I think what I'd like to say to Production companies putting these requirements in their adverts is fair enough, you're dealing with a new & difficult situation. But there are loads of freelancers who have struggled to survive financially through the pandemic, try to be less restrictive about your requirements. I wish we were still in the EU but now that we're not doing this is quite discriminatory at a time when so many people have struggled & still are.

PACT have also responded to us too with the below:

1 of 2: It is not illegal to require the right to work - for example, you see jobs advertised for people who have US work permits. If this is what the ads wanted, a "right to work", I would have asked for that rather than a passport.
Similarly, if the production is benefiting from a European fund and therefore requires EU nationals in some roles, then that is understandable/requires too.

2 of 2: Until June, EU nationals have the right to work here - so it would be fair to ask for passports if you wanted EU workers in the U.K. I have actually had this raised with me - an EU National complaining that a British passport was asked for.

It's perhaps practical rather than discriminatory, if it's a long shoot.There is the issue with British passport holders now only being able to physically be in the EU/Schengen area for up to 90 days within any 180-day period, so, if production is going to be for longer than 3 months, this has to be taken into consideration. Or even less time than that - if staff have already used some of their 90-day quota for other work or holidays/personal reasons, it can affect how long they can work on a production for.For example, I've just spent about a month in Poland and when I was thinking about applying to jobs filming in the EU, I had to think about whether I could do the whole period, or whether I'd have enough days left over if I needed them later on in the 180-day period.So for legal purposes and making sure people are in and out of EU/Schengen borders when required, it can be easier to hire people with EU passports, because it isn't necessary to have to think about this new limitation. (I myself could get a Polish passport and I am really seeing now how it could be an advantage to find the pennies to get it finally sorted out due to not having to worry about these 90-day limits if I applied to something within the EU/Schengen area!)