Co Tyrone man’s journey into the TV industry with broadcast giant Sky

A young Co Tyrone man could be destined for big things in the television industry after taking up a production role with Sky in recent years.

Marty Carlin, from Mountfield near Omagh, works at Sky’s production complex in Brentford, West London, and has worked on some of the company’s flagship panel shows such as A League of Their Own, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and a host of documentary features.

At just 24, the young man has a bright future ahead of him and recently hit the red carpet at the BAFTA awards along with the great and the good of the film industry.

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Having recently moved to England, Marty told Belfast Live it is a dream come true to be working in the industry after years of wondering how the back end of his favourite TV shows worked.

“You get to soak it in and get a taste for what it’s like to be in the middle of it,” Marty said.

“I’m a Programme Operations Assistant so I would work with external production companies that are making shows with Sky to make sure everything is in on time and to the spec that they need.

“We would set up viewings for each of the shows before they are finished so we would be arranging those and ensuring that everything runs smoothly between Sky and the production teams.

“A lot of it is documentaries and a lot of stuff that is in the works at the moment that I can’t speak too much about.

“I would work mostly with the unscripted world, so documentaries and panel shows and things like that.

“I’ve worked on some of the big panel shows that Sky have like A League of Their Own and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.”

Marty has always been a movie and TV buff, but never thought of it as a career and had been destined to work in IT.

But eventually his passion came calling after constantly researching things that interested him about film and TV production. He took up a course in Creative Media Production at South West College in Omagh and things went from there

"For a while, I always had an interest in how shows were made. I would watch something and then go and watch behind-the-scenes videos which showed how certain stunts or action sequences were filmed," Marty shared.

“From there I became interested in the logistics side, what kind of budget would that need, how is that scheduled and all the fine details you don’t really think of as a casual viewer.

“It’s a bit of a town of its own here at Sky, there are seven or eight big buildings and everything goes on here, their main news coverage, sports shows like Soccer Saturday and Super Sunday are all made here.

“It’s a real warehouse for production and you’re never know who you’re going to meet here.”

Marty adds that he has big plans for the future and hopes to end up working in big-name dramas in years to come.

“I’ve always had a passion for drama and I’d love to work on scripted dramas like Line or Duty or Blue Lights or something like that.

“If I had to choose a dream job it would be a series producer or an executive producer, so hopefully one day that’s where I can finish up.”

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