In the UK there are various forms of media that are relevant currently. These operate in different ways so are broken down into different industries. This includes radio, for example, music, podcasts, radio serials and dramas, and the distribution/airing of these on FM, digital stations or even by using on-demand services. The sector mostly covers all types of audio content that is consumed by listening. While the radio industry is small compared to other media sectors (bringing in 1.3 billion in 2018), it has steadily remained relevant throughout the years with the advent of on demand software and technological advancement which has allowed it to become even more accessible to newer generations.
Television is by far the largest media format in the UK domestically. Bringing in over £16 billion a year in revenue thanks to the myriad of quality shows being produced in the country which remain successful in the confines of its own nation and beyond, gaining widespread appeal around the world to be massively popular in the USA, Canada and Australia, as well as outside of the anglosphere in Europe and Asia. With so many original shows being greenlit and financed, the TV industry in the UK is the best place for aspiring actors, writers and directors to show off their creativity and talents without having to make the leap to break onto the big screen. Dramas, comedies, and shows of just about any nature and genre can thrive here thanks to the competition between different corporations and companies to have the best content available on their platform, and with the newest innovations within online VOD streaming, the industry has become wider and more shows created here will be able to be accessed by worldwide audiences.
The video game industry is currently thriving in the United Kingdom. The home of massively successful IPs like Grand Theft Auto brought in £4 billion in revenue in 2018 alone. This is in part due to the high level of software education available in UK universities and colleges, as well as the remote and global nature of software design in the age of the internet. The government has also put tax schemes in place to encourage international games companies to have economic relations with the country, this, alongside funding has allowed the video gaming industry to explode with plenty of opportunities for budding games designers.
Animation is currently the most popular film genre in the UK, with many animated productions basing themselves in the country. An effective tax relief and fund brought in by the government in 2013 gave new life to a previously dwindling industry that had mostly moved abroad to countries with in favor of lower taxation. As well as occupying cinema screens, a large number of these newly created British animated shows are aimed at a younger demographic, being created for the children’s TV channels here, mostly CBBC and CITV.
Advertising and marketing are a staple of British society. It is the fourth largest advertising market in the world, only behind the world leading United States, consumerist heaven China and Japan. Advertisers spend around £20 billion a year just on marketing their products and services here. This would traditionally come in the form of TV adverts, billboards, and print advertising, but the relevance of the internet in the last few decades has meant that most expenditure goes into internet and social media advertising while the spending on print newspaper ads drops more and more annually. Any customer-fronted business highly benefits from any form of effective advertising so the industry is by no means shrinking and is growing constantly.
Film is the sector that I will be focusing on. While the film output of the UK on the global market dwarfs that of our gigantic television industry, it is still relevant and exported films produce roughly 15% of all box office revenue around the world. The impact of our film industry is a lot smaller than something like Hollywood, it is still an important producer in the world market, and cross productions with the UK are sometimes seen in Hollywood (for example, recent Star Wars productions basing some production in England).
The biggest and most relevant organisations within the UK film industry are definitely the BFI, National Lottery and Film4 in terms of independent media and BBC for the more establishment inclined. The BFI is a charity that aims to enrich British and world cinema by providing opportunities for those looking to enter the industry (mostly through their education programmes) or even just enthusiasts by distributing otherwise obscure films on contemporary viewing platforms. It supports and encourages independents who are looking to create films to seek out funding, which can be provided by key organisations associated with the BFI, including government and national lottery funds and smaller local funding opportunities. Film4 is another company that aims to help produce independent films made in the UK. It has backed, funded and helped distribute newer works of British cinema since it was established in 1982, the majority of these films are co-productions, usually alongside the BFI and the publicly funded UK Film Council for extra financial support.
The BBC is the largest publicly funded media body in the entire country. It is a large player in the television industry but does not have as wide an interest in original film as it does in its shows. Despite this, there have still been a number of successful films produced by the BBC Films division of the company, including We Need To Talk About Kevin and Billy Elliot.
Film production tends to have a complex nature and usually requires a lot of money and personnel to produce. There are a myriad of job roles involved in the sector in order to maintain order and achieve success during all stages of production. The most important group of people collaborating on a film are all those who are responsible for the creative side of a project. The majority of productions will start with a writer or a group of writers creating a script or even just a treatment to translate their ideas into something more tangible, from here, the writer will allow the rest of the creatives to review the script and begin planning their approach based on their role. The director will be responsible for bringing the script to life by being the head of the actual production phase, the DP typically works with the director closely to achieve a certain mutual stylistic vision, the camera operators will follow the guidelines set by both the DP and director, the sound recordists will be responsible for the audio end of the project and must also follow the director’s orders on how sound will be presented in the final product, the designers will follow the vision of the director and DP and ensure that it is possible to create in front of the camera, and the producer will be involved in every step of the process to ensure that all persons can effectively have their say in the creative process alongside ensuring that the right steps are taken to action everything.
