Will jobs be cancelled/delayed? And what does that mean for the crew that have scheduled those jobs in?
How will Corona Virus impact freelancers in the industry?
by Sam Ivermee on 9th Mar 2020 Answers
To add your answer, please
Not sure where you’re located, but the UK based union BECTU released this earlier. Hope it helps...
https://bectu.org.uk/news/bectu-warns-against-coronavirus-affecting-livelihood-of-entertainment-freelancers/
Hopefully some of us will get some work on documentaries about it
I am a sound recordist working mostly in corporate, my agenda for March has been completely canceled, from what I discussed with co workers this is happening left and right at he moment, and production companies cannot afford to pay me when jobs are canceled cause they are loosing a lot of work also. So at this moment BECTU is saying what everyone already knows... clean your hands... I hope we can see and hear past all this noise (sensationalistic news and people talking crap chasing the click bait) and battle through this. In my case I am holding tight that things will come around and eventually work will start flowing in again in order to put food on the table... cause I have run out of toilet paper already (joke) ....
Positive thoughts to all!
Hi Matt here from DVTalent/ The Talent Manager. We're trying to put together some advice for freelancers - and provide an understanding/ overview of how different production companies and broadcasters are responding, which productions have been shelved/ cancelled, or the steps being taken by production companies to enable them to carry on. Please do email any insights/ experiences you've had to me - matt@dvtalent.co.uk . All emails will be treated in complete confidence.
massively.
Thanks Mark ... though I was hoping for something a little more specific. As an offline editor, are you still working? Presumably you're 'relatively' - and I don't mean that flippantly - ok, for now at least. Are you on a show at the moment? Are you able to work from home? And being allowed / encouraged to?
currently working yes and being encouraged to work from home, though on a less than ideal setup! i know of several productions that are basically being cancelled and or indefinitely delayed and freelancers being given short notice. basically there's massive amounts of uncertainty and i think cancellations will be rife, especially for anything involving international production.
Hi all,
Thanks for the replies. Matt, great that TM are trying to put some information together.
It would be great if within your research you could try and include distinctions for people registered as sole traders and those of us who work at companies on PAYE (normally researchers, APs, Prod Secs, Prod Coord - from my experience)
I was meant to start a job in the next 10 days but I found out this morning it's been delayed until further notice. This effectively leaves me unemployed. My understanding (and I could be wrong - I'm going to be looking into my options in the coming days) is that because I'm not a registered sole trader I won't be able to access SSP for the job that has been cancelled.
As I said I need to look into it properly but I imagine I'll be entitled to Job Seekers Allowance or Universal Credit if I can't find any work (which seems likely in the middle of a pandemic) If any other PAYE people are having similar problems it would be great to hear from you.
We've just published a blog which will hopefully provide some guidance
https://www.thetalentmanager.com/blog/336/advice-for-tv-and-film-freelancers-affected-by-covid-19
Tracy Brabin MP is working on the impact on freelancers in the creative industries and sports: tracy.brabin.mp@parliament.uk
Several petitions on the topic of sick pay for freelancers, such as this one https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/Home/News/2020/Mar/MU-Calls-on-Government-to-Extend-Sick-Pay-from-Day
Email your MP campaign here: https://freelancerclub.net/resources/blog/post/demand-sick-pay-for-freelancers
So many productions are cancelled or put on hold... Let's just hope for the best...
Many people are experiencing hardship at this pandemic life. Causing a significant deal of stress and anxiety, COVID-19 has been impacting everyone and freelancer industry is facing a difficult time too. We are having less opportunity to work and lack of opportunity to access other kind of support in this difficult time.