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This document is the result of several conversations over the past couple of weeks with freelancers in our industry. We hope that the issues raised will form the basis of our dealings with BECTU, as well as acting as a stimulus to all freelancers to join us. Rates We all believe that rates have barely changed in ten years, although this is very difficult to check. A production manager friend of mine tells me that the (extremely well connected but hardly high flying) producer/director of factual programmes she is working with charges (and gets) £1400 per week. I know of a young director (not first time, but pretty new) who was being paid £695 p/w by one of the biggest indies for a BBC2 series. Production managers have been stuck at £750 pw for several years, while APs rarely command more than £650, whatever their experience and skills. We all believe that a system for reporting rates would make it far easier to negotiate a proper rate for the job and also to name and shame employers who are trying to undercut them. Unrealistic Production schedules Another way of cutting budgets…
We have all suffered this: a project which has a schedule which
requires people to work unreasonable hours in order to complete
it satisfactorily - ie, it should take x weeks but has a schedule
of x-3 or 4 weeks. For example, a PM friend of mine is working
on a project for one of the newer British terrestrial broadcasters
which has a six week schedule (including a two week edit!) for
a 60' programme. It used to be a particular problem with projects
commissioned by British terrestrial broadcasters through independent
companies (ie an outsourced project would have a much shorter
schedule than one made in house), but it's probably much more
widespread now, with the advent of satellite channels. Abuses of the new Working Time
Regulations are reported throughout the industry; a system for
reporting employers who try to get around the rules would be
extremely helpful for anyone negotiating contracts. Again, the
biggest indies are all cited as frequent offenders - one PB member
told me that, having negotiated a weekly rate recently, he found
that the rate had been "adjusted" downward to accommodate
holiday pay when his contract arrived. He contacted the union
and was advised that, while it was indeed very dodgy practice,
there was little he could do as an individual to change it without
rendering himself unemployable by an important player in the
market. He is philosophical, saying that he'll know to increase
his rate the next time he negotiates a rate with that company.
However if there was a system for reporting abuses like this
to the website then we might be able to do something about them
collectively. We are all very aware that we
work in an industry which has an enormous oversupply of eager
youngsters looking for a way in, and they are open to horrific,
cynical abuse such as that outlined above. There have been other
very lively threads on the forum about "work experience"
which would seem simply to be a way of getting people to work
for nothing - the company that wanted someone with experience,
a driver's licence and languages to work on a drama would be
a case in point. Another member has had serious
problems following an unjustified poor reference which was then
passed on to other potential employers. She is now on the brink
of the leaving the tv industry altogether because she feels that
this will blight her future employment. She also told me how,
as a series producer, she was presented with two eighteen year
old waiters as DV operators whose only payment was in sandwiches
who had to be released by 1830 on workdays so that they could
go to their paying waiting jobs. Ironically, the UK's largest
terrestrial broadcaster requires P/Ds to have undertaken and
passed a Health and Safety course before they can work on its
output, but after that, no-one seems to give a damn. Consequently
we find ourselves working 12+ hour days in critical environments,
with a long drive home at the end of the day. I am a member of the DPRS, but
I'm not holding my breath. Every contract I have seen in the
last two years has expressly signed over any moral rights in
the material I create - and some of the series I have been working
on are very good earners in the satellite/cable/overseas sales
arena. I have very little chance of challenging that status quo
as an individual vs the big employers, but a lobby from the union
might be a very welcome support to DPRS's efforts. The Way Forward We're hoping that this site
will become the basis of an online community for television freelancers,
which will develop a voice loud enough to be taken seriously
throughout the industry and listened to by BECTU, indies and
broadcasters alike. We will keep this site regularly updated with news and views. We look forward to hearing from
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