Job Roles in the Television and Film Industry

Ownership and Funding Blog Post

Ownership and Funding

OWNERSHIP CONCEPTS

Public Service Broadcast (PSB)

Public service broadcast is a broadcaster (e.g. BBC) that broadcasts for the public's benefits rather than for an advertising and financial gain. Ofcom has a part in this as their regulations mean that certain TV/radio broadcasts are required to include a specific amount of public service broadcasts as their license to broadcast(1). The BBC Trust is the governing body of the BBC, they keep the BBC in line with the regulations and one of their priorities is to improve the quality of new 'peak time' dramas and to ensure the overall performance at the BBC is to the requested standard.(2)

(2.5)

(2.5)
This is the annual report to show where the BBC license fee is spent and their overall year collection of their fees.

The BBC Trust sets the target and direction for the BBC's distribution arrangements and in accordance to this, the trust has stated that BBC should provide every household in the UK with efficient access and free (at the point of use) to BBC services. This is where there is a 'value for money' included because the BBC do not gain anything, the BBC are financed by the tax payer and therefore they have no money to gain from adverts as they are not a commercial broadcasting company. Their distribution platforms include:

(3)

Commercial Broadcasting 

Another ownership concept is commercial broadcasting is where the company is financed by the advertising they show for other corporate company e.g a cleaning/ cleaning advert. ITV broadcasts a large variety of content for it's millions of viewers. It is the largest commercial television channel in the UK, programming is mainly all funded by the advertising revenues and ITV had the largest share in the advertising market 45.9% in 2014 (4). 'Since 2009 we have maintained our market leading position as the only commercial broadcaster consistently able to deliver mass audiences to our advertisers, and over this period we have grown our share of broadcast from 44.7% to 45.9% in 2014.' - (5)
ITV have exclusive commercial partners, in which they broadcast 

premieres of the Sainsbury's Christmas advertising campaign, also in links with the Warner Brother studio, advertising for LEGO and other attractions and films that exist within that company. Additionally with shows like the X-factor where they gain funding from the public voting is also a type of commercial broadcast, however is from the people and not a corporate company.



Corporate and Private Ownership 

Corporate and Private ownership is where an individual or a group of shareholders who invest in a company purely for a profit. A good example of corporate ownership was the creation of Miramax films in 1979 founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, it later developed into the Weinstein, this shows a company that started from the bottom and raised up top become what it is today. Another example more of an example of private ownership is Megan Ellison she is the daughter of a multi-billionaire her father who is the CEO of Oracle  invested in films like Avatar (2009) and American Hustle (2013) this is more about the individual, still for the same reason, to make profit.

The Weinstein Brothers.

Megan Ellison

Global Companies 

Global Companies are corporations that produce their products worldwide whether it be in media or industrial work. An example of global media company is Universal Studios an american owned film studio that serves its products worldwide. They have universal theme parks and resorts situation in american itself, in partnership with NBC (National Broadcasting Company) which transports their media products worldwide. Another global company is the Walt Disney Studios, they are associated with ABC family cable channel which is also a worldwide company and shows their products worldwide, they also have resorts in American, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai. An additional global media company is Paramount Motion Pictures Group who are in partnership with Viacom Media Network which is worldwide. The ownership is the body that owns the worldwide distribution networks, there are different rules for different countries, for example the legal age of consent is 18 in the UK, however in the US it is 21, this caused a stir in the industry because of a TV programme called Skins that was originally from the UK however the US took it to their screens and it caused an issue because they were showing underage sexual content where the actors were not at the legal age in US law.

Paramount Motion Pictures.

Universal Studios.

Vertical Integration & Horizontal Integration.