On the technical side there are lighting operators who will set up the lights in accordance to what the DP has decided, set designers who will collaborate with the creative team to establish their vision, riggers who work on the set to keep everything in order by setting up and maintaining the mechanical equipment such as ropes or booms, and data wranglers who handle the digital footage every time it is shot for it to be correctly viewed and stored whenever needed.
Some large projects require more than one role for video editing. For example there might be a dedicated colorist whose job it is to color grade each scene to again attain the style that the director and cinematographer have devised. There is also the journalism aspect which is responsible for organizing press releases, interviews, appearances and other types of publicity for the project. These are managed by press editors and sub editors who then check the validity of the piece. Journalists find their own insight into the project and process it for a wider audience by documenting the material the public will find the most interesting.
The marketing team on a large project can sometimes be the most important when it comes to gaining publicity and selling the final project as a product. Members of this sector look into the public demands and the demographic targeted by the product to assess the best method of promoting it to the core audience. This could be the focus of different efforts such as online marketing, print material, or PR stunts depending on how the audience is best captivated.
The managerial team has less control over the final product than the creative team but their job is to ensure that the creatives all collaborate together and ensure that the creative process is organised and efficient through all phases of production. They lead the team and are necessary to a successful project.
The administrative team will take on roles such as ensuring that the locations used for filming are available when needed and will deal with contacting the people responsible for the property to make sure that it can be used.
The legal side is there to make sure that the studio or individual personnel face no legal repercussions. This involves ensuring health and safety and documents relating to it such as risk assessments are filed correctly to be accessed by higher ups who may inquire about it. They will also deal with certain creative laws such as copyright as well as ensuring that locations are legally available and documented correctly.
In order for the sector to recruit the right people to fit the massive amount of jobs required for a film project, they can utilize various methods of recruitment to fit around their budget, location and other prerequisites. For example, recruitment websites and social media can be used by the employer to place specific adverts that contain the relevant information about required and recommended attributes, this can attract a large amount of attention from potential clients from all over. Personal connections are also a highly important part of recruitment. This is the best way to ensure that you get the best of the best in every role and for the best price possible. Networking with different people in the industry is essential to creating a rapport for the best possible project and sharing a creative vision, even if the specific job role does not require it, will be beneficial to the outcome of the final product. This also allows word of mouth to spread information about the project and filling roles as the idea will spread among the different communities and sectors of the industry and pique interest along different places. The press can also be utilized to attract employment, either through PR campaigns and advertisements, similar to how regular products and services are marketed. The downside of this is lack of connection to the potential clients, meaning that they are strangers and it may be hard to brief them on the esoteric significance of the project if they have not worked with any of the other mutual cast and crew before.
Once the necessary employees have been acquired for the project, it’s important to consider what type of contract they will be employed under during the production. Newcomers into the industry will typically be willing to take on an internship or volunteer for free in exchange for experience and credentials, but the trade off for the employer is that they will often need to spend extra time and resources during the production to train the worker if there’s a concept they don’t understand fully due to lack of prior experience.
Freelancers in the industry don’t belong to an agency or company and work independently, so their rates are decided by them based on what their clients are willing to pay. More experienced freelancers will charge a higher premium and the less experienced will be more cost effective. It’s up to the budget and usually the producer to decide if it’s worth spending more on industry professionals or sacrificing expertise in favor of lower costs. Full time contracts are useful when the shoot is very involved, with long working days and a long span. Part time contracts are more suitable for smaller projects, where the production schedule will not be as packed and will be more concise. Usually these contracts are temporary as once the film or series of films has finished production most of the cast and crew will move on, but permanent contracts can also be used by big studios in order to keep rights over certain high value creatives that they wish to utilize over a long period of time.
Taxation will have to be negotiated with both the employers and the employees in relation to their contracts and rates are means tested and depend on a variety of factors that need to be taken into consideration before making a decision on the type of contract to issue. Certain types of film funding can also affect this decision and investors will expect to know how their money is being allocated.
