Anyone else a telly freelancer? Career has disappeared

[GooseGoldenEgg]

Or can anyone else relate?

I am (was) a pretty successful TV producer. Worked continuously most of the time the last 15 years. Things got tricky around the pandemic and haven't really recovered for me. I was working on successful shows, had a fulfilling and fun career and was paid pretty well, most years earning between £50k and £75k.

Pre pandemic I bought a one bed flat within M25. Life was good.

Now I have been unemployed for over a year. Working bar shifts when I can get them. I'm 40 and a single woman. I don't think I can afford to keep my flat for much longer but if I sell and use the money to rent that will only buy me so much time and I'll be left with nowhere to live. Lots of my friends and other colleagues from the industry are in the same position. They're all just temping.

I've tried thinking about transferable skills but can't seem to get anywhere certainly I'm not going to be able to earn what I once took for granted. Along with the financial aspect my self worth, social circle and a large part of my identity has gone.

If I could warn young people I'd say don't go into a freelance industry. Don't know where to turn next, don't have the money to retrain. Is this it now? This industry seems shafted by budgets, streaming giants and I can't see it ever going back to what it was. So now I'm going to work minimum wage jobs if I'm lucky enough to get one until I retire?

What about becoming a drama teacher in a private school? You'd definitely have the skills for that.

In London, yes. Which is where the OP is based and so this is a fair comment.. but nationally the civil service are recruiting a lot.

My DH has worked in children's TV post production for nearly 30 years. This past 12-18 months have been very lean. As bad as the 2008 recession.

He is still picking up smaller jobs but earning less and less. With 2 dc still to go to uni and heading to his mid 50s, things are not looking good.

We are working on our financial plans and yes, we will have to sell the house and downsize much sooner than we would have liked.

Everyone in the industry seems to be in the same boat but that doesn't make the reality any easier.

My friend works in TV and she's facing the exact same issue.

Sorry - TV is a dying industry!

I worked in freelance TV production for a decade and then moved relatively easily into communications roles working for charities. You 100% have transferable skills - all the skills that make you good at production translate to a communications/ digital role. I was terrified thinking I wouldn't be able to do something different and that potential employees wouldn't see it but really has worked out well for me. I did a couple of communications and digital marketing courses and I initially looked at both admin and comms jobs in charities to get my foot in the door and get experience. I am not in the UK but yes there has been a salary drop for me anyway here but it mightn't be the same in the UK.

My cousin just got made redundant from a junior producer job. She's only been in the industry for about 5 years. The plan is to go freelance.
From what you're saying that's not going to be easy. She's a job pencilled in for a couple months early next year, so hopefully more will come from that client. But I'm kind of worried for her now!

DS works in telly and is finding it harder to get freelance work at min. He's working with a business mentor to find ways of utilising his transferable skills (note not a 'lifestyle coach' or similar but an older, experienced person who runs successful businesses) He's finding it very well worth it.

Why? She’s a producer, not an actor. She’d be more suited to teaching business than drama.

Some online courses should help you with your CV and to get into Marketing or comms jobs in the private sphere in London, e.g. in a software company, where the pay can eventually be as good. The market is tough these days for most people, but you just need one opportunity in a new industry to work out and then go from there. Good luck.

As a PP mentioned look into VFX production or any other type of moving image production, eg in branding and advertising?

I'm not sure you understand what a producer is.
Regardless of the platform if it's televised it needs to be produced.

I had a blip moment but have bounced back and I'm super busy again so hang on in there. I think things are recovering slowly but surely over here. The US is another story. Everyone has gone super risk adverse, almost nothing getting greenlit. It's really tough out there. I would maximise your contacts, join WFTV if you’re not a member and network as hard as you can before quitting for another career.

@GooseGoldenEgg You could also have a look at Game producer jobs. Quite a few of them about, I have two colleagues in a similar situation to yourself who have successfully moved into this area.

I don't think anyone can be a TV producer. 40 is not old. I think you can definitely earn your salary if you find your niche in the public sector somewhere, especially if you don't mind line managing people etc. You just have to find it. A lot of public sector organisations such as NHS/ Financial conduct authority are involved in advertising campaigns etc You may not enjoy the work as such but it may be a steadier salary. It may take you some time to find your niche. I also don't think you should sell your flat. Maybe you can rent it out and with the rent, rent somewhere smaller?

