Senior television producers with decades of experience are working as high street shelf-stackers, car park attendants and in pubs, as a prolonged crisis continues to sweep through the TV world.
The Guardian has spoken to dozens of experienced figures in the UK who are working entry-level jobs as a result of a drawn-out work drought. Some said they had been forced to sell their houses or spend their life savings. Senior industry figures estimated thousands were affected.
A producer with more than 20 years’ experience was working in a pub. Another with seven years’ experience was doing temporary labour work. Other seasoned professionals had taken roles including working at supermarket checkouts, as classroom assistants and tour guides. Another said he was “having to sell my home and retrain due to the lack of work”.
One producer formerly on a six-figure salary who has been living off savings said: “You could fill a stadium with everyone that’s been affected. I see articles about factory closures when 100 people lose their jobs, and it makes national news. It’s 40 times worse for the film and TV industry right now and nobody seems to notice.”
Almost a fifth of industry freelancers said they were out of work and had worked for fewer than three months out of the last 12, according to a recent survey by the Film and TV Charity. Online groups containing thousands of people have been set up to help those needing to switch careers.
A series of factors have created what insiders describe as a genuine industry crisis, including a post-Covid production slowdown. The industry is also at the sharp end of huge changes in viewing habits, with rising numbers of people watching far cheaper online content via YouTube, reducing advertising revenues.
There have been record declines in the reach of broadcast TV, according to the regulator Ofcom, and individual show viewing figures have been hit. More than 4.7 million people watched ITV2’s Love Island on TV sets in 2019, according to the ratings body Barb, while last year’s premiere peaked at 2.2 million viewers. The figures do not include those viewing on other platforms.
While streamers such as Amazon and Netflix make expensive shows, their resources are aimed largely at big US dramas and they have pulled back from working with British broadcasters. Shows such as Bridgerton, much of which is shot in the UK, are not made at the same rate as on terrestrial TV. Spending on co-productions fell to £19.6m last year, down nearly 60% on the £48.3m in 2022, according to the British Film Institute.
Cheaper, unscripted programming, such as reality shows, quizshows and panel shows that once populated TV listings, appear to be worst affected. Insiders say broadcasters have turned away from this “squeezed middle” of programmes in favour of expensive dramas. Some blame a lack of risk-taking by programme commissioners.
Ali Carron, a producer in scripted drama and comedy who has worked on shows including Only Fools and Horses, and Juice, said it had “never been like this”. Having championed working-class access into the television world, she feared the current issues would make it impossible to retain such talent.
“For the first time ever, I’ve had almost no work for about 15 months,” she said. “I’ve used all my savings now. People are broke. Some people have been unemployed for two years. It’s thousands and thousands of talented, experienced people.”
Steven D Wright, a former Channel 4 commissioner and producer, said there was an “existential crisis” in which viewers were beginning to notice fewer new ideas. “It really is not getting better, it is dying,” he said. “Most of the industry is now unemployed. There’s no support network. And if you’ve got kids and the mortgage, you have to take a job as a shelf-stacker.”
While some in the industry have said commissioning has improved slightly since last year, most are expecting 2025 to remain tough. Amelia Brown, the head of Fremantle UK, one of the bigger independent production companies, told an industry event recently: “The old business model doesn’t really exist any more … There’s a lot of adjustment that has to come from even the bigger players. I would say 2025 is still going to be another year of adjustment.”
