Sure, on the face of it, it all sounds incredibly exciting and possibly even glamorous. Writer/producer/actress finally secures finance for feature film she has been trying to get off the ground for years and travels to New Zealand to make it. Regardless that she has an 8-month-old baby.
I discovered at the end of three months of this non-sleep-a-thon that we had somehow gone over budget and there was no money to pay me.
Well to be frank it wasn’t. Stressful, mind-bendingly complicated, exhausting, frustrating, responsibility-heavy, it all was but glamorous no. Or at least it didn’t feel like it when after four hours sleep, I was squeezed into a freezing port-a-loo at 5am attempting to hoist my giant 19th century skirts up over a corset in an attempt to take aim for a wee.
So, you can imagine my absolute horror when I discovered at the end of three months of this non-sleep-a-thon that we had somehow gone over budget and there was no money to pay me. My horror was matched by my husband’s, who had given up work in London to come with me in the belief that funds would be forthcoming after all the hell.
In shock we returned to London, I worked out a way that I could claw back the money from post production, but it would require time – the one thing I did not have with house bills mounting, a now one year old and no money for childcare.
It is wonderful to know that if a parent is sincerely desperate – this fund is here to help.
Then I heard about Raising Films, I phoned and explained my situation – and I couldn’t get over how immediate the help was. The funds that the Film and Television Charity Family Support Fund allocated me allowed me a good few months of solid work to sort out the mess and claw some of my salary back. It was an enormous relief and one that I am eternally grateful for. The fact that the Film and Television Charity Family Support fund is available in our industry is extraordinary. We are freelance, there is no maternity leave, holiday pay or sick pay. There is uncertainty around every corner, and yes it is the life we chose and of course we could clean toilets if desperate (but even getting a toilet cleaning job can take a couple of weeks) but it is wonderful to know that if a parent is sincerely desperate – this fund is here to help.
You can buy DVD/rent/download THE STOLEN written, produced and co-starring Emily Corcoran on Amazon, iTunes and Googleplay in the UK.
Go to www.thestolenmovie.com for links.
If you have found yourself in a caring position and in need of financial assistance to bridge a pay gap. The Film and Television Charity Family Support Fund could help you. It is open to parent/carer professionals working in Film/TV/Exhibition and will contribute up to £75 a day towards the cost of caring arrangements, up to a maximum amount of £1,500 per beneficiary/per annum.
For more information and how to apply click here.
Learn more about how the Film and Television Charity support can transform your work/life by reading our testimonials from screenwriter and carer Pete Jordi Wood, mum and production coordinator Kerri Burbidge artist and filmmaker Rosie Toner and director/screenwriter Joe McStravick
