James McBride joined TSL in 2022

UK - TSL’s James McBride is an inspiration for aspiring live event technicians. After completing a live event technician apprenticeship at TSL, delivered in partnership with Access Industry, McBride achieved a Distinction - the highest grade attainable.

McBride joined TSL in 2022 following a successful degree course in Television Production Technology so was able to make an immediate start with a good level of background knowledge.

“You get given the bare bones of the theory at university, and to be honest with you, the apprenticeship has taught me a lot more about the different departments and how everyone works together to produce a show.”

Joining the team at TSL while coming out of COVID, a notable obstacle for all in the creative industry, McBride used his prior broadcast engineering knowledge to leverage his way into his new career path. After working in all departments of the warehouse and onsite during his apprenticeship, McBride found his niche in rigging - a service TSL provides both with and without lighting - and was offered a full-time role as a senior technician within the rigging team.

“It [rigging] is an important part of the warehouse function. Almost every show relies on our ability to rig safely and to provide equipment which is not only safe, but prepared to the highest standards.”

Now McBride aspires to receive further education in the rigging sector, wanting to harness more certifications and qualifications. As TSL are full members of the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), McBride is currently working towards his Foundation Certificate and hopes to follow that up with more qualifications in the future.

One of McBride’s proudest moments during his course was being able to assist the team for one of the many UFC events at the O2 that TSL has had the privilege of partnering with.

“The process led to me setting up a lot of moving lights, setting up a truss with the help of freelancers, and collaborations with different people in the industry. After a while you start to grow a reputation with different people and start to form relationships with other people in the industry.

“I think that’s the main thing to take away from the apprenticeship. You’ll learn a lot. You’ll grow friendships with different people and hopefully build on your skills.”    


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