The dearth of production management skills in the British television industry is finally being addressed by the UK’s top broadcasters.
BBC, Channel 4, Paramount (which owns Channel 5), and UKTV are uniting to address the skills gap by creating a Production Management Skills Fund that will be used to “strengthen the scale of production management skills and capabilities in this sector.” £ over the next year – from short-term stress in production management and building a pool of long-term talent.
Notably, commercial broadcasters ITV and Sky are not currently involved in the fund. diverse I got to comment.
Line producers, production managers, and production coordinators are regularly cited as some of the most difficult roles for independent production companies to hire. This issue has been put to a sharp relief as demand for imaging products rises in the UK, and production managers are needed more than ever to help with COVID protocols and Albert Environmental Sustainability Certification.
Production companies will be able to rely on the PM Skills Fund to support ‘additional’ roles: this includes an ‘escalation role’ for a junior production manager or coordinator to work alongside and learn from a more experienced role; and transition to a mid-level role for someone with transferable skills from another industry (eg event management or theatre).
Participating broadcasters will use the fund to contribute at least 50% of the salaries for these additional roles for the duration of the production. Where possible, they will prioritize diverse talents, small and medium-sized communities, and those in nations and regions.
The broadcaster’s investment is intended to complement the existing training in production management in the sector and to create a range of opportunities for new employees. Each broadcaster will design its own approach to the fund based on its operations and budgets, and will allocate its funds separately. Funding will be available from the remainder of this month onwards.
Elsewhere, broadcasters have also agreed to work with other industry organizations to market production management as a profession.
David Pembry, Director of Operations at BBC Content, said: “Production management is a vital and highly skilled part of our industry. We want this funding to make a positive difference to the production operations that we know manage growing requirements — as well as help develop the next generation of production management talent. “
“As a former production manager, I know PMs and computers are at the core of the production process and integral to its success,” said Claire Brown, Channel 4’s production finance controller. With funding from 4Skills, this fund will help develop and maintain the pool of production management talent that It is critical to the continued growth of production in the UK.”
Nan Whittingham, Vice President of Production at Paramount UK added: “Production managers are a vital component of our industry. Content cannot be created without finding and retaining top-level production management talent. This dedicated initiative is a key priority for us, and we are excited to be working with our broadcast partners on it. It will support learning, development, and funding of Paramount’s skill gaps as announced by Ben Froe last year.”
Richard Watcham, Director of Commissioning at UKTV, said: “Production management has been a vital and long-undervalued part of our industry, and the skills gap in this area affects all of us. It is something we must take seriously, and act quickly to correct it. It was announced today, but we must continue to monitor progress and take further action as appropriate to ensure that the incredible creativity of British production is protected.”
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