Coalition For Change Sets Freelance Charter Long-Term Strategy – Deadline

The Coalition for Change, the UK freelance collective set up in 2020, has set out a long-term strategy including a target to create a pipeline for its freelance charter at the begininng, middle and end of all TV productions.

In an email sent out to members, seen by Deadline, Coalition founder Adeel Amini said the charter will relaunch soon to “establish it within the public consciousness,” with additions from newer member groups such as the Jack Thorne-backed TV Access Project and CIISA, the new independent anti-bullying complaints body, which will go live next year.

Unveiled at Edinburgh TV Festival in 2021, the charter sets out terms for freelancers in areas such as recruitment, workplace culture, bullying and harassment, and conduct. It was adopted by British broadcasters, some streamers and trade bodies such as Pact and the BFI.

“We would like to create a pipeline for the Charter at the beginning, middle, and end of productions,” said Amini’s email, which he added would entail a course from training body ScreenSkills in the charter at the start of every production. 

Amini said the charter had “not had the impact we would have liked after its launch” but that it “remains a document we should feel proud of and keep pushing.”

He is taking over as Chair of Coalition for Change, with Matt Travers and Emma Hardy stepping down, and Amini communicated a desire in today’s email to turn the Chair role into a part-time paid position housed under an established organization.

Going forwards, the Coalition would also like to take the temperature of the freelance community via a survey and do more to establish the charter “within the public consciousness,” he said.

The move comes with the UK’s TV freelance community almost on its knees, driven by the cost-of-living crisis and U.S. strikes. A recent survey from broadcasting union Bectu found that 75% of freelancers were out of work, with four-out-of-five saying they had been impacted by the strikes across the pond.

Amini said the Coalition has been “holding multiple meetings with Bectu and The Film & TV Charity, and are having cross-broadcaster discussions to find some solutions to the current freelancer situation.”

“The Coalition for Change was set up as a positive force for the TV sector, and while we cannot solve the industry’s issues at the moment, we can ensure that when work resumes it is in the happiest and healthiest environment possible,” he added.