I’m Aaron Houghton. I’m based in North Wales, where I run my own blacksmithing business. I’ve been practising the craft since I was about 16, pursued it through university, taught at another forge for a while, and by the time I found myself on a film set, I’d been running my own business for about two years. My route into the screen industry wasn’t the one I’d imagined. But then, the best ones rarely are.
It started when I heard House of the Dragon was coming to the area, and I applied to be an extra, just for a bit of fun. But through a friend of a friend, I then heard about First Break – a shadowing scheme designed to get people into the industry. I went along to Aria Film Studios in Llangefni, where everything was being set up for the show, and heard more about how participants could shadow across different departments for a few weeks. It sounded fantastic, but I knew it wasn’t quite right for me. I already had a business to run and I wanted to contribute something specific.
That’s when things shifted. During the First Break interviews, Jackie – one of the people running the programme – heard my story and asked whether I’d like to be more specifically involved with the Armoury department. ‘That’s what you keep talking about,’ she said. She was right. They brought me on for the duration of the Wales shoot. It felt much more like I was genuinely working on the production and had a solid role.
What drew me in wasn’t just the show itself – I’d grown up with Game of Thrones but hadn’t watched House of the Dragon at that point. It was the design work. The swords and armour you see on screen might not be real steel, but the concepts behind them are grounded in genuine historical detail. That’s what fascinated me. On set, I got to work alongside Tim Lewis, the show's master armourer. We share a real love of history, so it was something of a match made in heaven.
Day to day, the work involved a lot of equipment maintenance: repainting and ageing synthetic swords to make them look real. With my background, I loved that part – I know what steel looks like, how it wears. Because House of the Dragon is such a large production, we often had multiple sets operating at once. During filming there were sometimes four scenes running simultaneously. Our department was small – just four of us – so I was given real responsibility. They’d hand me a scene and say, ‘Make sure everything here is sorted.’ I’d take the equipment up on my own, liaise directly with the director, and get on with it. The team was always on the radio if I needed support, but they trusted me, which I really appreciated.
Since then, things have kept moving. I’ve recently taken on the role of Head Armourer on the Excalibur project, a new production coming to Wales. It’s not on the same scale as House of the Dragon, but it’s a substantial production, and because of what I learned on set, I can approach it with real confidence. I’m not just making swords and handing them over – I can walk in and contribute to decisions about what works and how things should be managed.
Outside of that, I’ve been working on some other television projects – including something for Channel 4 I can’t talk about yet! – and ITV have visited the forge a couple of times. I’ve also had work-experience students come through who want to get into the film industry. I’m sharing whatever I can – advice, contacts, an honest picture of how the industry works. Because the biggest barrier, in my experience, is simply exposure. I got this opportunity almost entirely by chance. The right people happened to be in the room at the right moment. That’s why programmes like First Break matter so much: they create the conditions for those moments to happen.
If you’re thinking of applying, my advice is simple: go. Know what you bring. Be specific about it. The industry doesn’t always know where to look for people with skills like mine – but when they find you, it can open doors you didn’t even know existed.
Find out more about entry-level opportunities on our skills and talent page or explore our House of the Dragon trainee videos [link] featuring Adam on the Welsh set.
