Flexible Working in TV: A way through COVID-19 and beyond

The wonderful Share My Telly Job and The Talent Manager recently ran a live webinar ‘Flexible Working in TV: A way through COVID-19 and beyond’ with over 500 attendees. In case you were unable to join we’re sharing the opportunity to watch the webinar – with huge thanks to Share My Telly Job for enabling this.

Hosted by Michelle James Reynolds from Share My Telly Job, the webinar aimed to demonstrate how new ways of working have been a proven help to retain brilliant talent and make our industry more diverse, and 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.

You can access the recorded webinar via the button below. You do not need to download Zoom software in order to watch.

The hosts tried to answer as many questions as they 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 for more information and links to other organisations.

On the Share My Telly Job 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 the team via email.

If you’re an employer or broadcaster looking for advice on how to implement job-sharing at your company, Share My Telly Job also offers training and consultancy and would love to chat to you more about that, so do please get in touch!

Share My Telly Job is 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 their Facebook page for more details.

Share My Telly Job acknowledge the panellists involved for gifting their time and expertise.

Emma Stewart MBE – CEO and Founder at Timewise UK
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.” You can find out more about Timewise UK’s approach via their website.

Alex Pumfroy – CEO Film and TV Charity
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).

You can also download a PDF 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.

Waqas Ali –  Manager for HR, Production (UK & EMEA) at Netflix
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 the Netflix website.

Mark James – Exec Producer at Studio Lambert
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
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.”