On behalf of Share My Telly Job and The Talent Manager, we wanted to say a huge thank-you to the more than 600 people who attended our live webinar yesterday on 'Flexible Working in TV. A way through COVID-19 and beyond.'
If you missed the event you can watch it here
The event was designed to show how new ways of working can help retain talent and make our industry more diverse. It's goal was to show how ultimately we need to move away from the archaic notion that job-sharing is ‘something that’s nice for the Mum’s’ and realise the very strong business and economic case for implementing more flexible working practices - particularly in the aftermath of a global health pandemic.
We would like to thank our amazing panelists for gifting us their time and expertise - including our very own Sarah Lee.
Sarah Lee - Founder of The Talent Manager - www.thetalentmanager.com - discussed how we have built functionality to ensure Job Sharing becomes part of the mainstream and to enable companies to find experienced job sharers and be recognised and accredited once they have employed a job share pair. If you’re an employer interested in advertising a job share role or finding out more how the company accreditation works contact - sarah@thetalentmanager.com .
For freelancers more information on how to find job share roles, register as open to job sharing, find job share partners & add experience as a job sharer as well as how to apply as a pair, please see the following demo video
Emma Stewart MBE - CEO and Founder at Timewise UK - https://timewise.co.uk/about-us/our-people/ - Emma spoke brilliantly about how other industries are really embracing changes to the way they are employing and treating their workforce and how the TV industry can and should be seeing this crisis as a real opportunity for positive change - "The industry has a huge opportunity to re-think how people are able to work right now and really re-shape how things are done’.
https://timewise.co.uk/problems-we-solve/covid-19/
Alex Pumfrey - CEO Film and TV Charity -
https://filmtvcharity.org.uk/about-us/meet-the-team/ - Alex talked about the findings of the recent Film and TV Charity Report 'Through the Looking Glass' and how having greater control over our own time and the ways in which we work can really benefit our mental health (and ultimately improve the quality of what we see on screen).
For anyone who hasn’t seen it, full details of the Film and TV Charity Report can be downloaded here - https://filmtvcharity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-Looking-Glass-Final-Report-Final.pdf
Please also find attached PDF copies of the brilliantly informative slides Alex shared during the webinar.
Alex spoke about how the industry needs to adapt to new ways of working, or face losing an overwhelming number of talented freelancers. She highlighted how our industry was already facing a mental health crisis even before lockdown (with more than 88% of people experiencing poor mental health) - and that COVID-19 has only accelerated that and left the industry facing what she called a ‘collective trauma’. Alex spoke with the panel about how job-sharing is proven to be one of the most effective ways to support better mental health.
For more information about the work they do, check out their website - www.filmtvcharity.orfg or on Instagram @filmtvcharity
Waqas Ali – Manager for HR, Production (UK & EMEA) at Netflix- https://www.linkedin.com/in/waqasalilinkedin/?originalSubdomain=uk - Waqas spoke about the responsibility of Broadcasters and Indies to really value and work to retain their freelance workforce and Netflix’s own commitment to this and their desire to work with others who share these values. He discussed the need for employers to take the lead in normalising conversations about caring commitments and encourage people to have a life outside of work. He advised that all employers in the industry need to “Be Human. We work with people, let’s not forget that".
Netflix have shown themselves to be industry leaders in promoting a healthier and happier workplace culture and it's at the heart of what they do. For more details see their website - https://jobs.netflix.com/culture .
Mark James - Exec Producer at Studio Lambert - https://www.studiolambert.com - Mark talked about his own experiences of employing job-share pairs at Studio Lambert and how when they first decided to “just give it a go” they “found it didn’t just benefit the job-sharers, it benefitted the whole production". Mark gave brilliant examples of how employing job-sharers allowed for reciprocal flexibility and made it much easier when it came to things like covering holidays, unexpected sick leave and increases in workflow. Indeed, it worked so well at Studio Lambert that it is something the show and indeed the company are continuing to proactively support. He summed it up by saying, “For me, it’s just a win-win”.
Rebecca Kenny-Smith - Creative Director at Lime Pictures- https://www.limepictures.com/our-team/unscripted - Rebecca talked about Lime's commitment to supporting job-shares “for us it’s really important and absolutely something we’ll continue to embrace moving forward”. She explained how the pandemic has forced companies to look at new ways of making shows and how
"right now we have job-sharing SP's working from home through lockdown” . She also talked about how she felt that “the COVID crisis has made job-sharing more important than ever before”
We tried to answer as many questions as we could during the session, but for anyone who still has anything they’d like to ask, please do check out the Share My Telly Job website - www.sharemytellyjob.com for more information and links to organisations we love https://www.sharemytellyjob.com/useful-websites/ (including www.raisingfilms.com who can give more advice on the specifics of job-sharing for Film and Drama).
On the SMTJ website, you’ll also find job-share testimonials and case studies and a functionality which enables freelancers to connect with each other and hopefully find their perfect pairing - if you’ve got more questions or just want a chat about job-sharing in telly you can contact us at - speaktous@smtj.tv
If you're an employer or broadcaster looking for advice on how to implement job-sharing at your company, we also offer training and consultancy and would love to chat to you more about that, so do please get in touch!
SMTJ are planning to host a number of further webinars including specialised job-sharing advice sessions for particular job roles and networking events for people looking to find a job-share partner - so please keep an eye on our Facebook Page for more details coming up!
Thanks again to everyone involved!
Michelle, Lou & Nat
Share My Telly Job
