Michael Mcdermott Email & Phone Number

Brighton, United Kingdom

My main role at The Old Market is that of a VSA (Visitor Services Assistant), which requires a lot of responsibility and enforcement of safety regulations in regards to back of house operations. My job usually entails securing the Stage Door area and granting backstage access to artists and performers (while also denying access to fans), issuing them with passes, showing them around the building and providing them with anything they may need. I'm also responsible for having people sign in and… Show more My main role at The Old Market is that of a VSA (Visitor Services Assistant), which requires a lot of responsibility and enforcement of safety regulations in regards to back of house operations. My job usually entails securing the Stage Door area and granting backstage access to artists and performers (while also denying access to fans), issuing them with passes, showing them around the building and providing them with anything they may need. I'm also responsible for having people sign in and out of the building so as to create a register of who is in and who is out, in accordance with the venue's health and safety regimes/policies, and in cases of an emergency it is my job to check the dressing rooms and green room for people and to evacuate them successfully to the safety point. On many occasions, I am required to perform the duties of a barman or steward, so being able to converse with an array of different guests is important, as is the ability to serve drinks and help show visitors to their seats, while also being aware of safety procedures and evacuation points if it is required for emergency purposes. More recently, I’ve starting organising monthly film events under the name ‘TOM’s Film Club’ (TOM is an abbreviation for The Old Market), mainly showing cult, classic and world cinema for £6 or two films for £10 - cheaper than the multiplexes but with the same immersive cinematic atmosphere. First, I am required to source out the films and negotiate with different distributor the license fee to screen them for a paying audience. After that I source out images and write a piece about the films for our marketing team to include in the brochure and on the ticket listing online. I also help with the set-up of the film, making sure if looks and sounds perfect in the auditorium, and I usually say a short intro before the film starts with history and trivia relevant to the film. We also like to take film requests for future screenings from our audience members. Show less

Brighton, United Kingdom

In 2016, I was involved in coordinating 'Scalarama', which is an annual celebration of cinema that takes place every September nationwide, encouraging people of all backgrounds to put on their own film events and invite others to attend and share it on with others. The role required a lot of planning and organisation, as well as a lot of work in regards to communication with other film programmers in the city. I was involved in pretty much all stages of the process from programming and… Show more In 2016, I was involved in coordinating 'Scalarama', which is an annual celebration of cinema that takes place every September nationwide, encouraging people of all backgrounds to put on their own film events and invite others to attend and share it on with others. The role required a lot of planning and organisation, as well as a lot of work in regards to communication with other film programmers in the city. I was involved in pretty much all stages of the process from programming and arranging many of the film events, finding the film rights, contacting distributors, securing funds from Film Hub South East, liaising with venues to show films in, helping my brother design the flyer and poster, writing articles for newspapers, marketing using social media and contacts, as well as giving interviews for Brighton publications. Once it was all over, I wrote my evaluation for FHSE using the collected questionnaire forms, as well as some other admin endeavours that were still needed to complete. In the end, we played more than thirty-five films across the month in Brighton, which was more than any other city in the UK outside of London.The previous year (2015), I showed two films as part of my ‘Nosferatuesdays’ strand, F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) and Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979). I screened Herzog’s version first at Fabrica Gallery, an arts venue and former church, which made for perfect vampire viewing under such felicitous surroundings. The following Tuesday, I screened Murnau’s original seminal silent masterpiece at the Duke of York’s Picturehouse. This screening was in celebration of the cinema’s 105th birthday and was accompanied with a live harp score provided by internationally acclaimed musician Elizabeth-Jane Baldry, which I felt echoed the first twenty years of the Duke of York's history, back in the years when it first operated as a 'silent' cinema with every film having live musical accompaniments. Show less

Brighton, United Kingdom

I played an important role as part of the organisation’s front/back of house team, working a diverse range of events from classical concerts to high profile, high-volume gigs such as those in The Great Escape Festival, the May Brighton Festival and October’s Comedy Festival. As a barman, the position required excellent customer service, a high degree of flexibility and organisation, attention to detail and the ability to work under pressure. Further responsibilities include cash reconciliation,… Show more I played an important role as part of the organisation’s front/back of house team, working a diverse range of events from classical concerts to high profile, high-volume gigs such as those in The Great Escape Festival, the May Brighton Festival and October’s Comedy Festival. As a barman, the position required excellent customer service, a high degree of flexibility and organisation, attention to detail and the ability to work under pressure. Further responsibilities include cash reconciliation, stock control and maintaining a high standard of hygiene and health and safety awareness and implementation. Through the Dome I have also been able to work at the bars of many music and arts festivals, including Glastonbury, Funk the Format, End of the Road Festival, No Direction Home, Green Man Festival, Standon Calling and Shambala.I later worked at the Dome as a Visitor Services Assistant, and my main duties were to manage the stage door area (duties which I was already experienced of from my work at The Old Market), acting as a point of contact for visitors, managing the parking arrangements, Locking and unlocking the building while setting and unsetting the security alarms, dealing with post and logging it as record and other admin activities such as fault reports and maintenance, CCTV surveillance, taking phone calls and using the radio to contact other members of staff, general venue preparation and housekeeping, among other duties that were expected of me, I've also been trained in various evacuation scenarios and what to do in an emergency, be it monitoring the fire and security alarm systems, initiating an emergency evacuation or checking to make sure backstage is clear of people. I've also had fire extinguisher training and first aid training and have attended many health and safety meetings in regards to manual handling and the correct ways of lifting and pivoting in the work place. Show less

