An OLCS and LHS creative powerhouse
This article comes from the Winter 2022 edition of Beyond the Barrier. You can read all stories in your alumni magazine online here.
Annie Moir (OLCS 2012) and Kalyani Lodhia (LHS 2012) both work at the BBC in the Natural History Unit. Together, Annie and Kalyani share how they got into the creative industry and how a chance encounter uncovered their shared LSF connection.
It was Annie’s grandparents’ love of the ocean and sea that steered her towards studying Marine Biology at the University of Portsmouth once she left school.
“Growing up my grandparents used to sail out of Portsmouth, and with Loughborough being landlocked, I was always going to have to travel further afield to study marine biology. I think my grandpa’s love of the ocean and the sea got me into marine biology in the first place. Portsmouth was perhaps a sentimental choice, as well as somewhere I‘d wanted to go when I started looking at universities.”
From there, Annie went on to complete a Master’s in Wildlife Filmmaking at the University of the West of England which is co-designed by academics and the BBC helping her break her way into the industry.
“At the end of the degree you’ve met lots of producers and people who work at the BBC, so you’ve got a foot in the door with knowing a few people, so it’s quite often a handy steppingstone. I did a year travelling with internships and I was always less drawn to the science and more to vlogging it or taking videos. When I saw whales for the first time all I wanted to do was film it and show my family, so I think deep down I always knew I wanted to go into wildlife television and communicate the science and share stories.”
Kalyani had a very different path into the industry and took a year out spending six months in India where her love of photography was born.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do in India, but I had the best time. I accidentally got into photography whilst I was there as I was sending photos to my family showing them what I was up to and that’s how the whole thing started for me.”
Having always wanted to be a vet, Kalyani enrolled at the Royal Veterinary College, but deciding that it wasn’t for her, she completed a three-year degree in veterinary science before completing a Masters in Science Media Production at Imperial College London.
“I really like science and photography. My mum found this masters and I thought that sounds fun, I want to work in TV and so I did the course and loved it. Then I got my first TV job on The Great British Bake Off and it spiralled from there.”
Kalyani is now a Researcher at the BBC and has been there for 18 months, whilst Annie is a Digital and Impact Assistant Producer and has been at the BBC on and off for five years. But both work in the Natural History Unit – the best-known and most loved producer of natural history content in the world. It is responsible for programmes that many of us have watched including Frozen Planet II, Blue Planet II, Seven Worlds and Springwatch. But it hasn’t been an easy journey for them.
“I found it really difficult to get into the industry especially natural history. It’s so hard to get your first job in it because I wasn’t in Bristol, where all the jobs are based. I ended up in factual entertainment as a runner, and then I moved up from there and went into science TV and then I finally managed to get a job in natural history when everyone was working from home, so I didn’t need to be in Bristol,” Kalyani explained.
Annie added, “It’s probably worth saying as well that in natural history it’s really helpful having a science background. It’s often what they look for, so both me and Kalyani having biology and science backgrounds were our first steps. It seemed totally impossible as well because we were all inspired by Blue Planet I and II, but it literally felt like the BBC and wildlife television was this thing in the distance that you had to know someone to do. As those steps got closer and closer, it was amazing seeing that transition of oh I’m almost there, I can do it after all!”
Now well established at the BBC, Annie’s role involves looking at the core messages of the programmes created and generating extra content for social media to try and drive changes in behaviour.
“My job used to be looking for marketing assets and things that we could use, like the best sequence that Kalyani’s made in her programme, cutting that out and putting it on the internet. But it’s really changed in the last five years – we’ve hit a point of needing lots of conservation messages and impact and using social media to reach more people. Planet Earth and Blue Planet 2, for example, were glossy and amazing, and we just wanted to show people the wonder of the natural world, but the programmes that Kalyani works on highlight the need to conserve the wonders of the world. I then dig deeper interviewing the scientists that Kalyani works with telling their stories. We work on a lot of strategy beforehand thinking about what will cut through to people and how we need to tell the stories as people can get tired of the doom and gloom messaging.”
Whilst Kalyani is on the other side, “I’m on the side that makes the big programmes that then Annie helps make social media content for. We start by finding stories and talking to scientists, then we choose a story, plan it, go on a shoot getting all the content and then start doing selects for the edit. For example, right now I’m working on a programme called ‘Home’ which is about how animals relate to their home environment and the adaptations that they have to make. We look at animals in a certain part of the world and their adaptations, and create the story including the beginning, middle and end and then pitch it to the channels. If they like it, we’ll go ahead and film it and start doing all the logistics.”
Annie and Kalyani work together to highlight why the natural world and its conservation is important and why it matters. But it was whilst they were working together at a different production company that they realised their shared connection.
“It was really funny actually. We were both in a small team meeting. I think I’d only been there about a month, and I noticed Kalyani was wearing a High School leavers hoodie and I asked Kalyani if she went to the High School. She said yes and that she was the Class of 2012 so the same year as me. Bristol is the hub for BBC wildlife so it’s quite normal to move around so I guess it was very serendipitous that we were at the same company when we made the connection and now both work for the BBC,” Annie explained.
Kalyani’s recollection is a bit different – “I can’t actually remember how we figured it out, but I have a feeling we met up at the pub and worked out we had some mutual friends because we’re both from Leicestershire and pieced it together like that!”
Kalyani and Annie then both attended their 10 year reunion in June 2022, catching up with each other as well as friends from their schools. Even though Annie and Kalyani went to different schools and didn’t know each other whilst at school they still left with the same feeling that you could achieve anything!
“OLCS definitely gave me confidence. We always had really small school years and we used to do all the school musicals so I think just being encouraged to go on stage and having your own voice within such small years probably gave me a quite a bit of confidence. I think it just made you feel like you could do anything,” Annie remembers.
“I think teachers have been so instrumental to me getting to where I am! I’ve had some amazingly supportive and encouraging teachers through the years and they always saw something in me, pushed me and made me feel as if I could do anything!” Kalyani added.
Both Annie and Kalyani have their sights set on continuing to work at the BBC on big projects. Annie hopes to work alongside landmark series such as the Blue Planets and the Planet Earths over the next few years creating impact campaigns to reinforce the conservation message, whilst Kalyani is working on a huge nine series project that will be filmed over 14 years covering every continent.
