Meet Cristina!
Cristina Palmer Romero is a post supervisor with 24 years of experience across TV drama, documentaries, and a variety of creative projects. She’s worked in both production and post production, and even ran her own business in Southern Spain along the way.
For the past six years, Cristina has focused solely on high-end television post production, bringing her expertise, creativity, and keen eye for detail to every project she works on.
When she’s not in a post facility, Cristina is a mum to teenagers and a proud owner of two lively dogs, who make sure there’s never a dull moment at home. Her unique blend of industry experience and real-life juggling gives her plenty of stories to share, and some solid advice for anyone working in post
For the past six years, Cristina has focused solely on high-end television post production, bringing her expertise, creativity, and keen eye for detail to every project she works on.
When she’s not in a post facility, Cristina is a mum to teenagers and a proud owner of two lively dogs, who make sure there’s never a dull moment at home. Her unique blend of industry experience and real-life juggling gives her plenty of stories to share, and some solid advice for anyone working in post
Being a mum in TV is challenging. There are many days where I feel like throwing in the towel. It’s a little easier now that my kids are teenagers. I’m not rushing from the office for the school run anymore, so the last four years have definitely felt slightly more manageable.
That said, I’m still rushing home to feed them and make sure everything’s in order. My youngest is 14 now, and though I can leave him alone, I don't like to get home too late, just so there is a presence at home.
It’s always a challenge, though. There’s always a choice to make between work and family. On any given day, it feels like one of them has to give. Sometimes that means sitting down for a proper meal with the kids at a decent time, and other days it means getting home at eight or nine in the evening and eating supper at ten.
My eldest can help out a bit, but now they’re focused on their A-levels, so there’s not much spare capacity there. My kids are quite understanding about me working in television, although I’m not sure they necessarily like it. And I’m also a single parent now. Divorce was a big curveball, and it actually brought me into post production because I couldn’t see how I could continue working in production while being a single mum.
If I had to share a small manifesto for mothers working in TV, it would be this: try to put yourself first at least once a week. It’s easier said than done, especially when you’re opening your laptop again after feeding the kids and getting them to bed. Many evenings I’ve been cooking dinner while answering emails and ended up burning the meal. I’ve ruined quite a few dinners that way.
It’s really about finding small ways to make life work around the job. When you don’t have a partner at home, there’s no one else doing the food shopping or picking up the slack. On busy weeks we definitely rely on takeaways, and I’ve also ordered food for the kids when my eldest was babysitting and I was still stuck at the office.
One thing that genuinely changed my life was signing up for Gousto. The weekend food planning and shopping used to take so much time. Now I just choose the meals for the week and a box arrives on Saturday morning. It’s taken a lot of that stress away.
Supportive workplaces also make a huge difference. You need an office that understands when you have to take time out for your kids or attend school events. I think the industry has changed a lot since before I had children. I remember watching mums leave at six o’clock on the dot and wondering how that worked, especially when I’d be staying until ten or eleven at night. But those extreme hours feel less common now, and there’s much more awareness around things like the twelve-hour turnaround.
One piece of advice I’d give to mums with teenagers: get a dog. My kids are lovely, but teenagers don’t always greet you with open arms when you walk through the door. You tend to get a grunt. After my divorce I got a puppy – our “divorce puppy” – and it’s honestly been wonderful to come home to a creature that’s always happy to see me. We added another puppy last May, so now there’s double the love waiting at home. Dogs really do bring that little boost of joy we all need.
Working in TV is tough, and it’s doubly tough when you have kids. Before I had mine, I used to look at working mums and wonder how they had the headspace for it all. Now I understand that somehow, you just make it work.
The truth is, it often feels like you’re behind on something. Either you feel behind on work, or you feel behind on the kids. There’s rarely a perfect balance.
But everything is temporary. On the difficult days, I remind myself that I just need to get through today, and tomorrow will be easier.
That said, I’m still rushing home to feed them and make sure everything’s in order. My youngest is 14 now, and though I can leave him alone, I don't like to get home too late, just so there is a presence at home.
It’s always a challenge, though. There’s always a choice to make between work and family. On any given day, it feels like one of them has to give. Sometimes that means sitting down for a proper meal with the kids at a decent time, and other days it means getting home at eight or nine in the evening and eating supper at ten.
My eldest can help out a bit, but now they’re focused on their A-levels, so there’s not much spare capacity there. My kids are quite understanding about me working in television, although I’m not sure they necessarily like it. And I’m also a single parent now. Divorce was a big curveball, and it actually brought me into post production because I couldn’t see how I could continue working in production while being a single mum.
If I had to share a small manifesto for mothers working in TV, it would be this: try to put yourself first at least once a week. It’s easier said than done, especially when you’re opening your laptop again after feeding the kids and getting them to bed. Many evenings I’ve been cooking dinner while answering emails and ended up burning the meal. I’ve ruined quite a few dinners that way.
It’s really about finding small ways to make life work around the job. When you don’t have a partner at home, there’s no one else doing the food shopping or picking up the slack. On busy weeks we definitely rely on takeaways, and I’ve also ordered food for the kids when my eldest was babysitting and I was still stuck at the office.
One thing that genuinely changed my life was signing up for Gousto. The weekend food planning and shopping used to take so much time. Now I just choose the meals for the week and a box arrives on Saturday morning. It’s taken a lot of that stress away.
Supportive workplaces also make a huge difference. You need an office that understands when you have to take time out for your kids or attend school events. I think the industry has changed a lot since before I had children. I remember watching mums leave at six o’clock on the dot and wondering how that worked, especially when I’d be staying until ten or eleven at night. But those extreme hours feel less common now, and there’s much more awareness around things like the twelve-hour turnaround.
One piece of advice I’d give to mums with teenagers: get a dog. My kids are lovely, but teenagers don’t always greet you with open arms when you walk through the door. You tend to get a grunt. After my divorce I got a puppy – our “divorce puppy” – and it’s honestly been wonderful to come home to a creature that’s always happy to see me. We added another puppy last May, so now there’s double the love waiting at home. Dogs really do bring that little boost of joy we all need.
Working in TV is tough, and it’s doubly tough when you have kids. Before I had mine, I used to look at working mums and wonder how they had the headspace for it all. Now I understand that somehow, you just make it work.
The truth is, it often feels like you’re behind on something. Either you feel behind on work, or you feel behind on the kids. There’s rarely a perfect balance.
But everything is temporary. On the difficult days, I remind myself that I just need to get through today, and tomorrow will be easier.
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