Sky cameraman Sam Dovaston has a pretty exciting career. From filming live sports to music and entertainment shows, the 26-yr old Confetti graduate also freelances as a Director of Photography; working on everything from music videos all the way through to documentaries and promos.
After graduating from Confetti with an Fdsc in TV & Film Production in 2009, Sam was put in contact with a few industry professionals by course tutor Jamie Cash.
“I first assisted on a BBC Asian music shoot,” says Sam. “From there I met the person who supplied all the equipment for the shoot and ran outdoor broadcast company – Euroscope. After being thrown in the deep end I was already operating a camera on a BBC production on my first ever shoot, which was pretty nerve- wracking but gave me lots of experience.”
After wrapping, Sam pestered for more work and over the next month or two, was hired regularly to operate cameras on lots of different events – from BBC music concerts to cage-fighting.
“Being very new to the game, I had limited contacts and wanted something more permanent,” explains Sam. “I got in contact with Ideal World shopping TV – based in my hometown of Peterborough. I asked to do work experience, which successfully led to a job as a junior camera operator. I spent three years at Ideal world which I thoroughly enjoyed. During this time I continued to freelance, which really helped beef up my CV.”
After three years at Ideal, Sam was ready to move on to the next step and applied for a camera operator role with Sky.
“Five other camera operators from Ideal also went for the job and I knew the competition would be very high, but I prepared well for the interview and managed to get the job”, says Sam. “I’ve been at Sky for just under two years and get to work on really diverse shows, using the best equipment available.
“Confetti helped me achieve my ambitions by giving me an outlet to discover what I wanted to do in the media Industry. I was given the chance to make films and documentaries which is something I’d always wanted to do. In a nutshell I learnt the basics of directing and editing at Confetti, which has been the perfect platform to spring from into the industry.”