So far I have outlined all the recruitment and contracting undertaken by the employers in the industry. But when it comes to the employees, things are largely different. Any person looking for employment in the industry must start with at least a CV. This will outline the qualifications and whatever experience the worker currently has under their belt. Every employer will make judgements based upon this, so it’s the bare minimum required to start applying if you’re new into the industry. Social media is also now an integral part of the industry, with many professionals placing profiles on sites like LinkedIn to act as showcases for their qualifications and work. This is similar to a CV but does not have to be sent out directly and is more accessible by any potential employers searching online. Some social media sites even give users access to communication among different groups and higher ups in the industry, so it’s a good place to get started if you want to build up connections and have a platform to network with them. Once an employee begins to build up their experience, it may become important for them to start putting together a showreel or personal website that can show off their best work with a professional approach and which can be directly marketed to a wider range of employers thanks to the added value from their previous work. More experienced people may also have references from more important figures in the industry, which function as testaments to their competency at their given job role and are also attractive to industry professionals. The best way for an inexperienced employee to find work is through the various forms of recruitment, for example, social media advertisement, word of mouth or job seeking websites, once the employee has found a job that they are available and willing to take on, they will sometimes have to write a letter of application to the prospective employer. This should be used to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject and job role, as well as a test of their proficiency and professionalism. It should be written concisely and pack as much necessary information into a small space as possible as employers will not have the time to sift through huge letters that don’t get to the point. Brevity is important as well as use of terminology and correct grammar, punctuation and spelling.
If an employee manages to attain an interview for the job they applied for, it’s very important for them to follow the general rules in order to succeed and gain favor from the employer. This is their chance to prove themselves, their knowledge and their willingness to work in a practical and real environment. It’s important to communicate positively with the interviewer, making sure appropriate eye contact and body language is used. The aim should be to come across as strong and confident in yourself and your field of work while still remaining humble and avoiding displaying traits of arrogance. This balance, while hard for some to achieve, is crucial to success in absolutely any industry. You should also aim to present yourself as honest and genuine and avoid lying or being hesitant if you are questioned about a field you have little knowledge in, however you can spin this around by responding in a way that shows you are passionate to learn about the particular skill through the experience the job will provide. While some might view it as vein, and whether we like to admit it or not, appearance is an important judge of character too. Whether consciously or unconsciously, it’s part of your first impression and how you present yourself so employers will make a judgement on it. Good personal hygiene is an absolute must and following the dress code of the employer shows that you are already on the same wavelength to their approach. For example, if the business has a more casual approach, it might be slightly excessive to arrive in a £5,000 suit fresh from Saks Fifth, or if there's a more formal standard, you may feel underdressed in jeans and a T-shirt.
As someone looking for work in the industry, it’s also important to ensure that you have made yourself as attractive to potential employers as possible to increase your opportunities and give you the edge over others. This is done through gaining experience and qualifications that you can present through CVs or portfolios so that employers have evidence that you’ll get the specific job done well. If you lack any meaningful skills you can enter into education to be trained in them. This could include studying the specific sector in college, university, or online to varying degrees. However it is typical in the media industry, specifically film and television, that experience speaks louder than qualifications. This is because a qualification alone will not show vision, practical ability and planning that is vital in an industry that is so creative.
Because of this it might be a better decision, especially for those who are more inclined towards creative roles, to spend time and resources that otherwise would have gone towards education to fund their own projects. This will give everyone involved the chance to learn in a practical and real environment, as well as providing them with something to show at the end of it. If this is not a current possibility it’s also a great use of time to volunteer or shadow others already in the industry, this will allow you to develop skills and techniques that are standard and already established that may be necessary in order to make it into the industry yourself. All of this subsequent work should be well documented and publicly accessible on the internet for anyone in the industry to view.
Once you have dedicated yourself to the media industry, you must maintain yourself in a way that shows that you care about your subject. This includes communicating and networking with other figures, in both a formal and informal manner to stay on the cutting edge of all of the happenings and be informed on any potential upcoming events, staying up to date with your technical skills and adapting to any advancements in the industry when necessary, keeping motivated and productive with your work and staying organised as well as presenting the most professional version of yourself to everyone else by being reliable, managing your appearance and hygiene and communicating in an honest way.
The film sector in the UK is structured very differently to the likes of television and advertising. This is because it’s more niche and features smaller production than something like TV which has a huge industry built around it. Usually, wholly-UK film productions are small and independent, the likes of films funded and distributed by BFI are a testament to this. This means that there is more control in the hands of the creatives and less of a business feel to it as financially a lot of these films are solely publicly funded. Compare this to Hollywood, where vast amounts of the industry belong to huge multinational globalist corporations that see film as a medium of gaining revenue from as large a market as possible. While this means less are employed in the local sector comparatively, it also allows for a more devolved and less authoritarian structure here to give more responsibility and a meaningful democratic voice to all workers.
