TV’s back to school assignment this autumn: rebuild the talent pipeline

It’s the first week of September, and everybody knows what that means: back to school. 

For those working in the TV industry, it’s a time for reflection and also moving forward - as new big commissions are announced, and priorities for the year ahead are set out.  

The tone this year as we go back to our desks is different. Commissioning slumps and writers strikes coupled with a cost of living crisis mean experienced talent are leaving the industry in droves. As a result we’re entering what should be a peak time for production in a state of uncertainty, deficiency and unrest.

The question on our minds at Gritty is: how can the industry build back stronger from our 2023 standstill if we no longer have the quality and quantity of talent in the workforce to deliver our world class formats?

A recent poll from BAFTA showed that a third of its members surveyed are considering quitting the British television industry amid the perfect storm of a commissioning drought and strikes. We know from a BECTU survey over the summer that half of the freelancers working in unscripted they polled were out of work and had been for some time.

Rescue packages announced at the end of August from the major broadcasters are welcome and much needed. But rather than taking a sticking-plaster approach to the immediate talent problem, what if we were to think bigger, and more critically about the shape and size of our talent pipeline. After all, prioritising fixing short-term problems might be half the reason we’re in such a big mess right now. 

A gutsy, innovative and consistent long term vision is what is needed for our sector to come back stronger. We must create sustainability and growth for our workforce and at the same time propel our business model fully into the digital era, in order to ensure we don’t end up in the same sticky spot a few years down the line, when the industry experiences the next unpredictable but inevitable market shock. 

For existing talent - this vision means investing strategically and generously in their career development and progression. Equipping the workforce with the skills and capability to move across genres and develop new expertise - especially in creative AI. At the Edinburgh TV Festival this year, the roles ‘creative director of AI’ and ‘synthetic human producer’ were mooted as jobs that indies could be recruiting for in the near future. How many of us can currently say we know enough about generative A.I to deploy it routinely and successfully in our productions?

There is of course already a generation who have the digital and coding skills that we lack. They will also make up just under a third of the global workforce by 2025. We need those young minds from Gen Z coming into the industry, both to learn our craft and to help us evolve. 

Problem is - they likely don’t want to work in TV, or can’t get in. Summed up succinctly by Arnaud Doggett of BroadcastJobs writing for Broadcast magazine, ‘We find ourselves in a position where the industry is failing to attract and retain young talent at the rate it needs.’

Findings from last year’s BFI and ERIC’s report ‘What’s Stopping Young People from Pursuing Careers in the Screen Industries?’ paint the picture quite clearly: 

• 83% of young people surveyed said they weren’t aware of any screen industry guidance being available at their school. 

• Careers teams also face blockers - 64% didn’t feel confident giving career guidance about Film & TV, with 70% thinking it was very hard to get jobs in film and TV.
  

In the same report, one in five young people said their dream job would be in the screen industries, while 93% of career teams reported they receive requests for careers guidance about the screen industries, making it one of the top five sectors they felt they needed more information about. There is a clear disconnect between the industry, educators and young people.

To quote Doggett once more, ‘Clearly, it’s time the broadcast industry steps up to find more innovative ways of attracting and retaining young talent. The future of production in the UK depends on it’. I’d go as far to say that invigorating our pipeline with fresh, diverse talent who can help us reconnect with audiences of all ages, just might be the masterstroke that helps us future proof our age-old craft.

We’re approaching a pivotal point of no return, with linear TV losing audiences at rates never seen before to SVoDs (who in turn battle with their own challenges) and social media platforms like TikTok commanding the volumes of viewers we used to enjoy. We can’t ignore the rapidly evolving viewing habits of audiences in these non-linear spaces, so who better to decode and delve into the evolved ecosystem we’re already working in, than the emerging workforce of Gen Z? Sure, there’s skills to be learnt and talent to be developed, but that is always the case.

At Gritty Talent for the past three years this has been our goal. We’ve been working on ways to support the talent pipeline to become more inclusive and resilient at all stages. We work with talent at all levels to help them get the skills and connections they need to build a thriving career in TV. We also work with a range of indies via our Inclusion Accelerator to help them create inclusive workspaces for all talent, and consistent talent pipelines in their local communities - partnerships with schools and grassroots organisations which benefit everyone in the ecosystem.

This autumn we kick off delivery of the Careers Schools Roadshow for key stage 3 pupils in Bristol schools to encourage pupils to think about and consider a career working in high-end TV (HETV). The roadshow is funded by the HETV Skills Fund, delivered by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the screen industries. High-end television is the term used for TV productions that are made on a budget of at least £1 million per hour.

The project will focus on highlighting job roles in the HETV industry where there are currently skills shortages and will signpost pupils, teachers and parents to resources for career pathways into the industry.

There are many ways in which the TV and wider screen industries can help open their doors to the next generation, including some upcoming opportunities. If you’re running a production company, or perhaps a department for one of the UK’s broadcasters, consider opening your doors for Discover! Creative Careers Week 2023, 13th - 17th November 2023. More details here.

Similarly, if you’re an industry professional wanting to inspire the future generation, check out Back to School. ScreenSkills, funded by the High-end TV Skills Fund, has developed a set of resources for crew going into schools to help them talk to young people about their job role, the steps they took to break into the industry and what it is like to work in TV.

Collectively, we have the power to really shift the dial and breathe new life into our industry. By supporting our current talent to become inclusion and technology-fluent leaders, while equipping the next generation of creatives with a passion for TV content, we may just pull away from the existing competition and take TV to heights (and devices) not previously imagined.  

Gritty Talent’s next Inclusion Accelerator starts in October and is a practical programme for TV leaders who want to build healthy and thriving work cultures of the future. Limited places available. Register your interest here.