Day in the Life of Pete Gibbons, Co-Founder of Formidable
Walk Me Through a Typical Day in Your Role
It’s tricky to define because every day is different, it fluctuates quite a lot due to the nature of the work we do. There’s lots of checking in with the team every day, making sure everyone feels supported and troubleshooting any challenges that come up. And that’s balanced by the fun project stuff, whether that’s working out how we’re going to attack a challenge set by a new brief, or getting into the weeds of a project and working with the team to develop an idea.
What was Your Early Career Like?
I started at the BBC and am a total Nepo kid. I’m much more comfortable with it now, because since realizing this, I’ve done my fair share of helping others along the way that didn’t have the benefits I had.
My dad ran a BBC radio station when we were kids and I’d go with him on the school holidays and really enjoyed it. Then a small junior position on the sports show came up and I went for it and was getting paid about £6 per week. I was 13 and just answering the phones, making teas, helping out wherever I could. I worked my way up from there and instead of going to university, I went and got a job in radio at BBC Manchester and then came to London to work at 5Live, and then the BBC.
I actually bought a pub in 2004; it didn’t go so well, as I enjoyed owning the pub too much and my career started to stall. I had launched a production company and a pub on the same day, and it wasn’t until the pub was gone that the company really took off. That’s when I got into making video content, which was quite late in the day as I was already in my 20s by the time I got there. I didn’t want to make TV because at the time I thought it was boring, so I started making videos for websites in the same year that YouTube launched and ended up migrating towards social and new platforms, versus the more traditional channels. That’s why I say that we’ve been making video for social since before social was a thing.
What Are Your Favourite Tools?
I quite like Canva, which we use a lot for creating presentations, and obviously CapCut. I’m a big advocate for continuing to learn and staying across what the content creators on the street are using. So I’m usually a fan of any new system, tool, or plug-in that pops up and will be on the case with our editors to try it out. We might not end up using it, but it’s great to test and learn with these things. And then the obvious go-to is the whole Adobe Suite, including Premiere and After Effects, I think we’d all be in trouble without them.
What’s One Thing You Wished More People Understood About Your Industry?
People really need to understand how hard everybody works. There was a period where I felt that because I was working in a glamorous industry, I should be happy to have this job and just suck it up and do the hours. But now I’ve gotten a bit older, I’ve gained more perspective.
There are certain roles that require really hard physical work and it can be quite intense, for example on film sets, or places where you’re working for long periods with little downtime for the duration of the shoot. It might not be traditional physical labour, but it’s still extremely full-on and that should be recognised. I sound like a snowflake saying ‘oh it’s hard work’, but it kind of is.
What Do You Think the Industry Needs to Improve?
I think we’re in an era where it’s trying to improve, and overall people are doing a good job. It’s an industry that everyone chooses to be in and it can be glamorous in some ways, but the hours are long and the work can be tough, which is why we work really hard on prioritising a good work-life balance where we can.
It feels like the industry is making headways with representation, it’s been a bit of a men’s playground for a long time and things have certainly improved now, but we can probably still do better. We certainly try and make sure that we give those who don’t necessarily come from a privileged background a chance; we’ve used services like Creative Access to hire people in the past as we’d much rather work with great talent, regardless of their background or gender, but we’re always trying to be better every day.
Conclusion
Pete Gibbons, co-founder of Formidable, shares his insights on his day-to-day life, early career, and what he wishes people understood about his industry. From his humble beginnings at the BBC to his current role at Formidable, Pete has had an interesting journey. He emphasizes the importance of hard work, representation, and prioritizing a good work-life balance.
FAQs
Q: How did you get started in the industry?
A: I started at the BBC and worked my way up from there.
Q: What are your favorite tools?
A: I like Canva and CapCut, and I’m a fan of new systems, tools, and plug-ins.
Q: What do you wish people understood about your industry?
A: I wish people understood how hard everyone works, and that it’s not all glamour.
Q: What do you think the industry needs to improve?
A: I think we need to prioritize a good work-life balance and continue to work on representation.