Public service media is an outlet that exists to inform the public about certain ideas or morals that they should consider. It is usually funded publicly by governments and attempts to teach their audience about a general topic while also keeping them entertained and engaged. It was very common to find these in the form of dedicated public information films, alongside leaflets and posters from the 50s up to the 90s in the UK. They were typically ordered by the Central Office of Information, a now defunct state-owned marketing agency, and would be aired on TV or even shown in schools. Some notable examples include Protect and Survive (a piece detailing preparation for nuclear war in the 1970s, which views as unsettlingly dystopian from a contemporary perspective), Green Cross Code (aimed at teaching children road safety) and AIDS: Don’t Die of Ignorance (a bleak campaign launched to raise awareness about the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s). While the rise of 24 hour media and the internet has rendered this sector as less important than it was during its prime, it has hit a resurgence lately thanks to government warnings around COVID19 epidemic. These adverts are shown on television, alongside accompanying commercials on social media and around the internet to grasp the attention of a more technologically inclined generation.
Commercial media is in essence a form of media used by large corporations in order to promote their products and services to wide or specific audiences. This is most common to find on commercial television, where advertisements are the largest form of income for the network themselves and often gratuitous amounts are shown between the shows as ways of garnering revenue, as there aren’t many other ways of staying financially afloat. This practice has become so ingrained within the media of most cultures globally now that shows are quite literally formatted around the concept of “advertisement breaks” and viewers are conditioned to see it as part of the television viewing experience.
Horizontal and vertical integration describes the way that large companies expand to acquire others in order to increase their control in the market. This is seen in huge multimedia conglomerate companies such as Disney, who have acquired Marvel and 21st/20th Century Fox recently. This benefits them greatly as it gives them more rights to a larger share of the media industry as a whole and allows them to integrate their products and properties alongside their subsidiaries. While it is commonplace for companies to do this now, as a whole it can be seen as promoting monopoly within the industry which in turn may suppress the voices of smaller creatives in favor of the corporate bureaucrats at the top of the chain.
Independent media is a term used for any form of media that comes from a small, dedicated team and has a lower budget than that of huge, commercial media. The primary difference in that the spirit surrounding independent media focuses on creative freedom, expression and an alternative to the mainstream establishment. This differs from commercial media as that tends to be seen as more hyper-focused on generating profits and creating a false sense of dependence on it in the public to gain retention. Independent media is important to the industry as it provides a voice to the niche and gives the public the liberty of deciding if they wish to source their media from a different perspective.
As mentioned earlier, the film industry is a large deal in the UK, with the net worth of the BFI alone around £4.5 million as of 2019. The CEO, Ben Roberts, was appointed just recently in December 2019 and is responsible for the institute that operates under the category of a “charitable organization”. This means they are exempt from certain high taxes that an incorporated for profit business would face. The reason they can classify themselves as this is because they are considered to add value to the British media industry for both consumers and creatives alike. They are publicly funded by various other organisations and do not require license fees. They are structured in a standard and minimal way due to the still small and independent nature that they inspire. This means that the creatives are given control on how they want to structure their individual projects with their teams and can organise the majority of the production the way they want to. Their main responsibility lies in distributing lottery funds towards projects they see potential in and distributing the final films across cinemas around the country (such as in their Southbank theater in London) as well as organising for certain films to have home video or in today’s case VOD releases through themselves or external parties.
As the establishment attempts to become more progressive, expectations within the industry are rising when it comes to self expression. These ideas are well intentioned and are implemented to protect those from minority backgrounds or those who are disadvantaged socially. This is seen to bring more diversity to the table and tries to even the playing field to allow everyone from a variety of faiths and beliefs to have the same voice to share their insight. This is now a part of law in the UK as of the Equality Act 2010, which protects against any form of discrimination in all forms of employment. While giving everyone a platform like this is incredibly important in a free society, in the creative realm it is more of a complex issue and there are grey areas. Certain creatives in recent years have raised issues with sanctions becoming possibly too extreme to the extent of infringing the right to free speech in the industry towards those with alternative visions. In any creative industry, liberty as an artist is an important aspect, and censorship of differing viewpoints, whether in jest or otherwise, potentially harms the individual liberties of the public, and is equally as important as giving everyone a chance.
As an employee (and especially a creative) it’s important to personally reach a balance between respecting these expectations and also feeling like you can use the medium to express yourself honestly. As part of British values representation of all religious beliefs and different groups is important in our society, and the film is a great medium for that representation to be seen by the widest audience possible.
When it comes to any form of media, it’s important to follow the government legislation. This means not infringing on copyright laws by ensuring the correct rights are owned for any third party material (e.g. music, graphics and other assets) and adhering to local and international fair use laws when material of that nature is used. You cannot break intellectual property laws unless you are confident that you would be able to justify your decision legally. This is why it's important for both employees and employers alike to research and be well versed in any and all legislation relating to their sector.
While creatives should feel free to express themselves through media, there are some rules when it comes to the type of content you can and can't produce if you intend to rely on certain platforms to distribute it. For example on television there is a "watershed" period, that ends 9pm and starts at 5:30am that is enforced by the broadcasting authority organization Ofcom in the UK, in essence stopping networks from airing shows with profane language and gratuitous sexual content before it ends. There are also rules around press and data protection. This means it is the network's responsibility to ensure that nobody's personal information is unnecessary revealed or that their privacy is not disrupted if they are unwilling.
