Korean-style support call to save film talent as Scots researchers warn of 'critical crossroads' for industry

The study, Make Freelancing Pay, shows that UK governments could use targeted tax and benefits reforms to deliver substantive improvements in disposable household income for screen freelancers, helping to stem the current talent drain from the industry.

The research, led by Professor Doris Ruth Eikhof of the University of Glasgow and Dr Hannah Randolph of the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde, examined how tax and benefits policies akin to those in six other countries could transform freelancers' financial stability in the industry.

It warned that while film and TV are key to the creative industries’ £124.6 billon to the UK economy, the industries’ success depends directly on a skilled and diverse workforce.

A large proportion of this workforce is self-employed or works on project-based contracts, facing high income insecurity and sometimes challenging working conditions.

Currently, screen industry freelancers earn approximately 80 per cent of that earned by workers with equivalent qualifications make in other industries, while facing greater income insecurity, work-related stress, and financial pressures.

Professor Eikhof, professor of cultural economy and policy at the University of Glasgow’s college of arts and humanities, said: “We are at a critical crossroads for the UK's globally leading film and TV industries. Since the pandemic, compounded by the production downturn, strikes and cost of living crisis, we’ve seen alarming numbers of skilled freelancers leaving the sector.

“We need fresh ideas to attract and keep the people that film and TV industries so desperately need. Our research offers concrete solutions that could help retain the diverse talent pool our creative industries depend on. For instance, screen-specific basic income policies or housing support for creative workers could be real game changers.”

Researchers suggested a basic income, as offered in Ireland, could increase freelancers’ disposable income by 50 per cent, giving low-earning workers, disabled workers and younger workers a significantly improved position.

Meanwhile, the study said housing support for creative workers, which is available in South Korea, was the only policy that benefitted workers with dependent children more than workers without dependents, while French and German style policies that provide unemployment support and support with National Insurance contributions were more beneficial for those workers who already earned more, and delivered comparatively small improvements overall.

Pete Johnson, chief executive of British Screen Forum, said: “The pressure of income insecurity has inevitably been felt most acutely by those with the least to fall back on.

“This has exacerbated existing issues relating to the under-representation of certain groups of people – including disabled people, people from minoritised ethnic communities and people from working-class backgrounds. This report brings hard data to the discussion for the first time.”

He added: “It grounds in evidence a productive debate about how best to ensure that the UK screen sector has the workforce it needs to deliver the growth and social value we all want to see.”

Dugald Johnson, policy officer at actors’ union, Equity, said: “The government rightly points to the UK screen industry as a shining economic success story. But too often this translates to support only for engagers – such as through tax reliefs – and not the artists and creative workers whose talents underpin the industry’s success.