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PERSON FOCUS: TOM RUSSELL - VTR
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What was your first broadcast / film industry job?
I used to deliver umatic video players and monitors to domestic houses for market research, and also construct video walls and displays at, for example, The Boat Show.
In what year did you take that position?
Can't remember lost in the mists of time! But I do remember my 19 year old son was bottle fed at the time.
What made you take that particular job?
I had the choice of doing a job that I actually enjoyed in an industry that excited me, rather than continuing on the legal path to becoming a solicitor, which was then to be my career. (My mother still wonders when I will get a proper job.)
What career defining positions have you had since?
As above - delivering video machines to women’s houses. Employed as a colourist at VTR.
What has been your proudest moment to date?
When I become a father for the fourth time in October – I must be a glutton for punishment. Grading Mike Lee’s film "Vera Drake".
What is the most important lesson you have learned in your working life?
Be nice to the runners (the facilities director of VTR plc, and my MD used to run for me!)
What would you most like to achieve in your career?
To retire in the knowledge that VTR is the pre-eminent telecine/effects/3D/everything-else house in London/Europe/Universe
In your line of work what is the most important personality trait to have, and how do you go about getting it?
Understanding clients – and the complex psychology of trying to give them what they want, even when they don’t really know themselves.
Where will you have lunch today?
The Colombe D’Or, Saint Paul de Vence. I am writing this from La Croisette in Cannes.
How do you occupy your time when you're not working?
Barbequing, cycling, appreciating fine Italian white wines, watching the TV.
Who do you consider to be the most inspiration figure in your life?
The Godfather (or the bar staff at the Gutter Bar).
Complete this sentence:
The best things in life are..Sex and alcohol. After that I struggle!
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