Television is by far the largest media format in the UK domestically. Bringing in over £16 billion a year in revenue thanks to the myriad of quality shows being produced in the country which remain successful in the confines of its own nation and beyond, gaining widespread appeal around the world to be massively popular in the USA, Canada and Australia, as well as outside of the anglosphere in Europe and Asia. With so many original shows being greenlit and financed, the TV industry in the UK is the best place for aspiring actors, writers and directors to show off their creativity and talents without having to make the leap to break onto the big screen. Dramas, comedies, and shows of just about any nature and genre can thrive here thanks to the competition between different corporations and companies to have the best content available on their platform, and with the newest innovations within online VOD streaming, the industry has become wider and more shows created here will be able to be accessed by worldwide audiences.
The video game industry is currently thriving in the United Kingdom. The home of massively successful IPs like Grand Theft Auto brought in £4 billion in revenue in 2018 alone. This is in part due to the high level of software education available in UK universities and colleges, as well as the remote and global nature of software design in the age of the internet. The government has also put tax schemes in place to encourage international games companies to have economic relations with the country, this, alongside funding has allowed the video gaming industry to explode with plenty of opportunities for budding games designers.
Animation is currently the most popular film genre in the UK, with many animated productions basing themselves in the country. An effective tax relief and fund brought in by the government in 2013 gave new life to a previously dwindling industry that had mostly moved abroad to countries with in favor of lower taxation. As well as occupying cinema screens, a large number of these newly created British animated shows are aimed at a younger demographic, being created for the children’s TV channels here, mostly CBBC and CITV.
Advertising and marketing are a staple of British society. It is the fourth largest advertising market in the world, only behind the world leading United States, consumerist heaven China and Japan. Advertisers spend around £20 billion a year just on marketing their products and services here. This would traditionally come in the form of TV adverts, billboards, and print advertising, but the relevance of the internet in the last few decades has meant that most expenditure goes into internet and social media advertising while the spending on print newspaper ads drops more and more annually. Any customer-fronted business highly benefits from any form of effective advertising so the industry is by no means shrinking and is growing constantly.
Film is the sector that I will be focusing on. While the film output of the UK on the global market dwarfs that of our gigantic television industry, it is still relevant and exported films produce roughly 15% of all box office revenue around the world. The impact of our film industry is a lot smaller than something like Hollywood, it is still an important producer in the world market, and cross productions with the UK are sometimes seen in Hollywood (for example, recent Star Wars productions basing some production in England).
The biggest and most relevant organisations within the UK film industry are definitely the BFI, National Lottery and Film4 in terms of independent media and BBC for the more establishment inclined. The BFI is a charity that aims to enrich British and world cinema by providing opportunities for those looking to enter the industry (mostly through their education programmes) or even just enthusiasts by distributing otherwise obscure films on contemporary viewing platforms. It supports and encourages independents who are looking to create films to seek out funding, which can be provided by key organisations associated with the BFI, including government and national lottery funds and smaller local funding opportunities. Film4 is another company that aims to help produce independent films made in the UK. It has backed, funded and helped distribute newer works of British cinema since it was established in 1982, the majority of these films are co-productions, usually alongside the BFI and the publicly funded UK Film Council for extra financial support.
The BBC is the largest publicly funded media body in the entire country. It is a large player in the television industry but does not have as wide an interest in original film as it does in its shows. Despite this, there have still been a number of successful films produced by the BBC Films division of the company, including We Need To Talk About Kevin and Billy Elliot.
Film production tends to have a complex nature and usually requires a lot of money and personnel to produce. There are a myriad of job roles involved in the sector in order to maintain order and achieve success during all stages of production. The most important group of people collaborating on a film are all those who are responsible for the creative side of a project. The majority of productions will start with a writer or a group of writers creating a script or even just a treatment to translate their ideas into something more tangible, from here, the writer will allow the rest of the creatives to review the script and begin planning their approach based on their role. The director will be responsible for bringing the script to life by being the head of the actual production phase, the DP typically works with the director closely to achieve a certain mutual stylistic vision, the camera operators will follow the guidelines set by both the DP and director, the sound recordists will be responsible for the audio end of the project and must also follow the director’s orders on how sound will be presented in the final product, the designers will follow the vision of the director and DP and ensure that it is possible to create in front of the camera, and the producer will be involved in every step of the process to ensure that all persons can effectively have their say in the creative process alongside ensuring that the right steps are taken to action everything.
