Andy Waters
Having played a major role in delivering some of Britain ΄ s best-loved television shows, Andy Waters ΄ decision to uproot his life and move to the north of England followed an impressive 20-year stint at the BBC. He did so to become an instrumental part of the team that launched Dock 10, forming what is known as Media City in Salford, Manchester. Back in 2010, British broadcast was still very London-centric, and didn ΄ t accurately reflect the diversity in the country that existed beyond our screens. Waters joins FEED to talk about his time as head of studios – and share Dock 10 ΄ s mission to diversify the UK ΄ s creative output.
FEED: Let΄s take it back to the start of your broadcast journey. How did you find yourself landing in this industry? ANDY WATERS: I went to Leeds Polytechnic (now known as Leeds Beckett), where I did a sandwich degree, which involves a work placement between studies. The meat in between my sandwich was getting a job at a place called Limehouse Television, which was on Canary Wharf before they actually built Canary Wharf. That’s where I fell in love with the TV industry, and as soon as I finished my degree I applied to and got a job with the BBC. I was then based at Television Centre in London for 20 years, doing various roles. I started off as a studio engineer, before becoming a studio and commercial manager. During that time, I had four children with my partner and we were very much settled in London. I then applied for a job as head of studios in Manchester and, lo and behold, I got it. That left us with this big decision to make about moving. My wife gave up her job and we moved our whole family up north, about 15 years ago
now. I have to say that it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. It’s been great: I love Manchester, and I love the facility we have built there. When I arrived here, there weren’t any other TV studio people around. So, I had the pleasure and the privilege of recruiting the whole team to open this brand-new facility of ten TV studios – as well as a post-production unit – completely from scratch. It was truly a once-in- a-lifetime opportunity, and I’ve been lucky enough to bring in some of the UK’s best talent and experience, who have made Dock 10 into what it is. It’s been a wonderful 15 years. Tell us the story of Dock 10. What was the goal of the facility, and why did you want to be a part of that mission? It all really started back in the early noughties, when the BBC was under a lot of pressure around its licence fees and securing another charter renewal. There was demand for it to be more reflective of the UK as a whole, so the growing expectation for the BBC to move out of London and reflect its audience across the
Interview by Verity Butler
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