The Uncharted Freelancer| The Search For Work| Issue 3| March 2024 Edition

Hello everyone and welcome back to Issue 3 of The Uncharted Freelancer. With Spring in the air, here's hoping that the television industry starts to get busy again for many freelancers itching to get back to work and thrive in the industry they love working in. As a freelancer myself, it has been particularly quiet. However, I have returned back to Casualty for a short contract working as one of the Assistant Editors in their postproduction department. Now, I'm back on the job search and sharing my tips on looking for employment in other job roles and departments.

Training Courses/Traineeships

Whether you're a new entrant or established practitioner, there are training courses available tailored to your area of field you specialise in.

BECTU - https://bectu.org.uk/bectu-vision/

Creative Access - https://opportunities.creativeaccess.org.uk/

Pact. Diversity - https://diversity.pact.co.uk/indie-diversity-training-scheme/applications.html

ScreenSkills - https://www.screenskills.com/online-learning/

(Look out for traineeships and courses coming up)

The Grierson Trust - https://griersontrust.org/outreach

The Network (Edinburgh TV Festival) - https://www.thetvfestival.com/tv-foundation/the-network/

Screen Scotland - https://www.screen.scot/skills-and-talent/skills-development

(Training schemes available to apply for in scripted and unscripted)

Job Websites

There are a variety of job sites to make a profile on and put your CV up for work:

Betty - https://betty.co.uk/

Fremantle Media - https://jobsearch.createyourowncareer.com/FREMANTLE/

Film Bang - https://www.filmbang.com/login

Netflix - https://jobs.netflix.com/

Screen Skills - https://www.screenskills.com/jobs/

Talent Manager - https://www.thetalentmanager.com/jobs

Triforce Creative Network - https://thetcn.com/

Broadcasters

BBC Careers Hub - https://careers.bbc.co.uk/

Channel 4 - https://careers.channel4.com/4skills

ITV Careers - https://careers.itv.com/recruitment

Sky - https://careers.sky.com/earlycareers

STV Careers - https://www.stvplc.tv/careers

Additional Information

https://www.screenskills.com/starting-your-career/career-maps/

Access this to see career maps and their paths to your job of what you want to do whether it's working in production, location, camera, sound, directing, producing, art, make-up, continuity, editing, and other postproduction and technical areas.

Finding Work - Social Media

Facebook groups to join:

TV Talent in Scotland

TV Talent North

Women in Film & Television in Scotland

Women In Film & Television

TV and Film Crew Jobs Scotland

TV And Film Jobs

People in TV: Available

PAID Film and TV Jobs UK

Actors & Crew UK

Film Crew UK

Film & TV Production Crew Jobs/UK

People in TV: Runners

TV Runners

The TV Runners Hub

DRAMA TV

People in TV: Translators and Transcribers

(There are many more but these are the ones that advertise that I'm a member of)

Twitter

I'm not a Twitter user but there may be chats/groups to join. Do check this out in case there are TV communities to join.

LinkedIn:

This site is my favourite platform for finding work and making new connections. What's more, other industry professionals are very helpful sharing their tips, career journey and CV advice. Also as well, you can reach out to potential employers asking for their emails and sending your CV for when employment opportunities may arise.

Shadowing

Asking to shadow someone in their profession can be very beneficial for yourself as well as the individual. This is a good way to introduce yourself in companies, make contact with people in the department you want to work in and an opportunity for you to send over your CV and any samples/portfolio of your work.

Networking Events

Look out for networking events taking place at either: STV, ITV or BBC divisions. You'll find these on Social Media group pages such as Twitter or Facebook. The tickets are FREE but do get grabbed very FAST. Lesson learnt for myself. They usually last for a few hours and there are opportunities to speak to other freelancers/industry professionals on advice whether it's CV reviews, finding work, courses or finding more work.

Film Bang

I was recommended by other freelancers to sign up to Film Bang. This is great for freelancers to find out about jobs coming up as well as creating their own listing informing potential employers on their availability, skills, links to websites/portfolio's and an option to download their CV. The joining fee is ￡45 as crew however, I got a 10% discount being a member of BECTU joining for the first time. Also, you get ￡10 off if you're a newcomer and signing up for the first time.

https://www.filmbang.com/sign-up

Professional Profiles

Do feel free to check out my portfolio if you have time: https://lauramasters.myportfolio.com/

You can also check me out on Film Bang - https://www.filmbang.com/listings/masters-laura

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this third edition of The Uncharted Freelancer. I hope you tune back in for the fourth edition at the end of April where I'll be talking about self promotion, CVs, business cards and website/portfolios demonstrating skillset and creative work. If you would like to find out more, don't hesitate to contact me directly on here and REMEMBER to subscribe to my monthly newsletter if you haven't already and share with your connections.