On the technical side there are lighting operators who will set up the lights in accordance to what the DP has decided, set designers who will collaborate with the creative team to establish their vision, riggers who work on the set to keep everything in order by setting up and maintaining the mechanical equipment such as ropes or booms, and data wranglers who handle the digital footage every time it is shot for it to be correctly viewed and stored whenever needed.
Some large projects require more than one role for video editing. For example there might be a dedicated colorist whose job it is to color grade each scene to again attain the style that the director and cinematographer have devised. There is also the journalism aspect which is responsible for organizing press releases, interviews, appearances and other types of publicity for the project. These are managed by press editors and sub editors who then check the validity of the piece. Journalists find their own insight into the project and process it for a wider audience by documenting the material the public will find the most interesting.
The marketing team on a large project can sometimes be the most important when it comes to gaining publicity and selling the final project as a product. Members of this sector look into the public demands and the demographic targeted by the product to assess the best method of promoting it to the core audience. This could be the focus of different efforts such as online marketing, print material, or PR stunts depending on how the audience is best captivated.
The managerial team has less control over the final product than the creative team but their job is to ensure that the creatives all collaborate together and ensure that the creative process is organised and efficient through all phases of production. They lead the team and are necessary to a successful project.
The administrative team will take on roles such as ensuring that the locations used for filming are available when needed and will deal with contacting the people responsible for the property to make sure that it can be used.
The legal side is there to make sure that the studio or individual personnel face no legal repercussions. This involves ensuring health and safety and documents relating to it such as risk assessments are filed correctly to be accessed by higher ups who may inquire about it. They will also deal with certain creative laws such as copyright as well as ensuring that locations are legally available and documented correctly.
In order for the sector to recruit the right people to fit the massive amount of jobs required for a film project, they can utilize various methods of recruitment to fit around their budget, location and other prerequisites. For example, recruitment websites and social media can be used by the employer to place specific adverts that contain the relevant information about required and recommended attributes, this can attract a large amount of attention from potential clients from all over. Personal connections are also a highly important part of recruitment. This is the best way to ensure that you get the best of the best in every role and for the best price possible. Networking with different people in the industry is essential to creating a rapport for the best possible project and sharing a creative vision, even if the specific job role does not require it, will be beneficial to the outcome of the final product. This also allows word of mouth to spread information about the project and filling roles as the idea will spread among the different communities and sectors of the industry and pique interest along different places. The press can also be utilized to attract employment, either through PR campaigns and advertisements, similar to how regular products and services are marketed. The downside of this is lack of connection to the potential clients, meaning that they are strangers and it may be hard to brief them on the esoteric significance of the project if they have not worked with any of the other mutual cast and crew before.
Once the necessary employees have been acquired for the project, it’s important to consider what type of contract they will be employed under during the production. Newcomers into the industry will typically be willing to take on an internship or volunteer for free in exchange for experience and credentials, but the trade off for the employer is that they will often need to spend extra time and resources during the production to train the worker if there’s a concept they don’t understand fully due to lack of prior experience.
Freelancers in the industry don’t belong to an agency or company and work independently, so their rates are decided by them based on what their clients are willing to pay. More experienced freelancers will charge a higher premium and the less experienced will be more cost effective. It’s up to the budget and usually the producer to decide if it’s worth spending more on industry professionals or sacrificing expertise in favor of lower costs. Full time contracts are useful when the shoot is very involved, with long working days and a long span. Part time contracts are more suitable for smaller projects, where the production schedule will not be as packed and will be more concise. Usually these contracts are temporary as once the film or series of films has finished production most of the cast and crew will move on, but permanent contracts can also be used by big studios in order to keep rights over certain high value creatives that they wish to utilize over a long period of time.
Taxation will have to be negotiated with both the employers and the employees in relation to their contracts and rates are means tested and depend on a variety of factors that need to be taken into consideration before making a decision on the type of contract to issue. Certain types of film funding can also affect this decision and investors will expect to know how their money is being allocated.
So far I have outlined all the recruitment and contracting undertaken by the employers in the industry. But when it comes to the employees, things are largely different. Any person looking for employment in the industry must start with at least a CV. This will outline the qualifications and whatever experience the worker currently has under their belt. Every employer will make judgements based upon this, so it’s the bare minimum required to start applying if you’re new into the industry. Social media is also now an integral part of the industry, with many professionals placing profiles on sites like LinkedIn to act as showcases for their qualifications and work. This is similar to a CV but does not have to be sent out directly and is more accessible by any potential employers searching online. Some social media sites even give users access to communication among different groups and higher ups in the industry, so it’s a good place to get started if you want to build up connections and have a platform to network with them. Once an employee begins to build up their experience, it may become important for them to start putting together a showreel or personal website that can show off their best work with a professional approach and which can be directly marketed to a wider range of employers thanks to the added value from their previous work. More experienced people may also have references from more important figures in the industry, which function as testaments to their competency at their given job role and are also attractive to industry professionals. The best way for an inexperienced employee to find work is through the various forms of recruitment, for example, social media advertisement, word of mouth or job seeking websites, once the employee has found a job that they are available and willing to take on, they will sometimes have to write a letter of application to the prospective employer. This should be used to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject and job role, as well as a test of their proficiency and professionalism. It should be written concisely and pack as much necessary information into a small space as possible as employers will not have the time to sift through huge letters that don’t get to the point. Brevity is important as well as use of terminology and correct grammar, punctuation and spelling.
