An ‘always on’ culture and a feeling of being taken for granted is causing 85% of production managers to consider quitting the role, according to campaign group Production is Broken.
Almost 80% of polled backed the creation of a platform for verified freelancers to rate their experiences of working with indies and broadcasters, where they could share the strengths and weaknesses of the places they have worked.
Comparable to job site Glassdoor, the platform would, the group says, enable freelancers to make better-informed decisions about the work they take on.
Production is Broken, which was set up last year by an anonymous group of unscripted freelance production managers, is proposing the platform alongside a Production Positive Accreditation Scheme that would require employers to meet certain criteria in the production management work they offer.
The survey polled 938 production management professionals from production secretaries to managing directors.
Highlighting a “growing level of uneasiness smouldering away in the background of UK TV production for over a decade”, the report said respondents “were united in their frustrating recollections of broadcasters and production companies alike cutting production management resources to the detriment of the industry as a whole”.
The group is also campaigning for pay equality for comparable roles, which was identified as one of the factors of the 85% of respondents who said they had either left production management or were thinking about it.
Welfare and a lack of workplace understanding about their production management roles were also identified as challenges.
Production is Broken castigated indies, broadcasters and industry bodies for “failing to give production management careers enough promotion or achievements through recognition”.
It said production management suffered by budget squeezing, with employers “sacrificing” production secretaries in favour of extra researchers.
In highlights the concerns, the campaigners want to reach out to the likes of Bafta, Bectu and the Production Managers Association to promote production management as a valid industry role.
