The long-hours culture in the UK film and TV industries has always existed (‘I fell asleep driving around London’: TV workers on fear, danger and fatalities in an industry in crisis, 3 October). However, prior to Thatcher’s deregulation, workers in ITV were protected by a comprehensive and generous agreement between the ACTT union and the ITV companies, which moderated hours and conditions.
The breakup of the ITV network led to the abandonment of this arrangement, and now the union Bectu is struggling to find purchase in a landscape of almost complete reliance upon freelancers, who are terrified that they will never work again if they raise a voice against the conditions they are expected to work under; this can be compounded by them having to work with senior colleagues who believe that the “ordeal by fire” faced by many junior freelancers is part of the natural order of things in the industry.
As a coach and mentor specialising in TV, I encounter these issues all too often, and often find myself coaching individuals out of the industry, into careers where their huge transferable skills will be properly respected, developed and remunerated. The eventual demise of linear TV will further exacerbate the problem, as the “wild west” of online media production takes over.
John Hunter
St Briavels, Gloucestershire
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