Since the release of “The Report” last Friday, we’ve been asked by a number of companies what the process should be for them to respond to the findings.
We don’t want to steer any organisation’s response, so you should address the report in whatever way you feel is suitable for your company. However, based on the findings in the report, the below sections contain guidance on some of the issues you may wish to address.
The gathering and publishing of organisation responses is to help encourage transparency and provide Production Management colleagues with an insight into the future of the department.
Responses will be posted as direct quotes alongside your company logo with no commentary from PiB. You can choose if you’d like the response to be credited to an individual in your organisation or if on behalf of the company as an entity.
Responses will be shared on the website, but also may be posted on the Instagram account and sent to users in a newsletter update.
Responses can be as short or as long as you want them to be. As formal or as informal as you like. There is no set format. We remain grateful with all stakeholders for their engagement on the issues raised.
For Production Companies
Leadership
- Do you believe your Senior team are effectively making both their Editorial and Production Management teams feel valued?
- Are there guidelines in place to ensure that Editorial and Production Management teams are treated fairly? (i.e. both teams are thanked in ‘wrap party’ speeches, gifts/benefits aren’t given to one team but not the other etc)
Pay inequality
- What is your position on differences in rates of pay between editorial and production management freelancers?
- What efforts is your company making in bringing about ‘pay parity’?
- Do you consult the Bectu Rate Card for reference of baseline rates when submitting/approving budgets? (Note: Rates should be relevant to experience, the rates in the guidance are to set baseline rates for each role only. Scope should be considered for experience in the role).
- Do you commit to increasing Production Management rates in line with Editorial rates?
Workload
- What measures are in place to ensure resources are made available to cope with an increase in workloads, when there is limited budget?
- Is adequate staffing included in your budgets to reflect when a Broadcaster requires you to fulfil additional procedures? (i.e. ALBERT, Covid, Diamond, Whole Picture Toolkit etc)
- What measures do you have in place to ensure that team members are not working beyond a reasonable amount of hours?
- What measures do you have in place to ensure you are deterring your teams away from ‘always on’ mentality?
- Would you be willing to enrol Senior Management in your company (Series Producer and above) on an independently run training session about what the Production Management remit includes. Highlighting more clearly what process a PM team has to follow to implement editorial decisions.
Welfare
- Are you willing to commit to all production team of at least Coordinator/AP level and above, being required to have Mental Health First Aid training (or a valid certificate from the past 2-3 years)?
- Is adequate provision included in your budget to cover days off/illness, or to give you the ability to provide members of the team with time off to avoid burnout?
- Do you have a freelancer feedback process in place, to encourage PM teams to debrief with you before leaving their contracts?
Promoting Production Management
- Are you offering any incentives to Runners and new entrants to the industry to develop their skills and encourage their interest in the Production Management workforce?
Future initiatives
- Do you welcome the introduction of the Production Positive Accreditation Scheme (PPAS) (referenced in the report), in order to measure Production companies’ commitments to improving the issues raised by the Production Management department?
- Do you believe a TrustPilot-style platform would help to encourage transparency amongst staff and freelancers, enabling production companies and broadcasters to provide better experiences for workers in the industry?
For Broadcasters
Pay inequality
- What is your position on differences in rates of pay between editorial and production management freelancers?
- What efforts are your organisation making in bringing about ‘pay parity’?
- Do you consult the Bectu Rate Card for reference of baseline rates when submitting/approving budgets? (Note: Rates should be relevant to experience, the rates in the guidance are to set baseline rates for each role only. Scope should be considered for experience in the role).
- Do you commit to increasing Production Management rates in line with Editorial rates?
Welfare
- Is it a requirement of your commissioning agreements that production companies you work with have a suitable Employee Assistance Programme in place or that they implement the Whole Picture Toolkit?
Workload
- Are there processes in place to ensure you are receiving updates/asking for updates, from the Production company, on how their Production Management team are handling the workload and whether they may need extra staffing whilst mid-production?
- When requiring production companies to comply with additional schemes/initiatives (i.e. ALBERT, Diamond etc), as part of the Production Agreement/Contract, is the staffing in the budget you agree with them, reflective of this?
Future initiatives
- Do you welcome the introduction of a Production Positive Accreditation Scheme (PPAS) in order to measure Production companies’ commitments to improving the issues raised by the Production Management department?
- Do you believe a TrustPilot-style platform would help to encourage transparency amongst staff and freelancers, enabling production companies and broadcasters to provide better experiences for workers in the industry?
For Industry Organisations
BAFTA, ScreenSkills, Edinburgh TV Festival, RTS, Creative England etc.
Promoting Production Management
- Do you believe your organisation has done enough/is actively doing enough to promote Production Management?
- Is there scope for you to improve how you are promoting Production Management as a career path to new talent?
- Are you responding to the report by increasing the frequency of workshops, webinars, panels, social media content targeted at the promotion of Production Management?
- Does your organisation actively include Production Management professionals in its events, membership and awards?
- What else are you doing to help address the skills shortage in the Production Management department?
