A University of West London (UWL) graduate is helping inspire new talent as he looks back on a string of successes including winning a sound BAFTA and working on dramas from Killing Eve to The Crown.

Sound engineer, Tom Williams graduated from university in Ealing with a BA in Music Technology in 2007, working his way up from an intern in an advertising studio where he was able to hone his craft and learn the business.

Now working full time at Boom studios in Soho, he has worked with the likes of Samuel L Jackson and Walter Murch, as well as producing sound for Netflix, Amazon, Sky and BBC television blockbusters.

His successes have seen him and his team win both a BAFTA and AMPS awards for their work on the series, Killing Eve. He was also nominated for a Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) accolade in recognition of post-production sound for an episode of The Crown focused on the Aberfan disaster.

Now keen to support students at UWL’s London College of Music (LCM) as they embark on their careers, Tom, who grew up on the Isle of Wight, is offering help on a variety of sound modules back at his former university.

He said:

As a graduate I started off working as a runner in an advertising agency where I could learn all elements of sound, but film and drama has always been where I wanted to end up.

It helps to know what you want to do, but for anyone starting out in the industry I would say you just need to be prepared to start at the bottom and make the most of every opportunity.

I have worked hard for my relatively short career and am so happy with what I have been able to achieve. I’m at an incredible studio and have been lucky enough to work on some incredible projects with amazingly talented people so I hope to keep this up for as long as possible.

My advice is take everything on, ask questions, be enthusiastic, get used to being outside your comfort zone, and get down the pub at every networking opportunity.