Vertical Integration is where a company/corporation owns each part of the production and distribution process, for example Warner Bros calls itself fully integrated broad based entertainment company as they own film studios and distribution of its films which are shown in cinemas owned by them.(6) Vertical integration could also be through two businesses merging together or through one company taking over another.
Horizontal integration is where an organisation/company grows by purchasing competitors in the same market as themselves, for example one film company buys another smaller company. News corporations's television industry is a good example to use because it owns 14 cable channels and they all draw a large number of viewers and are not always competing against each other. Rupert Murdoch is a managing director of Australia's news limited, inherited from his father, furthering it to the United Kingdom in 1969, taking over News of The World and The Sun, leading onto owning 8 different news papers in the UK and in Australia, these include:

- Daily Telegraph
- Herald Sun
- Sunday Times
- The Advertiser
- The Australian
- The Courier Mail
- The Mercury
- The Sunday Telegraph 

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FUNDING TYPES


The Licence Fee

A way in which a a TV channels can receive funding is through a TV fee that the public have to pay in order to receive live TV from the broadcaster. It usually takes £12 a month to have the access of live TV and therefore if you do not pay, you cannot watch live TV, however you can watch on demand for example on streaming engines like BBC IPlayer and ITV catch up.

Subscriptions 

People can subscribe to a specific bundle to receive a specific type of genre of television, they pay this monthly or weekly depending on how they want to pay it and what type of bundle it is, Sky TV is an example as they sell specific TV bundles that people can subscribe to.  

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different bundles will cost different amounts, however this is another way that television companies can gain funding from it's consumers.

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Another example of a subscription website is NowTV(7.5) 'Now TV is a non-contract Video on Demand service powered by Sky TV and was initially launched in the summer of 2013. It's Sky's big push to counteract the might of VOD giants Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video, and the broadcaster has big plans for the service.'  It is arguably seen as an alternative to Netflix(9) . 


One-off payment to own a product

A one-off payment means there is no monthly or annual fee to own a certain product, an example of this is the Apple TV(8) it is a one off payment of £60 therefore after that there is no further payments to complete, you now own that. However there is no live TV this is because it is a one-off payment there is no monthly fee to pay for live streaming TV. Although the company Netflix(9) has a monthly payment of roughly £6, and doesn't contain live TV either, it is more of an on demand service for films and TV series that has once been on the TV.

Pay-per view

This is where you pay for all content that you want to watch, if there is a specific TV programme or a film there is a direct charge in comparison to on demand where it accounts into your monthly bundle. Purchased broadcasts can be seen at anytime after the stage of payment has been completed, the charge can be payed through an on-screen guide or via a telephone. An example of this is when it comes to the sports events (10), as if you have not purchased the sport bundle along with your television package then you cannot watch a certain show that is on the channel. Therefore pay-per view comes in useful when you want to watch one single event and not to pay monthly into another bundle, you pay for the event and can watch it in real time.

Sponsorship 

Sponsorship is when you gain funding from being supported by a certain brand and/or company, this way the person who is sponsoring can gain exposure by being shown to support a popular brand and the company being sponsored can gain exposure from the company sponsoring if it is popular also. An example of how sponsoring can work is with the Talk-Talk and X-Factor deal, as X-Factor is on at prime time, it is a successful way to gain exposure for whoever sponsors them (11). 'TalkTalk gets significant mileage out of its wide-ranging association with the show, with the sponsorship proving to be a significant driver of its fast-growing TV service, which has signed up almost 1 million customers to its YouView-based pay-TV operation.'  
This is a quote from the news article that reinforces the idea of how effect a sponsorship can be and shows how much money can be invested into a project sponsorship like this, the Talk-Talk and X-Factor sponsorship cost £30 million.(11) 

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Advertising and Product Placement

Advertising is a well-known and very successful way of funding, this is where advertising companies will pay a broadcasting company to promote their company by advertising in a programme break to grab the attention of the audience or a specific audience. This also links into product placement as a company can place their product so that it is seen by a specific target market. For example an advert about a children’s toy would be targeted at children, therefore they would place the advert on a children’s channel like nickelodeon and possibly around 4 o’ clock as that is when children are home from school and perhaps watching TV. However it could be placed on a TV channel like channel-4 or ITV because that is then placing the product at the consumer who would be purchasing it, it also would give the adult ideas on what to buy for their child, therefore product placement is crucial in the marketing industry. This also applies for distributing film trailers and media products, you can advertise on the TV and in areas that your target audience would be able to see, therefore creating effective exposure for the product.