Brighton, United Kingdom

Volunteering on this fortnight-long, annual film festival, I helped out in a pop-up bookshop at the University of Brighton, where the space was used to arrange art installations, life drawing classes, acoustic sets and a mini cinema projecting the works of local avant garde filmmaker Jeff Keen, among other films. In 2013, Cinecity presented a major exhibition on Jan Švankmajer, a Czech surrealist filmmaker, animator and puppeteer. I spent a lot of time at the exhibition welcoming visitors to… Show more Volunteering on this fortnight-long, annual film festival, I helped out in a pop-up bookshop at the University of Brighton, where the space was used to arrange art installations, life drawing classes, acoustic sets and a mini cinema projecting the works of local avant garde filmmaker Jeff Keen, among other films. In 2013, Cinecity presented a major exhibition on Jan Švankmajer, a Czech surrealist filmmaker, animator and puppeteer. I spent a lot of time at the exhibition welcoming visitors to the gallery and talking to guests about the pieces and the films, and gained a lot of insight into how to curate an exhibition in the process. I cultured this experience when I returned to work for Cinecity a third time in 2014, this time as a Gallery Assistant for a film set installation to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Ann Quin’s radical debut novel BERG. Tasks were more or less the same as the previous year’s exhibition but I was responsible for setting up the installation in the mornings and closing down in the evening, as well as providing visitors with background information about the book and the project. I also worked FOH as a steward and as a box office assistant at the Duke of York’s. Show less

Brighton

My primary role was to read screenplays and write reports on them, then sending these review over to the CEO / Production Manager to see what they think and if applicable this feedback would then be sent back to the writer and he or she would redraft accordingly. Having a detailed knowledge of film and applying theory and conventions learnt from my studies proved very pivotal in this role, advising how to better utilize these in structuring a plot and bringing a genre to life. I was involved in… Show more My primary role was to read screenplays and write reports on them, then sending these review over to the CEO / Production Manager to see what they think and if applicable this feedback would then be sent back to the writer and he or she would redraft accordingly. Having a detailed knowledge of film and applying theory and conventions learnt from my studies proved very pivotal in this role, advising how to better utilize these in structuring a plot and bringing a genre to life. I was involved in writing press releases for upcoming films to sell to markets in Portugal and Turkey, and I did a lot of administrative work including general office admin, arranging conferences, archiving film screeners and posters, booking flights, making teas/coffees and so on, including preparation for the Toronto International Film Festival and MIPCOM market. Show less

19 Heddon Street, London

Working across the marketing and operational departments of an International Distribution Firm based in London, many of the roles tasked included supporting the team in preparation for the MIPCOM market held in Cannes, ensuring that all screeners and marketing materials were successfully accounted for and sent, as well as providing general administrative support and reception duties such as switchboard and coordinating meetings. I also managed incoming press articles for the company’s film… Show more Working across the marketing and operational departments of an International Distribution Firm based in London, many of the roles tasked included supporting the team in preparation for the MIPCOM market held in Cannes, ensuring that all screeners and marketing materials were successfully accounted for and sent, as well as providing general administrative support and reception duties such as switchboard and coordinating meetings. I also managed incoming press articles for the company’s film library, and processed them for the company’s digital archives, and helped in promoting some of the more recent television shows using the company’s social media accounts. Show less

Brighton, United Kingdom

Brighton, United Kingdom

During my academic days at University, I was employed to direct tours around the campus for potential new students, an experience that required great interpersonal skills as well as a learned knowledge of the University. In July 2008, I worked as a Queue Director for the summer graduation, held at the Brighton Dome, which happened to be the late, great Richard Attenborough’s last ceremony as Chancellor for the University. I also volunteered for an exhibition of third year degree works in 2009:… Show more During my academic days at University, I was employed to direct tours around the campus for potential new students, an experience that required great interpersonal skills as well as a learned knowledge of the University. In July 2008, I worked as a Queue Director for the summer graduation, held at the Brighton Dome, which happened to be the late, great Richard Attenborough’s last ceremony as Chancellor for the University. I also volunteered for an exhibition of third year degree works in 2009: the show was called Fuse, which I helped in decorating and planning and also worked as a barman during the event. All roles dealt with helping and welcoming the public and involved exceptional customer service. Show less

Ba Hons, Film/Cinema/Video Studies, 2:1

A Levels, Media Studies (A), Psychology (B), History (C), Abc