Being an IT Producer means getting to make magic happen every day. How lucky is that.
What is an IT Producer?
Basically, we take an idea and then nurture, model, morph, mould, bend and beat it to launch and beyond.
How do you do that?
The producer’s a vital element of any project — whether it’s a site, service, system or app. We’re hands on with pre-production, planning, HR, payroll, legal, insurance, fundraising, finance, tax and VAT planning, production, post-production, IP, patents, monetisation, shareholder relations and exit strategy. We hire designers, programmers, project managers, graphics, hosting, servers, directors, writers, videographers, talent and make sure PR, advertising, marketing and sales all hit when they’re meant to.
Do you have to have a technical background?
I tried programming years ago but was rubbish at it. After graduating from the UK NCC (National Computing Centre), I worked across the industry in every area of operations, including British Nuclear Fuels. There’s no shortcut — you learn by doing.
How did you break into the business?
I’ve always had a ridiculous work ethic. Even at university I ran several jobs at once — operations in the computer lab, lecturing in outdoor recreation at Salford College, setting up a software development company and an IT sales and marketing business. It wasn’t a carefully planned career choice, I just morphed into it.
How do you know what’s going to work?
Use your instincts, keep looking around the bend and have a feel for what’s next. Trust your gut. It’s rarely wrong.
How many titles have you produced?
Lost count. Several have been very successful, touching countless lives around the world.
Did everyone think they’d do well?
Not at all. Most were produced despite what people thought.
Do you still enjoy it after all these years?
I absolutely love what I do. I love living this life I’ve created and that passion is infectious.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to do what you do?
You can achieve greatness by just believing it. Never let others shake that belief in yourself. Know who you are and what you stand for. Let others think and say what they want — just know yourself, know what you want and never give in.
What qualifications do they need?
It doesn’t matter what you have or don’t have, or where you’re from. It’s where you want to be and where you’re going that counts. Just choose. Then get there, one step, one day at a time. Confucius said “he who says he can and he who says he can’t are both probably right”. Create what you want — just believe it.
Is it realistic to say hard work alone makes things happen?
Be delusional, obsessive, persistent. Make a difference. Be unrealistic. Whatever you want, you can make it happen. Will Smith put it best: “Being realistic is the most commonly travelled road to mediocrity.”
It was unrealistic for Dr John Steptoe to think he could create life in a test tube. Unrealistic for Reverend Garrett to design the first mechanically powered submarine in 1880. Unrealistic for Allcock and Brown in 1919 to fly a wooden, cloth and twine plane non-stop across the Atlantic. Unrealistic in 1803 for John Dalton to think his atomic theory would become the bedrock of chemistry. Unrealistic for Rolls and Royce to imagine the world’s greatest car. Unrealistic in 1919 for Rutherford to split the atom. Unrealistic to invent the first computer.
And here’s the best bit — all those world firsts happened in Manchester.
It gets even sillier — so did the first train service, the steam powered mill, the industrial revolution, suffragettes, vegetarianism, Marks & Spencer, the Co-Op, Mackintosh coat, Lancaster Bomber, the world’s first scheduled air service, ship canal, public library, microfilm.
Never listen to people who say your dream isn’t realistic. The people above didn’t. Why should you.
What does it take to make it happen?
Work sickeningly hard on your skills. Talent’s born, but skills are forged by relentless effort. Hone them. Be obsessive. Focus everything on the task in front of you.
What if it goes wrong and I fail?
You can’t fail if you’re still trying. Failure can’t live with persistence. Don’t fear it — as Cassius said, “in great attempts it is glorious even to fail”. Attack your fears. Roosevelt said “the only fear you have to fear is fear itself”. Make a difference wherever you are. Lift people by trying. They’ll slipstream into your dream. And if it all goes wrong, remember Churchill — “when you’re going through Hell, keep going.”
Any final words?
Commit to your dream and make it happen. Demand from life whatever it is you want. Choose who you want to be, choose what you get. Just decide, do it and never quit.
Being an IT Producer means getting to make magic happen every day. I can’t think of anything luckier than that.
WHAT’S YOUR STORY?
Together we can change the world.