Advert Example could possibly be on prime time TV because it is aimed at an older audience however broadband can apply to help the family unit, therefore prime time could be a good time to place this advert as all the family could possibly be together to watch. 

Here is another advert example, the ideal market for this would be adults as they are the ones purchasing, however a younger audience may be interested and this could be aimed at both audiences, therefore could arguably be placed on prime time TV or a TV station where there is a variety of shows aimed at all ages.

Private capital

Private capital is money provided to a business as a loan that does not come from a source like a bank or government. The money comes from private individuals or a group of individuals who make investments that have no involvement from the government. (free from government interference) A private capital investment usually happens as a one-on-one transaction between the business and the investor. A company can seek private capital at any time as it grows. (12) An example of a company is Goldman Sachs. 

Evidence from the website (13)

Crowd Funding

Crowd funding and sourcing from the public getting the public to believe in your product to donate a small amount of money into the media product. An example of how you can do this is through a website called kick-starter it is very effective for people creating a moving image media production that need help to fund it, 7.3million people have backed a Kick-starter project and 2.2million people have backed more than one project. – Source requirements for production blogpost (14) 

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Development funds

An indirect sales channel where funds are made available by the brand/manufacturer, to help companies, partners or distributors with their projects, it sells the product and increases exposure around local areas for national companies. (16) For example Media Development Interest Fund (MDIF) are a good example of where funds are made available to help those in the media industry. Here are some examples of what they do and the success they have received:  

(16)

(16) 

Additionally the BFI supports over 50 projects a year in development varying levels of progress, for progressing filmmakers seeking the funds to produce their feature film, the BFI is an effective help. The guidelines state that it relates to a single project of film development, and to look at the BFI NET.WORK  for details on short films. If the project is a first feature and the budget is under 2,000,000 then you might be entitled for a funding development programme. Although they cannot fully finance the feature film, they give new film makers a chance to develop their feature film.(17)

(17)

(1) - http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/television/what_is_psb 

(2) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/our_work/value_for_money
(2.5) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/2014/executive/finances/licence_fee.html#heading-income

(3) - http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/review_report_research/vfm/distribution.pdf
(4) - http://www.itvplc.com/about/what-we-do
(5) - http://ar2014.itvplc.com/strategic-report/strategy-and-operations/strategic-priority-1
(6) - http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/vertical-horizontal-integration/
(6.5) - http://media.litmuse.net/Industry/News-Corp/holdH
(7) - http://www.sky.com/products/sky-tv/
(7.5) - http://www.nowtv.com/
(8) - https://www.apple.com/uk/appletv/
(9) - https://www.netflix.com/gb/
(10) - http://www.sho.com/sho/sports/pay-per-view
(11) - http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/06/x-factor-signs-talktalk-deal-simon-cowell-itv
(12) - http://www.ehow.com/facts_7339192_private-capital_.html
(13) -  http://www.goldmansachs.com/what-we-do/investing-and-lending/middle-market-financing-and-investing/private-capital-investing/
(14) - http://alanaenbtec14.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/the-pre-production-process.html
(15) - https://www.kickstarter.com/
(16) - http://www.mdif.org/ 
(17) - http://www.bfi.org.uk/supporting-uk-film/bfi-film-fund/funding-production-development

The Career Handbook

The Careers Handbook

Task 3 - Jobs

Film Director 

The director is responsible for overseeing the full practical and creative part of the production, it is their vision and how the finished product projects their ideas. They are also responsible for the budgeting and designing side of the production, directors work very closely with their creative and production teams. Most directors are employed on a fixed-term or freelance contract, some directors are also writers, designers and performers. For example in the film Adulthood 2008, Noel Clarke was the Writer and Director and also starred in the film himself.

