Television news camera operator and editor

TV camera operator Terry Williams does whatever it takes to get news footage for us all to watch. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Name: Terry Williams
Age: 34
Job title: Television news camera operator and editor
Working hours: News-driven and variable
Employer: TVNZ; TV3, independent television production companies
Pay: $25,000 to $100,000
Qualifications needed: Television production course
Career prospects: Freelance camera operator, directing


Describe your job.

I start work any time between 9am and 6pm. The nature of the job is if it [news] happens, you go; do whatever needs to be done for as long is needs to be done.

You get assigned to a job with a reporter. We talk about the job, decide what we are going to do then go out, get the best shots and audio we can, bring it back and hand the tape over to an editor.

If I'm overseas the reporter and I talk about what we are going to do for the day, go out, shoot, go back to the hotel, edit and then feed it back to New Zealand. They are long hours when you are overseas. I've been to East Timor three times, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka and Phuket for the Boxing Day tsunami.

The day of the tsunami I turned up for work [in Wellington] and had 90 minutes to get on a flight. I raced home, chucked a few T-shirts, shorts and my boots in a bag, left and didn't go home for three weeks. Because I have a company car and gear I just raced to the airport.

Why did you choose the job?

I wanted to be an airline cabin crew attendant and aimed all my courses from the third form to get into the airlines. Then someone from the Hauraki Trust Board in Paeroa came along and said, "Here, try television." I did a Maori-funded course in television and documentary making at Waikato University. I started work on December 23, 1991. It was a big day. I did two weeks' work experience at TV3 that turned into 18 months' work experience as I tried to get a job there. I was on the dole and didn't want to go home. I freelanced as a sound operator for another 18 months and then got a job with TV3 sound recording for 20/20 and moved to Wellington. I did that for about three years, spent two years as a TV3 cameraman and then moved to TVNZ in 2000 where I've been ever since.

What the best part of the job?

Coming into work and not knowing what's going to happen. I don't know where I'm going to be and whether I'll be at home that night. It's exciting. I've been to a lot of hell-holes in the world that people are dying to get out of or are already dead. Your job is to show the world what's going on and that, say, the Indonesians and Thais need help. That's the best and also the worst part of the job because you intrude at an emotional time in someone's life.

You also see the world's different cultures. A Thai man offered me a bottle of water. His house had just been demolished by the tsunami, he had nothing but the clothes on his back and he offered me water. It puts you in your place. You appreciate what you've got and don't take things for granted.

What are your strengths?

You've got to be confident, professional and have lots of commonsense. Eighty per cent of the job is personality and 20 per cent is the job itself - shooting. I could work on my fitness and with technology changing you have to work on keeping up with the play.

What's your job-hunting advice?

Learn how to get on with people. Talk to as many people as you can, including utter strangers. Don't be a know-it-all. You'll be found out quickly. You've got to be yourself, learn how to communicate and have confidence in what you do. There's film, news and commercial camera work, which are all different. Do a course, learn as much as you can but know in the real world you'll start from scratch again and have pressure and stress.

Any interesting tales?

I was in Malta during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and got talking to this guy. He congratulated us on getting to stage the 2011 [rugby] World Cup. I said cheers, thanks bro, and asked him if there was any chance he'd come down for it. I was calling him bro all the time. When I asked him what he did he said he was the Prime Minster of Singapore. So, I asked him if he was coming anyway. There's no comeback from calling the Prime Minister of Singapore bro.