WORKING FOR FREE – IS IT A GOOD THING?

I shall start us off with my own experience…very briefly.

I got into the industry through a month-long work experience at the BBC. At the time, I knew I was interested in Factual media but was unsure if I wanted to work in TV. It was an amazing introduction to the industry and I was lucky enough to be placed on the One Show where I was given many mad opportunities. It was a fantastic learning experience and confirmed for me that it was a path I wanted to follow. I would highly recommend it…BUT not everyone can afford it!

I was lucky enough to be living at home at the time, able to work part-time and be supported by my parents. This is not the case for everyone and a month is a long time to work for free and work hard, without additional support. I can see the effects of that now. The people who started out with me are some of the most fabulous people I know and are bloody good at their jobs and have worked hard to get to where they are. They deserve praise. But we all have something in common — our backgrounds. We are from similar socio-economic groups and academic backgrounds, and we are, mostly, white. And while still supporting people from all walks of life, the lack of diversity is something I’d like to see change.

So my answer to the question is yes, free work can be a good thing. It’s a great introduction, a taster if you will but if not properly supported it can be very exclusive. How can we open up wildlife TV to those beyond the usual networks from the very start of the process?

And it absolutely should be a learning experience for the person on the placement. If the organisation offering the placement doesn’t have the capacity to teach the person applying, perhaps they are too busy, then they should not be taking on work experience. If there is work to be done, they should employ someone to do the job…not end up relying on free labour. Is that a controversial opinion?

I have also, in my time, done volunteer work. But this has been short term and usually, either when I felt extremely passionate about something or…more often when I felt that I could give my skills but could also learn something from the experience. For example, I wanted more self-shooting experience and it seemed a good way to do it was by working on small charity videos.

I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on this and if anyone has any ideas or knows of initiatives that are making changes, share them here.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Eloisa_Noble.

Yes, some excellent thoughts. I definitely have concerns with those who are newer to the industry not knowing what is appropriate, which is one of the reasons I was keen to start the discussion. There is some info out there about these topics but it’s not always easy to find.

It’s good to feel strongly about these matters! They are important and as you say, can bring stress to a world that is already pretty stressful as it is. I’m glad there is a place where we can discuss them.