3 typical tasks for directors include: 

- Programming and Budgeting 

- Working with writers and script developers 

- help to publicise the production by taking part in interviews and public disucssions. 

Directing wage is roughly £1,300 a week, however it depends on the size of production and if it is short-term or long-term. There are unions avalible for those directors that would like information about salary, these include
- http://www.equity.org.uk/home/

- http://www.writersguild.org.uk/

Source: Job roles Booklet

Marketing Assistant (executive)

Marketing executives are involved in developing market campaigns to promote a product or idea. The role includes planning, advertising, public relations, event organisations, distribution and product development.

Tasks can involve:

• liaising and networking with a range of stakeholders including customers, colleagues, suppliers and partner organisations;
• communicating with target audiences and managing customer relationships

• managing the production of marketing materials, including leaflets, posters, flyers, newsletters, e-newsletters and DVDs;

• Starting salaries for graduate trainees in marketing range from £18,000 to £25,500. The overall average salary is £21,461, with charities and financial services providing the higher wages.

Source: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/marketing_executive_job_description.htm

Runner

The role of a runner is the most junior role in the industry, their role is generally assisting other works on the production and executing basic tasks given to them.  The basic tasks runners involve themselves in is 

- Making refreshments for the crew of production
- Transporting equipment to different scenes
- Assuring that the area for filming is clear and everything is in place ready.
The role aids the individual with knowledge and experience of the media production process, developing networking communications. It also gives you a way in, into the media industry and a chance to work your way up the career ladder.

Skills that you will need for this position is:
- To be organised and flexible with time

- Have good communication and be able to work independently

Working hours tend to be standard office hours, although it depends on the size of production and sometimes editing studios can be booked out all night if you have to meet a deadline. With salary you tend to start on a low-level wage and work your way up, starting salaries on a TV programme or post-production can range from £18,000 to £25,000. At a senior level wage can range from £37,000 to £70,000, your skill level is also included in this. The responsibilities can include being given a brief and an outline of the footage/shot list/ script and begin to plan way of editing to create the finished product the director is looking for. 

Source: Job roles Booklet

Task 5 - The CV


The Job: Marketing Assistant 

http://www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/Vestiaire-Collective/jobs/Marketing-Assistant-09657d860821d3ec

Task 6 - Portfolio

This is my example of a portfolio, from one of my past courses I have kept the portfolio we created, it also links in with media as performing arts we created these as an example of what we would have to create if we went for a job in the performing industry. Additionally I have created a blog which holds all of my media work which is also a type of portfolio that I could present at a job to show my skills - http://alanaenbtec14.blogspot.co.uk/

Contractual, Legal and Ethical Job Advertisement - Letter of complaint.

To whom it may concern,

I am writing this letter in relation to the Apprentice Digital Video Production Producer job advert I have seen. The job description for part of a factual programme production team, has a variety of discriminating terms that one has to comply with to apply. For example the age of compliance in your job advert is below 30, this is a violation of the Equality Act 2010, it states it is illegal to discriminate an individual because of their age, this is called protected characteristics. A contract is a piece of material you sign to agree to a particular job/activity, it is intended to be enforced by the law if the contract is breached. In the advertisement it states that your application can be handed in at the front desk of your Norwich office or sent to the HR of your department HR@liverecruitment.co.uk, furthermore states that if you are successful, you must not apply for other positions of this nature. This does not state that your information will not be shared as there is no confidentiality clause. A confidentiality clause is a clause in the contract of employment that states you will not share private information about your employer to other companies or employers, and in your job advert it does not state that, which makes the job advert unprofessional and non legitimate. However the section below where it states that you must not apply for any other job of this nature incorporates an exclusivity clause that no two production companies conflict with another and market the same brand, which makes the advert come across as more legitimate and professional.


