being in Manchester, that’s huge and I was always a fan of his growing up. On set, they were supposed to have a guy that was wearing a POV head rig. It was a bicycle helmet with a Lumix GH5 taped to the front, but he didn’t turn up on the day. I said to one of producers, “If you need someone to step in, I can do it.” I put the idea in their head, went on doing coffee orders, and then half an hour later and they said, “Okay, we would like you to do it.” I spent the day running around with a camera on my head, having fun and playing football with Aitch. That video went on to get millions of views and I think it’s a good example of where I was ambitious, but didn’t pester. What I did was I offered my service and then went on with my job, and that ambition and tenacity ended up getting me the role.
“Last but by no means least, be organised. It’s really boring, but keep your receipts, keep your pay slips, keep your P45s, keep all of that stuff, particularly when you’re jumping from job to job to job as a runner. I’m not the best person to be giving that
advice as I’m awful at it but it’s definitely important.”
‘The ‘Don’ts’:
Having witnessed some disasters on set and knowing what it takes to make production run smoothly, what are his absolute ‘don’ts’? “It sounds simple, but don’t be obnoxious. There are lots of jobs that are twelve hours a day, 6 days a week and
you become like a surrogate family. It’s very easy to get very comfortable and lose some of your inhibitions. I’ve seen it countless times where someone acts as they would with their friends or siblings, and it’s really not the same kind of dynamic, so stay professional,” he stresses.
“Try not to get in your head. You can be away from home a lot with big time differences, which can be tough. I went to Panama to be a runner on a polyamorous dating show, and I was waking up at 4:00 in the morning to chat to my girlfriend for
twenty minutes when she got in from work and before I went to set. You can start to have doubts because you will sometimes sacrifice having a social life so that you can be in the TV industry, but don’t underestimate how worthwhile it is.”
Something that Ed says he has been very guilty of doing is making the industry his entire life. He says, “Don’t do it. As a runner, you get to do some of the coolest stuff you could imagine and it’s very easy to see your partner or your mates and talk
non-stop about it and name drop talent. I think it’s important to have other interests and hobbies and for me, I really try to make sure that I’m regularly in contact with my friends who are outside of the TV world.
“My next ‘don’t’ is a bit silly but don’t get plastered at every single wrap party. They tend to fall on the last day of a shoot, and you will have been up late the night before and have worked a whole day. You probably won’t have eaten a lot and then that
evening, you get on the pints and it’s not a good combination. So, a top tip is to have fun, but don’t take it too far at the wrap party, and also just on general nights out.”
Finally, and a big unwritten rule according to the 25-year-old: Never ask for pictures with the talent. “It’s a big ‘don’t’. Please don’t do it,” he says. “As a runner, I work with lots of footballers and musicians, who get non-stop attention when they’re travelling to work or when they’re out and about. The last thing they want when they’re shooting a mayonnaise commercial, or filming for a TV show is to have someone within the crew also asking for pictures.
“I’m not saying it’s not tricky at times. I don’t really get starstruck because you meet famous people all the time on the job, but I met Cristiano Ronaldo once doing a mattress advert of all things. We’d had a lot of the Manchester United team come in
that day and I’m a big football fan, so it was a very cool experience. It was my job to count down from forty-five seconds while they were shooting stills with each player,” he says.
“Someone from the production team said, “Ronaldo’s coming in half an hour,” and I started sweating. I felt physically ill. He’s one of the biggest athletes of our generation and he is someone I would kill to get a picture with, but of course, I just
said hello, shook his hand and started counting down from forty-five. You’ve got to stick to the unwritten runners’ rules, or you won’t be asked back.”
His parting words of wisdom? “Learn to drive if you can afford it,” he says. “I think I would have stepped up the career ladder a long time ago if I had learnt. I’ve had pretty consistent work for the last four years without a license, but would I have had
more opportunities to step up and cooler jobs? Probably. The show, Welcome to Wrexham, comes to mind immediately.”
He concludes, “Don’t underestimate where being a runner can take you because I’m not even the best person at what I do, but I’ve put myself out there and I’ve worked on all these incredible projects. If you stick it out and put in the work, the opportunity to travel the world and to meet your heroes and do all of these crazy things is there.”
So, who knows? If you follow this runner’s rulebook, maybe you’ll end up running on Love Island, flying to Scotland last minute to help with The Traitors, and micing up athletes like Ronaldo too.
For more articles like this, click here.