The industry is on its knees. I come from a family of 60+ years working in TV (not me but family) A friends son has just graduated in tv and they were told that it's the worst time to try to get into the industry. The times of tv stations making their own stuff has largely gone and it's awful now.

There is some discussion that 2025/2026 will start the resurgence but I don't think it'll ever be back to what it was. It's so sad.

Granted.
But the lions share of the content on these platforms is produced in other countries. And the types of programs available fall in one of the following categories: Films, TV Series, Documentaries and Sports.
On the other hand, other types such as Talk Shows (à la Loose Women), Quiz Programs, Comedy Shows , which were ever present in traditional television have no place in these platforms. There will always be the honourable exception, of course.
For this reason, the demand of producers is going down and will carry on going down. Bear in mind that even Netflix is struggling with the competition coming from the horde of influencers, youtubers, and the like, which is what the youngest people are into.

Im in film/tv (though art dept/shoot crew side). I actually didn't start my career in this industry till 2020, but it's been pretty good to me. I've mostly been under the umbrella of big production companies/streaming services (and so is my partner) but we've both been ok. He's been in the biz 20 years, and says he's receiving a lot less job offers than usual and that everything seems much quieter, but to me a relative newbie it's been getting busier 🤷

We moved to a rural place and bought a home whose mortgage is the same as the mouldy room in a basement house share I rented in London. It's nice to know when things are quiet I'll be able to afford it still. Would that be a possibility for you? (I just rent when on a London job/am trying to build a career up here).

As a viewer I don't see that TV is dying, it seems to be absolutely thriving in terms of output and quality. It might be just that it is funded and made in different ways but there is so much good stuff out there, and you maybe need to change direction slightly to tap into that.

I dropped out of production when I had children but still have many friends working in it and the most experienced Exec I know hasn't worked in a year. Assume you are in factual, as that's where the big issues are. My LinkedIn is full of people saying the same thing.

I don't have advice but I do now work in the charity sector and have found the combination of being able to tell a story and to project manage has been welcomed. But the money is not great - or at least not as good.

And I completely understand about the self worth. I found that incredibly hard when I stopped working. It took me a long time to pick myself up.

And for everyone saying 'as a viewer' it looks fine - trust me, it really isn't. There are more repeats, fewer commissions - Channel 4 had a massive freeze on new commissions which has taken a huge chunk out of the market. And salaries are about the same as they were 20 years ago and you are expected to do more in less time for that. It's grim.

This isn’t true in scripted. A few years ago, the streamers didn’t have offices over here. Now Netflix, Apple, Disney and Amazon all have UK based commissioners and are ordering shows locally. There certainly are huge problems in the industry, and it is tough for freelancers out there, but there are far more buyers than there were say 10 years ago, and meanwhile the terrestrials are still ordering the same volume of series. The issue in scripted is actually about financing the shows that are greenlit, which is a whole other thing.

I have a friend in the field, she says the same she’s retraining as an accountant

If you’re in factual, which I’m guessing you are, I’d second the idea that a PP raised of trying to move over into drama. Maybe trying to get some meetings with some of the key agents who look after scripted producers, or some of the prod cos who make the lower tariff content (say Clapperboard, who have come out of the factual space and now make a lot for C5). Once you’ve got a scripted credit or two it would be easier to build up to HETV (where the budgets are massive and therefore they are more likely to want experienced drama producers).

do remember that streaming giants still need producers to make content. i work in the industry too and am confident it will recover . hang in there

You make a valid point in highlighting that there are many more buyers now. However, there is something else to take into account to, which is now the competition is unbearably brutal. You have to compete with throngs of producers for every major country.
As a Spaniard, I am still surprised that "Money Heist" was so successful internationally, when it showcases characters and attitudes so quintessentially Spanish (personally, I didn't like it and gave up after the first season).
There are now shows from almost every country in Netflix. The amount of competition is really harsh.

That’s not how it works though. Commissioning is local for local. The Netflix commissioners in the UK are only commissioning from UK producers, likewise all the streamers and broadcasters. There are huge structural issues, around tariffs and budget inflation, the lack of US pre-sales and therefore the challenge of financing, but UK producers are simply not in competition with international producers in our market.