The Equality Act 2010 incorporated previous equality acts of parliament into one single piece of legislation, it includes:
- The Equal Pay Act 1970
- Sex Discrimination Act 1975
- Race Relations Act 1976
- Disability Discrimination Act 1995
- Employment Equality (religion or belief) Regulations 2003
- Employment Equality (sex orientation) Regulations 2003
- Employment Equality (age) Regulations 2006
By incorporating this into one single document made it easier for the public to find out if they had been discriminated against, also made it easier for lawyers and trade unions to find out if the individual has been exploited against for legal cases. Another piece of legislation is the Equal Opportunities, this is where the employers are guided by codes of practice that makes them comply with The Equality Act. There are many areas in how the individual can be discriminated against, for example direct discrimination. This is where the individual is treated differently from the other staff and in a sense the non-favored one due to a protected characteristic they have or are suspected of having. Indirect discrimination is where a practice or certain task applies to everyone equally, however has a unequal/disproportional effect on those who posses a protected characteristic, for example an individual that finds it hard to comply because of their religion or their beliefs. This is also included in your job advert where it states you must have a 'Christian' faith to apply, this is exploiting the Employment Equality Regulations on religion or belief 2003, which is a serious break of the law and could result in a court case if breached. Additionally in the job advert it states that you can be male/female, however you have to be under 30, this is breaching the Employment Equality Regulations on age 2006, by discriminating against someone who is too old to take part in the production, this is also a breach of the law and could result in a court case.
The Employers Liability Act 1969 ensures that the employers are responsible for the health and safety of their employees while they are in the working environment, also if an employee falls ill due to working in a certain environment, for this to occur there is insurance to cover any claims. The Employee Rights Act 1996, when an employee begins employment the employer must give them a written statement of what the employment entails, with all health and safety information and when the employee begins and ends, this protects the employee from exploitation from and employer. An example from your job advert is the 'hours' section where it declares the hours to be worked 'between 10-45 per week (variable)' this does not state how many hours the individual will be contracted to because it can vary, therefore violating the Employee Rights Act 1996 by not giving clear information. Additional it is mentioned that the salary is '£15,000 to £35,000' and then states 'It sounds like a broad role because it is!' including the hours, this does not add up to the salary, therefore not being clear to the appliers. Trade unions are there to protect workers rights and ensure that they will back up the individual if exploited or their contract is breached by the employer or even by the individual. An example of a trade union that supports media-related workers is BECTU, Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematography and Theatre Union, you pay a small sum of money each month and that adds up to the protection you could need for legal aid or even hospital aid (if it was the individuals fault). BECTU works for the employee by using the influence to persuade employers to treat and pay their staff fairly, they can stand up for improvements to pay and work conditions of employment, additionally hours, sick pay and job confidentiality.



Codes of practice are not specially part of the law, they are there to protect the individual and are effective when it comes to TV and film, employers are responsible for writing these policies and procedures up that are specific for the individual. Moving on to my next point is the representation your advert creates of a specific ideology and stereotype, evidence to show this is 'You should interview teenagers and other individuals who might be/have been affected by the topic, including female victims and male offenders who will talk candidly to the camera'. This shows the representations of males as being the sexual offenders and the females as always being the victims by creating this ideology that is only showing half of the story and creating an inaccurate story on an issue of such importance. This is misleading the audience and forcing them to think a certain way about the subject, therefore the 'factual' side of this is questionable, this is also relating to social concerns and how the media portrays those in the spotlight. This could also create a moral panic which is a feeling a large group of society expresses against a certain 'type' of person, for example terrorism, there is a highly expressed feeling towards that specific group of people, created by the media and represented to the public in a certain light, arguments and social tension can arise and this is can be damaging for those at the other end of the moral panic spectrum. It is destructive how the media portrays certain parts of society and if this was to be produced it would be harmful to those that are categorized in the 'dangerous' part of society on the basis of how the media has stereotyped them. Creating this fear of males is then emphasized by what a convicted rapist may be dressed like, then another issue occurs of what a rapist 'looks like', how do you believe a code of practice would protect this individual if you are choosing to produce a one sided story, it would be careless to produce material of such importance in a way which manipulates the audience.



