Anthony Lee was a Creative Access intern in 2015 at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Since then he has worked for Punch Records, the Young Vic, Film Africa and he is now content manager at BMG Production Music and a trustee for several charities.
Where do you currently work and how did you get this role?
I’m currently working at BMG Production Music as a content manager in their global creative marketing department. We provide non-commercial music for TV, adverts, film, games, and promos. After building skills, knowledge and experiences across music, theatre, film and festivals, I joined the team in March 2021 having applied through their company website and completed two online interviews to secure the job seeing it as a good opportunity to work internationally and combine my love for music with the skills I had previously gained.
Tell us about your career journey so far.
I completed a degree in Media & Communication which gave me a range of skills, a safe space to experiment and find out where I wanted to go with my career. Following the completion of my degree I have now worked in marketing and communications roles across music, theatre, film and festivals. I’ve really enjoyed supporting artists, finding new ways to engage audiences, and developing the stories of projects.
Having previously worked in marketing teams at the Young Vic, Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Film Africa, and the Royal Shakespeare Company on digital projects, channel engagement and content production I am now utilising my knowledge and experiences to advise as a trustee for several charities.
How did Creative Access help you reach where you are today?
Creative Access helped me to secure my first paid full-time role at the Royal Shakespeare Company as digital editorial assistant and later with Punch Records as digital communications coordinator where I gained many skills, knowledge, and experiences that I draw upon today.
Having had no contacts, the in-built community of interns and alumni was a great source of encouragement and helped with building an understanding of the different areas of the creative industries. I have now encountered a number of other Creative Access alumni, having a sounding board when looking for advice and even been able to offer paid opportunities to some people through some of my roles.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in your industry?
Begin building a network of peers – a lot of people try to find time with executives that already have stacked calendars! You should look towards people that are at a similar stage in their career or maybe a few steps ahead and reach out to those that you see that are doing cool stuff. They’re not going to be contacted as much as the executives so are more available to have coffees or video calls and you never know where someone’s career will go, you could be talking to the next exec, editor, director. Just remember to be generous with your time when you’re in a position to support others into the industry!
Find mentors or buddies if possible – I was recently mentored by two people who were super generous with their time, and it opened a fresh understanding of where I wanted to go with my career and some of the nuances that you may have missed. I think it’s important to speak with people that can have an objective view of what you do and your goals/ objectives.
Be a scholar of your industry – you may not always have the experience needed to enter an industry, but you should always be prepared to talk about what you like about the company you’re applying to, some recent things they’ve done and show an awareness of the industry they operate in. Read industry websites, listen to podcasts, go to talks and make sure you’re engaging with the industry you want to work with. i.e. music, what music are you passionate about? TV, what shows have you recently watched? Theatre, what writers do you like and shows have you seen?
What do you love about your role?
BMG Production Music has nine global offices and I enjoy the collaboration with the different offices and seeing the variation of work that is using our music. Working in a global marketing department means we work across a number of projects on any given day which call for different skills whether that’s content production, email building, website management, deck building or data analysis. It keeps it fresh and interesting.