TV freelancers have been severely let down by broadcasters and the wider industry during the recent downturn in production, John McVay, head of PACT, told the Edinburgh TV Festival.
In a damning verdict on the lack of a coordinated response to the ongoing crisis in UK production, McVay said that much more should have been done to ‘’retain talent’’, adding that the ‘brain drain’ over the last couple of years has been a ‘’tragedy’’ for both freelancers and the long-term health of the UK industry.
‘’We as an industry should have done more to retrain and reskill people to keep them in the industry,’’ he said, adding that seeing experienced TV professionals having to look for work as ‘’Asda delivery drivers’’ was a ‘’tragedy.’’
‘’We should have done more to retain talent,’’ he added.
McVay, who has announced he is stepping down as chief executive of PACT, the producers’ trade body, after 25 years in the role, warned that many of the bigger questions facing the industry with the shift away from traditional TV viewing were still not being properly discussed.
‘’The role of public service broadcasters is what we should be talking about. How much money do we have [to commission programmes], what do we spend it on?’’ He said the decline in investment in British comedy – a genre which attracts little interest from major streamers like Netflix or Amazon – was ‘’the canary in the coalmine.’’
McVay was speaking at the festival as part of debate on the future of TV in the face of the rise of video-on-demand and platforms like Youtube, which is now the most watched channel in the UK among 18-34 year olds, and the second most watched overall after the BBC.
The changes in viewing habits and the ensuing shift in advertising spend is widely blamed for the decline in production which has left 7 in 10 freelancers struggling to find work. The crisis has led to a pan-industry initiative, Action for Freelancers, aimed at addressing systemic issues freelancers face including working conditions, skills and training, recruitment, mental health and more.
The panel – which included Fiona Campbell, the BBC’s controller of youth audience, iPlayer and BBC Three, and Channel 4’s Louisa Compton, head of news and current affairs - heard that year-on-year revenue for Indies actually grew in 2024 by 1.4% or £49m.
‘’If you are an Indie you have to be diversified,’’ McVay said. ‘’My problem is that if you’re a startup, and you have an idea, where’s the money? In the past, if you had an idea, you could take it to a broadcaster to get it commissioned. Now, you have to come up with the money ourselves which is impossible if you don’t have access to the bank of Mum and Dad or are not a Trustifarian. And that’s means there’s going to be a problem with diversity and inclusion that’s coming down the tracks.’’
Bryony Hopkins, head of production and operations at Strong Watch Studios, said that the emerging digital world presented challenges for freelancers but also opportunities. ‘’Digital has blown [traditional working methods] out of the water.’’
‘’It does demand more multi-skilling [by freelancers and producers] but it’s an exciting opportunity’’, not least the fact that digital-first productions involve a less hierarchical approach than traditional TV. She added: ‘’You need to upskill and work differently. But if you can understand how digital is different [from linear TV] then this is an opportunity.’’
Ben Zand, founder of ZANDLAND, agreed, saying that the shift represented ‘’huge risk but significant rewards’’ for producers ‘’if you can build an audience.’’ ‘’It used to be that a producer worked for the BBC or Channel 4. Now you can build an empire,’’ he said.