If an employee manages to attain an interview for the job they applied for, it’s very important for them to follow the general rules in order to succeed and gain favor from the employer. This is their chance to prove themselves, their knowledge and their willingness to work in a practical and real environment. It’s important to communicate positively with the interviewer, making sure appropriate eye contact and body language is used. The aim should be to come across as strong and confident in yourself and your field of work while still remaining humble and avoiding displaying traits of arrogance. This balance, while hard for some to achieve, is crucial to success in absolutely any industry. You should also aim to present yourself as honest and genuine and avoid lying or being hesitant if you are questioned about a field you have little knowledge in, however you can spin this around by responding in a way that shows you are passionate to learn about the particular skill through the experience the job will provide. While some might view it as vein, and whether we like to admit it or not, appearance is an important judge of character too. Whether consciously or unconsciously, it’s part of your first impression and how you present yourself so employers will make a judgement on it. Good personal hygiene is an absolute must and following the dress code of the employer shows that you are already on the same wavelength to their approach. For example, if the business has a more casual approach, it might be slightly excessive to arrive in a £5,000 suit fresh from Saks Fifth, or if there's a more formal standard, you may feel underdressed in jeans and a T-shirt.
As someone looking for work in the industry, it’s also important to ensure that you have made yourself as attractive to potential employers as possible to increase your opportunities and give you the edge over others. This is done through gaining experience and qualifications that you can present through CVs or portfolios so that employers have evidence that you’ll get the specific job done well. If you lack any meaningful skills you can enter into education to be trained in them. This could include studying the specific sector in college, university, or online to varying degrees. However it is typical in the media industry, specifically film and television, that experience speaks louder than qualifications. This is because a qualification alone will not show vision, practical ability and planning that is vital in an industry that is so creative.
Because of this it might be a better decision, especially for those who are more inclined towards creative roles, to spend time and resources that otherwise would have gone towards education to fund their own projects. This will give everyone involved the chance to learn in a practical and real environment, as well as providing them with something to show at the end of it. If this is not a current possibility it’s also a great use of time to volunteer or shadow others already in the industry, this will allow you to develop skills and techniques that are standard and already established that may be necessary in order to make it into the industry yourself. All of this subsequent work should be well documented and publicly accessible on the internet for anyone in the industry to view.
Once you have dedicated yourself to the media industry, you must maintain yourself in a way that shows that you care about your subject. This includes communicating and networking with other figures, in both a formal and informal manner to stay on the cutting edge of all of the happenings and be informed on any potential upcoming events, staying up to date with your technical skills and adapting to any advancements in the industry when necessary, keeping motivated and productive with your work and staying organised as well as presenting the most professional version of yourself to everyone else by being reliable, managing your appearance and hygiene and communicating in an honest way.
The film sector in the UK is structured very differently to the likes of television and advertising. This is because it’s more niche and features smaller production than something like TV which has a huge industry built around it. Usually, wholly-UK film productions are small and independent, the likes of films funded and distributed by BFI are a testament to this. This means that there is more control in the hands of the creatives and less of a business feel to it as financially a lot of these films are solely publicly funded. Compare this to Hollywood, where vast amounts of the industry belong to huge multinational globalist corporations that see film as a medium of gaining revenue from as large a market as possible. While this means less are employed in the local sector comparatively, it also allows for a more devolved and less authoritarian structure here to give more responsibility and a meaningful democratic voice to all workers.
Public service media is an outlet that exists to inform the public about certain ideas or morals that they should consider. It is usually funded publicly by governments and attempts to teach their audience about a general topic while also keeping them entertained and engaged. It was very common to find these in the form of dedicated public information films, alongside leaflets and posters from the 50s up to the 90s in the UK. They were typically ordered by the Central Office of Information, a now defunct state-owned marketing agency, and would be aired on TV or even shown in schools. Some notable examples include Protect and Survive (a piece detailing preparation for nuclear war in the 1970s, which views as unsettlingly dystopian from a contemporary perspective), Green Cross Code (aimed at teaching children road safety) and AIDS: Don’t Die of Ignorance (a bleak campaign launched to raise awareness about the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s). While the rise of 24 hour media and the internet has rendered this sector as less important than it was during its prime, it has hit a resurgence lately thanks to government warnings around COVID19 epidemic. These adverts are shown on television, alongside accompanying commercials on social media and around the internet to grasp the attention of a more technologically inclined generation.
