In conversation with Dr. Nidhi Gupta

1. Introduce yourself

I am  Dr Nidhi Gupta, writer and director.

For Dr Nidhi Gupta, NHS, I am Dr Nidhi Gupta BSc. (Hons) ARCS MRCP MSc. Acute Medicine

2. What is your job title?

Writer/director as well as corporate producer and founder of Busy Doctor Films

3. Who looks after the kids when you are working?

At the moment I am officially on NHS  maternity leave as my child is only five months old, but when I return to my part-time NHS job, my baby will be looked after by both nursery and my parents.

4. How long did you take off work after having your baby?

For my film work I took 10 days off before I had my first film work meeting. For my NHS job I am taking seven months off before returning to work.

5. Would you say that you have a good work/life balance?

I think I have a good work life balance from even before I had my child (putting aside the fact that I cannot take any time off from the Film work), as I have been part-time since 2015 so that I could work in the film for most of the week prior to the pandemic. Before I had my baby I was very strict with myself about not working after 6:00 p.m. and having my weekends to myself, that has now somewhat gone out of the window as I try to fit work around her schedule. I've been taking her everywhere in terms of conferences and she also joins me on online meetings, because I do not believe that there are many places she cannot go and I believe that the only way to affect change within the industry which is very unfriendly to women with children is to be the change that I want to see. As such, I can still work and take my child with me.  Having said that I've not yet been in production but we have two productions slated for early next year and that will be more of a challenge as we will have to be physically separated for a longer period of time i.e a production working day.

6. Are you job-sharing or working flexibly?

As I am founder of the company I cannot share my job, but I do work flexibly in that I answer emails and do work currently around my baby's schedule rather than my own. But isn’t that true of all parents(!)

7. What do you think is the hardest part of being a working/industry parent?

I think the hardest part of being a working parent in this industry is that there is a big expectation to attend events in the evenings and weekends, or conferences and events that occur over several days in another city/country or are required one to stay away from home for several days at a time. These are tricky to attend effectively as a working parent. Networking and maintaining visibility is paramount in this industry in order to maintain and develop working relationships and trying to maintain visibility in the real world as a working parent I'm finding a significant challenge.

8. What are your tips for any other women out there wanting to have kids and keep a career in film?

Even before I had my baby what has kept me in this industry is having many strings to my bow and having multiple streams of income that carries on without intense active daily input i.e corporate medical education videos and corporate film production within the UK and internationally. I always tell my mentees irrespective of gender but especially to the women that to maintain a presence and career that is sustainable in this industry you need to find ways of earning money that are not the whim of funders because it can take many years for those projects to come through. We have a glut of young people coming out of education with aspirations of becoming writers and directors, but little idea of the realities of sustaining a career in the Film industry and having their dreams quickly shattered. It's not easy to sustain a career in this industry but it's a marathon and not a sprint; it takes time to get to where you want to get, unless you have pre-existing industry connections to help you along.

9. Any advice for anyone about to return to work after maternity?

As someone who hasn't really had a proper maternity leave because I run my own business I'm not sure I could provide advice about returning to work after maternity leave. I'll be returning to my full-time work in both Film and NHS next year and so maybe ask me that question again this time next year!

10. What advice did you wish someone had given you?

It will take a lot longer than you imagine to get to where you want to be and even then you may not feel like you have reached where you want to be in your career. Don't expect much support within the industry - you have to find and create your own support networks to sustain yourself.