24m 10s

Managing Freelancers: Guidance on Treating Contracted Roles

Episode Shownotes

Freelance support is essential to so many productions in screen industries, but it can be a challenge knowing how to first bring them on board, and then managing them at scale.

Samantha Kingston has been a freelancer herself, and works wonderfully with them in her business, Virtual Umbrella.

This episode of the Work Wise for Screen podcast poses as the perfect starting point for those looking to hire and manage freelancers, offers guidance on how to maintain compliance, and dives into whether they’re right for your project over full time staff.

The Work Wise for Screen podcast is supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery Funding.

This episode covers:

Overcoming challenges with hiring and managing freelancers
Legal and ethical considerations with freelance employment
Sources of information and advice on freelance contracts

Episode Topics

Introductions, Sammy’s journey to founding Virtual Umbrella and (0:00 to 5:00)

The decision to use freelancers, and how they find & manage their trusted team (5:00 to 8:20)

Engaging with freelancers new to the industry (8:20 to 11:15)

Balancing wellness with the need to deliver the project, and why choose freelancers rather than part-time employees? (11:15 to 16:15)

Learning what contract types are needed for which roles, and sources of advice (16:15 to 21:30)

Episode Highlights

“It didn't seem right to bring on full time staff, when they could be going out there, freelancing themselves and having lots more opportunities, which I think is the best way to grow, especially in a creative industry.” - 5:45 - Samantha Kingston

“I fully believe in bringing on people that are smarter than me. Just because I'm a part of this industry, doesn't mean I'm going to be in it forever, so why not be a part of that process of pushing people into the right place and right position.” - 9:30 - Samantha Kingston

“A lot of graduates, for example, might not have necessarily done any freelancing work before, so we do have to provide a bit of guidance on contracts and how they look after their taxes and things like that.” - 10:10 - Samantha Kingston

“I think we've always had an understanding of what my role is within those events and how the staff are looked after under me. But they do know that there is a standard, literally called the Sammy Standard, when it comes to events.” - 13:20 - Samantha Kingston

“I think there's something in the air at the moment, because some people have found it really difficult to engage with team members in a way that's constructive, and sometimes that relationship has been abusive and people have been taken for granted.” - 16:00 - Keith Arrowsmith

“Having this conversation, there'll be some nugget that will spark something in somebody else that’ll help them to either resolve or ask another question. There’s a Tom and Jerry style rug of people just sweeping stuff underneath it. So let's remove the rug, shake it all out, and just have the conversation, because no one has all the answers” - 19:50 - Tacita Small