Commercial media is in essence a form of media used by large corporations in order to promote their products and services to wide or specific audiences. This is most common to find on commercial television, where advertisements are the largest form of income for the network themselves and often gratuitous amounts are shown between the shows as ways of garnering revenue, as there aren’t many other ways of staying financially afloat. This practice has become so ingrained within the media of most cultures globally now that shows are quite literally formatted around the concept of “advertisement breaks” and viewers are conditioned to see it as part of the television viewing experience.
Horizontal and vertical integration describes the way that large companies expand to acquire others in order to increase their control in the market. This is seen in huge multimedia conglomerate companies such as Disney, who have acquired Marvel and 21st/20th Century Fox recently. This benefits them greatly as it gives them more rights to a larger share of the media industry as a whole and allows them to integrate their products and properties alongside their subsidiaries. While it is commonplace for companies to do this now, as a whole it can be seen as promoting monopoly within the industry which in turn may suppress the voices of smaller creatives in favor of the corporate bureaucrats at the top of the chain.
Independent media is a term used for any form of media that comes from a small, dedicated team and has a lower budget than that of huge, commercial media. The primary difference in that the spirit surrounding independent media focuses on creative freedom, expression and an alternative to the mainstream establishment. This differs from commercial media as that tends to be seen as more hyper-focused on generating profits and creating a false sense of dependence on it in the public to gain retention. Independent media is important to the industry as it provides a voice to the niche and gives the public the liberty of deciding if they wish to source their media from a different perspective.
As mentioned earlier, the film industry is a large deal in the UK, with the net worth of the BFI alone around £4.5 million as of 2019. The CEO, Ben Roberts, was appointed just recently in December 2019 and is responsible for the institute that operates under the category of a “charitable organization”. This means they are exempt from certain high taxes that an incorporated for profit business would face. The reason they can classify themselves as this is because they are considered to add value to the British media industry for both consumers and creatives alike. They are publicly funded by various other organisations and do not require license fees. They are structured in a standard and minimal way due to the still small and independent nature that they inspire. This means that the creatives are given control on how they want to structure their individual projects with their teams and can organise the majority of the production the way they want to. Their main responsibility lies in distributing lottery funds towards projects they see potential in and distributing the final films across cinemas around the country (such as in their Southbank theater in London) as well as organising for certain films to have home video or in today’s case VOD releases through themselves or external parties.
As the establishment attempts to become more progressive, expectations within the industry are rising when it comes to self expression. These ideas are well intentioned and are implemented to protect those from minority backgrounds or those who are disadvantaged socially. This is seen to bring more diversity to the table and tries to even the playing field to allow everyone from a variety of faiths and beliefs to have the same voice to share their insight. This is now a part of law in the UK as of the Equality Act 2010, which protects against any form of discrimination in all forms of employment. While giving everyone a platform like this is incredibly important in a free society, in the creative realm it is more of a complex issue and there are grey areas. Certain creatives in recent years have raised issues with sanctions becoming possibly too extreme to the extent of infringing the right to free speech in the industry towards those with alternative visions. In any creative industry, liberty as an artist is an important aspect, and censorship of differing viewpoints, whether in jest or otherwise, potentially harms the individual liberties of the public, and is equally as important as giving everyone a chance.
As an employee (and especially a creative) it’s important to personally reach a balance between respecting these expectations and also feeling like you can use the medium to express yourself honestly. As part of British values representation of all religious beliefs and different groups is important in our society, and the film is a great medium for that representation to be seen by the widest audience possible.
When it comes to any form of media, it’s important to follow the government legislation. This means not infringing on copyright laws by ensuring the correct rights are owned for any third party material (e.g. music, graphics and other assets) and adhering to local and international fair use laws when material of that nature is used. You cannot break intellectual property laws unless you are confident that you would be able to justify your decision legally. This is why it's important for both employees and employers alike to research and be well versed in any and all legislation relating to their sector.
While creatives should feel free to express themselves through media, there are some rules when it comes to the type of content you can and can't produce if you intend to rely on certain platforms to distribute it. For example on television there is a "watershed" period, that ends 9pm and starts at 5:30am that is enforced by the broadcasting authority organization Ofcom in the UK, in essence stopping networks from airing shows with profane language and gratuitous sexual content before it ends. There are also rules around press and data protection. This means it is the network's responsibility to ensure that nobody's personal information is unnecessary revealed or that their privacy is not disrupted if they are unwilling.
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