No Silly Questions - post production edition

As part of our Step Up strand, we’re offering training to help individuals coming back into the industry after a break, moving into a new role, or improving their skills in unscripted TV. 

No Silly Questions - post production edition is a small‑group, open Q&A session where people can ask the post questions they’ve been meaning to ask for ages — without feeling… well… silly. It’s built for mixed roles across production and post, because most of the pain comes from the handovers between teams: unclear terminology, assumptions, missing info, and “I thought you meant…” moments that only show up when you’re already under pressure.

We’ll give an overview or the post production pipeline,collect the questions from the group, cluster them into a few themes, fill in any missing context, and work through them with practical examples.
This session is about on‑the‑job skills helping people understand post well enough to make better decisions, communicate properly, and be the person who makes things run smoother, more efficient and within budget. Attendees leave with a better overview of the post production processes, more confidence, a shared bit of vocabulary and access to a running FAQ of what we covered afterwards.

This session is supported by the ScreenSkills Unscripted TV Skills Fund which invests in training for the unscripted workforce thanks to contributions from broadcasters, SVoDs and production companies.

Who it's for

Anyone in unscripted TV who has to work with post production, hand material over to post, or make decisions that affect post. Production Managers/Coordinators, APs, Series Producers, Edit Producers, Post Co‑ordinators, AEs, Editors… all welcome. No technical knowledge expected — if you’ve got questions, you’re in the right room.

We generally require applicants to have at least 3 credits (unless working in a traditionally uncredited role). If you strongly feel you would still benefit from the training, please email USF@screenskills.com

We are committed to ensuring all our courses are accessible to everyone. Please email the above address with any access requirements so that we can make the arrangements you need.

What it covers

This is a proper “ask anything (about post)” session. I’ll kick off with a quick, plain‑English map of the post process — just enough to give everyone a shared starting point — then we let the group drive with the questions. I’ll capture them, cluster them into themes, and we’ll work through answers using real examples from the way post actually runs day‑to‑day.

The main thing you’ll leave with is confidence: confidence to ask the questions, confidence to understand the answers, and confidence to spot the common trip‑wires early (the stuff that turns into a headache later if nobody flags it). We’ll also talk about what info/assets make things run smoother, more efficient and within budget, so you get more time back for the creative bit.

What we actually get into depends on the group, but it often includes who does what in post; software and project basics; media/proxies/codecs; frame rates/aspect ratios/audio channels; workflows and planning; how notes, versioning and approvals should work; what “lock” does and doesn’t mean; and deliverables/QC basics (plus what tends to cause last‑minute delivery pain).
We’ll finish with a quick wrap: top takeaways, the most useful “things to ask next time”, and a tidy list of the key points we covered. After the session, attendees get access to a growing FAQ so they’ve got something to refer back to.

Trainer

Paul Hawke‑Williams has worked in TV and film for 25+ years in and around post production, and now runs Training and Engagement for Gorilla Academy (Gorilla TV Ltd., Cardiff). His focus is on on‑the‑job skills that genuinely help people progress, rather than ticking boxes for certificates. Much of his training comes back to streamlining and efficiency: using the tools and the right habits to stop jobs getting messy, so teams get more time back for the creative work. He also specialises in translating post‑production jargon into normal, understandable language, because many post problems start with teams simply not talking about the same thing.

How to apply

This session will take place online via Zoom. Click ‘get ticket’ at the top of the page and follow the instructions to book your place; you must login or register before you are able to book your place.

Our courses are popular and often book up quickly. If you are no longer able to attend, we ask you to please use the “decline ticket” function on the right-hand side of the page so that we can release your place to someone on the waiting list.