There is also legal issues that surround this subject, the regulators exist to enforce the law on broadcasting issues and make sure every broadcast complies with the rules when it comes to the media. The Broadcasting Act 1990 created this and made it law that there must be a regulatory body that enforces this, evidence from the act to back this up is 'It shall be the function of the commission to regulate in accordance with the Broadcasting Act, following television programme services' this is then followed by 'the rules to be observed with respect to the showing of violence or the inclusion of sounds suggestive of violence including licensed services, particularly when large numbers of children or young people may be expected to what this'. In your job advert it states it is a 'short documentary that can be shown to children at a high school promoting the No Means No campaign', and the brief is to document an issue regarding rape which could be documented in an inappropriate way therefore this would be difficult to show a campaign like this to a high school full of under-age pupils. This could be argued as a breach of The Broadcasting Act 1990 for the protection of those under age against exposing footage, in a high school the ages can range from 11-16 which is a large gap to be showing the same footage that could potentially be harmful to those who are younger than the age of consent which is 16. The most commonly known regulatory body is Ofcom, they have a code that applies to protecting the under 18's, an example from the code:

1.1 Material that might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of people under eighteen must not be broadcast.

This could damage the minds of the underage by painting males in the picture as the only ones who would be involved with an activity as such as this, this could effect not only how they see the males in their life but how they see males in general. 

1.2 In the provision of services, broadcasters must take all reasonable steps to protect people under eighteen. For television services, this is in addition to their obligations resulting from the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (in particular, Article 27, see Appendix 2)

1.3 Children must also be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them. 

In the job advert it states you should use re-enactments, this could show inappropriate content and possibly harmful to those under the age of 18, they would have to keep it mild content if they were to show re-enactments because it could show violence and therefore the audience not being protected. The reason for Ofcom to exist is due to the Communications Act 2003 which includes the regulation by which Ofcom can carry out their duties:

Ofcom's powers:

-  The power to undertake research and development work in connection with any matter in relation to which they have functions

- Power to institute and carry out criminal proceedings in England and Wales or Northan Ireland for an offence in relation to which they have functions  

 This gives Ofcom the authority to be regulators and to report and carry through any issues relating to a broadcasting issue in which they have the power to. Additionally the Obscene Publications Act 1959 is the act to provide protection of literature and to strengthen the law concerning pornography, this is another factor to be thought about because the issue the individual is documenting is to do with a sexual act and therefore the 're-enactments' you have to include has to obide by the codes and rules set out by each statue act because that is the law. The BBFC would come into this because of the age limit of young people in a highschool under the age of 18 it would possibly be labeled as PG for some and 15 for others as the high school age ranges from 11-16. Their aims include:

- protect the public, especially children from content that is deemed to be a harmful risk.

- empower the public, especially parents to make informed viewing choices.

- recognize and respect adult freedom of choice in the law. 

Intellectual property applies to the job advert as well, it hedges that you should illegally download music, for example it states 'you should use a popular music soundtrack that will appeal to the target audience' which is young people, so suggest that new music is to be used. It goes on to say at the bottom is smaller text 'you will be recompensed up to the value of £20 for he production of the video' if you were to purchase a new, up to date, chart selling song, it would cost more than £20 and that includes paying the interviewers and location costs, therefore the only way this would be accomplished is through illegally downloading the content. Not only is this against the law for the individual but for the company to encourage this is also illegal, this violates the Copyright Act 1988 that states you cannot reproduce sounds from which are owned by an individual and that you do not have the rights to. 

Yours Sincerely

Alana Taylor  

Understanding Developing Technologies in the TV and Film Industry