Skillset celebrates the contribution of freelancers to the Creative Media Industries on National Freelancers Day
Skillset is hailing the work of the 128,000 freelancers that are working in the Creative Media Industries on National Freelancers' Day (Tuesday, 23 November).
London - Tuesday 23 November 2010
Skillset is hailing the work of the 128,000 freelancers that are working in the Creative Media Industries on National Freelancers' Day (Tuesday, 23 November).
Representing a quarter of the Creative Media workforce, freelancers make an essential contribution to our industries. The film and television industries are particularly reliant on freelancers, where they make up 34 per cent and 28 per cent of the workforce respectively.
These workers enable the film and television industries to remain flexible and dynamic, adapting to changes in technological and production patterns rapidly to help our industries stay ahead of the curve.
Skillset's chief executive, Dinah Caine, said: "At Skillset we see our role as a champion for the skills interests of the Creative Media workforce, helping to find solutions for the skills challenges that they face. National Freelancers Day is a great chance to thank our freelancers for all of their hard work, and renew our pledge to work with our industries to make sure that freelancers continue to be a valued section of our workforce."
At present, Skillset has training bursaries of up to £1000 available for people working in the TV and film industries to access training in a range of subject areas, including:
- Mentoring and coaching
- Production management
- HR-related and people management
- Creative leadership
- VFX skills
- 3D stereoscopic skills
- A range of digital, editing and lighting skills
- Multiplatform skills
- Health and safety
In response to Skillset's research that shows that just 42 per cent of the Creative Media workforce is female, compared to 46 per cent in the UK economy, Skillset aims to award more than 50 per cent of these bursaries to women.
To find out more about which of these bursaries are available to you, or to search for view the full range of bursaries available, TV freelancers should visit www.skillset.org/tvbursaries, and film freelancers should visit www.skillset.org/filmbursaries.
These schemes are funded through two industry-specific funds, the first of which is the TV Freelance Fund (TVFF). The TVFF is the result of an agreement between UK broadcasters and the Indie Training Fund to invest in training for the television workforce. The contributors are: BBC, Channel 4, Five, Sky and cable and satellite companies, and the ITF via contributions from member companies. Film freelancers are funded via the Film Skills Fund, which comes from Lottery funds via the UK Film Council.
For further information contact
Nick Sheridan
Press and PR Officer, Skillset
T: 020 7713 9800 After Hours: 07827 989 330
F: 020 7713 9801
E: Nicks@skillset.org
W: www.skillset.org
Follow us on Twitter: @skillsetssc
