Reflections on the Freelancers' Fair 2018

More than 300 visitors, guest contributors and exhibitors were part of another successful Freelancers' Fair on Friday 27 April at the Royal Institution in central London. Here, Balihar Khalsa, Prospect media officer, provides some insights into three of the nine seminars which were central to this year's programme. 

Post-Weinstein what action is underway in the UK?

Entertainment industry initiatives, such as the introduction of intimacy co-ordinators, a casting manifesto and a new phone line to tackle sexual harassment were outlined at BECTU’s Freelancers' Fair.

Representatives from BECTU, Equity, Women in Film and TV (WFTV), Thompsons Solicitors and a motion director, Ita O'Brien, spoke at the seminar dubbed #TimesUp, Freelancers making a stand against sexual harassment. The session was chaired by Sarah Ward, national secretary. 

Since the #metoo hashtag launched on twitter, which 9 million people globally tagged on to, industry organisations in the UK have been gathering information and developing strategies on how sexual harassment should be dealt with.

The seminar had a particular focus on freelancers. Kate Kinnimont chief executive of Women in Film and TV set the tone explaining: “Whether you are freelance or not the person who is paying you has a duty of care at work. You cannot think people aren’t responsible for you just because you’re a freelancer.”

Kinnimont highlighted a new helpline set up by the Film and Television Charity which went live this month. WFTV is also calling for the new guidelines on harassment, negotiated with BAFTA and the BFI, to be incorporated into contracts. BECTU, along with WFTV and several other industry organisations, played a key role in the development of the new guidance on bullying and harassment. 

Meanwhile, Thompsons Solicitors' head of employment rights Victoria Phillips emphasised that sexual harassment is illegal and has been for thirty years.

“It doesn’t matter what the bloke intended if the woman is offended, her dignity is impeded, that amounts to sexual harassment and that is an impeachment of the law”, she explained.

The discussion demonstrated the variety of work unions and campaigners are doing to promote and protect women’s rights in a wide range of workplace situations.

For example, Equity general secretary Christine Payne explained that the actors’ union is asking its members to read out a statement at the start of a rehearsal, read through or new project to emphasise the need for all workers to have a safe space.

She also highlighted the Manifesto for Casting. “It was a first point for us to address issues like no nudity in casting and no nudity on set without an observer present”.

Nudity and simulated sex scenes were also highlighted by motion director Ita O’Brien.  She said that 80-90% of actors she had spoken to felt that they had been a little abused or even raped in a simulated sex scene.

O'Brien is campaigning for the introduction of intimacy co-ordinators when simulated sex scenes and nudity are part of a production.

“There have been no guidelines on how to conduct intimate scenes to date and we have now developed them. The guidelines provide an umbrella under which the work can happen in a safe way and looks at issues of agreement and consent.

“An intimacy co-ordinator is comparable to a stunt co-ordinator. We are saying that intimacy is absolutely an inherent risk. The hope is that it will be considered that in five years time it will be unbelievable for there not to be an intimacy co-ordinator where there is a simulated sex scene.”

The #TimesUp session was live streamed on facebook; find the session on our page /bectuofficial

Contributor relationships key to authentic stories directors tell Freelancers' Fair

A group of documentary directors has emphasised the importance of contributors feeling they are part of a film to get the most authentic stories.

The directors, Sasha Djurkovic, Catey Sexton, Paul Sng and Orban Wallace, were speaking during the seminar titled A Guide to Authentic Storytelling.

Their films have covered a range of sensitive subjects including rape, the housing crisis, the Syrian refugee crisis and mothers with addictions fighting to keep their children.

The universal message from the panellists was the importance of building strong relationships with contributors.

Catey Sexton made Raped: My Story for Channel 5, a documentary in which 10 rape victims waived their right to anonymity. During the casting process Sexton met contributors two or three times.

“We gave them a lot of time to think about doing the interviews and encouraged them to go home and talk to their partners, friends, anyone significant, to really decide properly if it was the right thing to do. Some people we decided it wasn’t the right time for them to do it”, she explained.

Panorama Addicted: Last Chance Mums director Sasha Djurkovic said she had time to get to know her contributors over two months for the observational documentary. The filming style was crucial to being able to understand each woman’s story and experience.

“Each of the women understood what my role was there during the making of Panorama, Addicted – you talk to them, you inform them – they need to make an informed decision”, she explained. “These women had been raped, beaten up, failed. Just because I work for television and have a camera why would they trust me?”

However, she warned about the impact of new technology on documentaries trying to cover sensitive subjects. “Fewer ob-docs are being commissioned with the advent of rig shows. Broadcasters are worried about what they will get when they don’t know for certain. Technology is great, but it doesn’t help you get to know people”.

Paul Sng’s feature length documentary Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Scandal was made independently and partly crowdfunded. He highlighted independent funding as a way of making films that may be seen as hard to tell. However, he also highlighted the risks.

“The first part of the budget was raised by crowdfunding which has its benefits and draw backs. We raised about half of the budget. We didn’t really have enough money; we got a grant from Vivienne Westwood, a private investor and I maxed out my credit cards”, he explained.

The film grossed £75,000 in the cinema when it was released, but Sng said he would find a different way of funding a future project.

“I won’t be doing crowdfunding again because it’s hard, it feels like begging at times. It would be good to get match funding from the industry sometimes as crowdfunding shows that there is an appetite for these stories.”

Online video content brings challenges and opportunities, film-makers say

Online video production has been democratised by the advent of new technology and emerging online channels, but terms and conditions remain varied depending on the work was a clear conclusion from a panel of independent producers and directors at the Freelancers' Fair.

Director Bugsby Riverbank Steel said that the industry is increasingly fragmented and that a 'black cab versus uber' situation was emerging.

“More and more people are making content, it is noisier and you need to stand out.  You have to fight your own corner a bit. The thing is that your fees and how you shoot something are under pressure now”, he said.

However he was also optimistic and said that a “video gold rush” is currently taking place as more organisations are commissioning content.

However the panel highlighted the tension of making high quality creative content at a lower price.

Producer Sorcha Bacon, who set up her own production company, explained that there has been a “democratisation of being able to create your own content”.

However, the Bafta nominated producer admitted that she gets hired by brands because she makes things at a lower cost than more traditional operations.

Despite these issues, blogger Vicki Psarias was keen to emphasise the benefits of producing online content. The former TV director said: “For me, as a parent, it [TV] was such an inflexible workforce it was great that I was able to pivot into this new industry.

“Moving into the digital landscape has been less limiting – I can be a writer, producer, director, presenter and that is also empowering”.

Her advice to anyone looking to become a blogger is to consistently create authentic content.

Meanwhile executive producer at content video agency, Flare BBDO, Pranav Arya encouraged producers from different backgrounds to consider moving into other types of production.

“What is now interesting in the industry is there a lot more cross-pollination, for example one of our production managers has worked on Black Mirror.

I think there is more opportunity for broadcast directors to get into content because brands are looking for episodic content and the ability to go out and make content on a smaller budget.”

Content from the Freelancers' Fair 2018 will be uploaded to BECTU's YouTube Channel in the next few weeks. We'll post on social media when this happens. 

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