Oonagh Parish

Overview

Life Before Ulster

Oonagh Parish’s television career began in 2000 as a trainee at BBC East Midlands, where she worked her way up to Senior Technical Operator within a couple of years. She acquired a broad complement of broadcast skills including camerawork, editing, satellite truck engineer and sound.

In 2004-5 Oonagh backpacked independently through South America for ten months, hiking through areas of the Andes, Tierra Del Fuego and Patagonia. Oonagh joined BBC NI in 2007 as a camerawoman, editor and satellite truck engineer, working across many genres of television including news, studio discussion shows, documentary, light entertainment, comedy and sport. In 2015 Oonagh moved into corporate video production with clients such as NFU, Cookstown, Steensons, FoodNI and Discover Lough Neagh, before becoming a staff videographer in a higher education marketing department in 2018. Oonagh was delighted to become part of the BA Screen Production team as a Technical Coordinator in November 2019.

Teaching

Oonagh has trained many people, from both technical and non-technical backgrounds, in video and audio skills. It is a role she really enjoys.  Training staff was part of her role in both BBC East Midlands and BBC NI. In fact, she showed such an aptitude for teaching that she had begun training other staff in audio and editing, several months before her own trainee status had officially ended.

When teaching, Oonagh focuses on craft skills gained through practice, in combination with smooth workflows and a sound understanding of equipment in order to trouble shoot effectively.

Research

A graduate of Ulster University’s Foundation Certificate in Art & Design, Oonagh went on to gain a BA (hons) in Film Studies in Sheffield in 1998. Whilst studying there as an undergrad she assisted in a number of post graduate drama projects at The Northern Media School.

Oonagh’s more recent independent work has experimented with IP and app based technology to create a more affordable multi-camera and vision mixing facility. This facility was utilised during Year of Food & Drink 2016 to record as-live cooking demonstrations with three presenters.

Civic Role

During Northern Ireland’s Year of Food & Drink 2016, Oonagh supported the output of FoodNI, the promotional voice for Northern Ireland’s food and drink industry, by supplying two promotional videos every week throughout the celebration year. Her work enhanced the reputation of Northern Ireland’s agri-food sector.

This work has been viewed by well over half a million people on YouTube, although the primary platform during the year was Facebook.