It is acknowledged by the industry that it is hard to get started working in the screen sector (Carey, Crowley, Dudley, Sheldon and Giles, 2017). It 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.

To make these jobs more attractive there needs to be greater transparency for potential recruits as to how the industry is structured, the varied range of different roles and information about the career pathways.

Knowledge and information barriers were highlighted by our survey respondents citing that a key challenge is “Finding work when positions aren’t advertised”, and that to get work “You need to know someone, which is not good working practice.”. Several argued that that there should be “More transparent hiring. Navigating the person to person network from outside of Glasgow is next to impossible.”. This lack of access to networks means entry level jobs (indeed all levels of jobs) can be opaque.

"... work experience is almost essential to gain entry to employment in the sector. The average worker within film must undertake 46 days of unpaid work experience before gaining their first “official” position, and across the whole creative sectors, new entrants work unpaid on average for 52 days before gaining a paid position. Undergoing two and half months of unpaid work is a mammoth task for anyone without private financial backing, and poses a significant barrier to entry into the screen industry."

“While the creative Industries and creative economy are now recognised as a policy priority; and many consider the sector to offer high value activities, highly paid, high-skilled roles, this is not the full reality. Much of the work is often low-paid and precarious, jeopardising the health and wellbeing of the workforce, and there are significant concerns about how improvements are hampered by management and leadership capability and poor working practices”.

The most common cited challenge was to do with finding work. 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. Many bodies lobbying for freelancers have argued that this patchwork of regulations has resulted in this section of the workforce failing to receive an adequate level of support from Government for the disruption caused by lockdown during the pandemic compared to other parts of the economy.

Many drew attention to difficult working conditions, long anti-social hours, and how this was detrimental for mental health and well-being.

Survey responses pointed to how freelance working in the screen sector is currently incompatible with caring responsibilities. The challenge of returning to freelance work after a career-break was also seen as unsurmountable. This leads to a talent drain, with many people with skills and experience effectively unable to continue or return.

“...the insecurity and often temporary nature of labour within the creative industries disproportionately affect women (as well as people from other disadvantaged social groups).”

Career Strategies: Our survey and interview responses make it evident that longevity of career requires determination and resilience with a personal commitment to remaining in the industry. Survival is not possible without an excellent professional work ethic, strong network of contacts and unstinting flexibility.

Mobility: Although most crew in Film Bang seek work locally, some are based in Scotland but do most of their time work in other parts of the UK and overseas. The qualitative evidence shows this is especially true for senior creative roles across both production, editorial and technical departments. Being mobile and able to work outside Scotland is an essential strategy for those heads of department to progress to higher quality, higher budget productions.