The small changes hirers are making to create a more inclusive future for film & TV
By: We Got Pop
Tags: Freelance, Television, Hiring, Film, Inclusion

The small changes hirers are making to create a more inclusive future for film & TV

We’re all too familiar with Production’s under pressure hiring: The Production Manager lands the job on a project. They have to find a good, reliable team quickly AND set up the offices, sort out legal, insurance, budget, cash flow, studio approvals, AND now sort out COVID-19 protocols. They could advertise roles, wait for applications to flood in, spend hours filtering out the inappropriate CVs, arrange interviews with the potential candidates, host interviews to finally offer the job or they could open their phone and call up all their recent colleagues — tried and tested Crew they’ve worked with before at the push of a button.

It’s an understandable, but ultimately fateful, practice of only hiring people we know. It’s nepotistic hiring practices like these that have in part created barriers to entry or progression for those outside of the closed circle network, resulting in a workforce which is not representative of the population as a whole.

We kept hearing hirers tell us “we want to do something, but what?”

The Crew Portal

Supports Hirers by quickly and easily connecting them with talented local Crew, outside of their existing network. Equipping hirers with the tools they need to make a positive impact on the future of the industry.

Crew Finder

Hassle-free bespoke service to help hirers quickly and quietly crew up, with Crew outside of their network.

How does it work? Hirers let us know who they’re looking for and the tech matches this to Crew that have put themselves forward for this type of work. We share the matched CVs of local Crew who are ready and available to work. This process can be as short as a day turnaround.

Hirers only see applicants that fit the role requirements and communication stops after the role is filled, we support only with the role requested.

Jobs Board

Crew cannot apply for jobs they never heard about. Advertising your jobs is a practical action hirers can take to positively contribute to creating a more inclusive industry. Our industry Jobs Board allows hirers to advertise roles to over 7,000 (and growing) UK industry professionals with discretion — all listings are anonymised unless requested otherwise. The hassle-free process means hirers only see applicants that fit the role requirements and communication stops after the role is filled, no chance of inundation for future positions as tends to happen when listing elsewhere.

Already in 2020 170 roles on the Jobs Board have received over 4,000 applications — a feat considering production was shut down for more than a quarter of the year. Jobs are in HETV and major feature films for BBC, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Warner and other major studios. POP has helped hirers on Gangs of London, Dracula, Becoming Elizabeth, Cheaters and Pale Horse.

Virtual Networking

POP hosted digital networking events for heads of department or potential hirers to meet with talented, credible crew outside of their network 1-to-1. All they have to do is digitally turn up for 1–2hrs and they walk away having met up to 10 talented Crew.

To date we’ve hosted six Virtual Networking sessions, rated 4.8/5 by the crew and hirers participating. Two of these sessions were hosted in partnership with Sid Gentle Films, Mammoth Screen, Lookout Point and The Bureau for Production Office and Camera Department specific sessions.

Find out more about virtual networking and how to get involved here.