This project explores the history and present circumstances of freelancers in the Scottish screen sector. The data to support this analysis comes from a historical source; the Film Bang directory, and interviews and surveys conducted over summer 2020. The research makes policy recommendations for growth, innovation and recovery for the sector.

Freelancers in the Scottish screen sector have been instrumental in the growth of a nascent cluster in Scotland. They produced a skilled and flexible source of labour, a provision that has been consistent despite ebbs and flows of demand.

Freelancers continue to provide a vital part of the ecosystem of the screen sector. We see them as key because on the one hand freelancing is a core access route into the industry. On the other, the screen industry and the business models the broadcasting industry uses are dependent on the ability to draw on both employed and freelance staff. Supporting the freelance screen workforce is fundamental for the growth and ongoing resilience of regional screen sectors.

Historically, the Scottish screen sector freelance community was instrumental in the early growth of this regional creative hub.

However, job uncertainty and vulnerability for freelancers are challenges that have been built into the way in which the industry is structured for several decades.

In order for the hub to recover and grow it is essential that the issues that produce the barriers and challenges faced by freelancers in this sector be addressed by policy makers, the industry as a whole, and by the freelance workforce themselves.

The Covid-19 lockdowns have revealed structural problems for the sustainability of freelancers across the creative industries.

As of spring 2021 productions have already returned, and freelancers feel an understandable urgency to fill those roles and get back to work. The risk inherent in a rush back into production is that lessons will not be learned and the urgent need for work will mask the need to address and improve working conditions.

"Scotland’s film and TV workforce is recognised globally for its excellence, diversity, capacity and adaptability, across all grades and genres"

(Screen Scotland Report 2020: p1)

In 1976 the Film Bang directory was launched as a manifesto calling for investment in the indigenous Scottish screen industry. Significant successes followed for both feature film and television production with sustained growth throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

The stimulus of funding from Channel 4 from 1982 onwards resulted in the Scottish screen sector developing as a pathfinder creative cluster.

This study is the first time that longitudinal evidence has been gathered to analyse the Scottish screen sector. There have been UK national surveys of freelancers such as the Creative Skillset Audit (biennially from 2003-2015) and the BFI Tracking Project (1999) and the BFI Statistical Yearbooks, however it is acknowledged that “there is very limited reliable and consistent data on the sector, its value and trends in Scotland.” (Creative Scotland, 2017).

Previous Scottish surveys such as the Hydra Report (1996), David Graham Associates Report (2003), Scottish Government Report (2003), and BOP Consulting (2014) focused on the local production companies and broadcasters and their aspirations for growth and drew rough estimates of the size of the local freelance workforce based upon UK national figures.

View Charts of Film Bang Data...

The industry is highly competitive and there are systemic barriers making it hard for all new entrants but in particular women, ethnic minorities and those with disabilities. The structure of the workforce and the variety and range of departments and job roles is not common knowledge and many areas have specialised hierarchies.
Barriers to entry such as job and income insecurity are particularly difficult for new entrants from lower socio-economic groups and are a major hurdle for industry aspirations to increase diversity and widen access

Read more on challenges and barriers for freelancers...

Our qualitative research identified pinch points, recurring challenges that are commonly experienced by freelancers. Our anonymous online survey canvassed the views of Scottish freelancers about challenges to resilience and sustainability.
Job insecurity, low pay for junior roles, and the complexity of HMRC regulations regarding self-employed status were all highlighted as issues across large numbers of respondents. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the problems caused by various types of ‘freelance’ identities

- Not enough work to sustain careers
- Job insecurity
- Low pay
- Lack of support
- Difficult working conditions
- Long anti social hours
- Challenge of maintaining a healthy work/life balance
- Incompatible with caring responsibilities
- Geographical challenges
- Lack of commitment from broadcasters to the region
- Lack of resources (studios)
- Poor management

“Covid-19 has brought a dawning realisation that, although the UK’s film and television sector has reportedly been expanding at more than three times the rate of the wider economy, and generating an annual trade surplus of almost £1 billion, this expansion may have been at the expense of its most valuable resource: its skilled workforce.”

(BECTU, 2020)

Freelancers in film and television face specific, complex challenges that are different to those faced by freelancers in the creative industries in general. The particular circumstances for this sector of the creative industries should be recognised. Our conclusions expose structural concerns which are illustrated by our qualitative findings (descriptions of intense challenges) and backed up by quantitative data (high levels of attrition). These boil down to:

• - Dependency of the sector on freelancers, with a history of employers taking little responsibility for ongoing support.
• - Freelancers left to take responsibility for: the existence of the freelance pool, skills development, mobility, training in new technology.

The frames within which this structure can be re-designed / re-considered are:

- Regulations and Protections
- Institutional Infrastructure
- Industry Action

Government, industry and other stakeholders should consult to develop regulations and protections to offset the barriers and challenges to sustaining freelance careers in the screen sector. There should be analysis of how the current system left the workforce vulnerable (highlighted and exacerbated by COVID-19 and the accusation of the UK Government failures to support creative freelancers). This is about improving working conditions. It is also about recognising and mediating

It is also about recognising and mediating risks, rewards and responsibilities being negotiated between employers and the freelance workforce on which they depend. Checks and balances need to be in place. Critically, the imbalances demonstrated in our findings are also an underlying cause of the lack of diversity in the sector. Transparency and accountability are two principles that can guide work in this area.

Screen Scotland, the BFI, BECTU and Screen Skills already provide support for freelancers. This infrastructure is engaged in lobbying, training, funding, mediating. A focus for intervention here would be for these bodies to take account of the responsibilities at stake and work to distribute these rather than focusing them on freelancers.

We would advocate developing ways to make training and skills development a sector wide responsibility.

Building on this existing institutional ecosystem, we propose investigating contemporary models of (creative) clusters: incubator hubs and start-up communities; and how these can be adapted to offer a useful model for the screen sector. There are good Scottish examples in the technology and creative sectors such as Codebase in Edinburgh (and beyond) and The Whisky Bond in Glasgow who incorporate training, mentoring and skills development in their model while simplifying the material requirements of business development. Translating and adapting these models over to the screen sector represents a progressive opportunity. The advent of a studio or studios in Scotland provides a prime opportunity to look at developing the above scheme/structure.

The business model for the broadcasters and production companies relies upon having a pool of freelance labour to draw on during production. This is true at all levels of production. The conclusion from this interdependency is that the responsibility for finding ways to improve resilience and sustainability should lie with the entire sector. The industry itself has an important role to play in addressing:

- Hiring practices
- Supporting networks
- Investing in the skills development of a shared labour pool
- Dramatically improving working practices
- Enabling and supporting progression and advancement

Training on the job for example shares the onus for training between production and freelancers and ensures the training is fit for purpose. This is also about making connections between more experienced workers (giving the training) and those at a different stage in their development: circumstantial networking and mentoring is built into a training scheme, again shifting the weight off the individual.

The argument for transparent recruitment practices comes up in the literature and in our survey responses. Transparent recruitment is not just about focusing on entry level roles. Everyone has to benefit from this change if it is to be taken up. So, again, it should apply to all levels of career progression.