Skillset/UK Film Council Feature Film Production Workforce Survey 2008

6.3 Type of contract

The majority of the sample (85%) was employed directly by the production company on the film production they were working on at, or around, the time of the survey. The pattern of responses was the same as in the 2005 survey report. 

Most workers in each occupational group were employed in this way, although sizeable minorities in the electrical and construction departments were employed directly by lighting and construction companies respectively, and 25% of those in editing /and post production/ VFX worked for a post production company.

Figure 6.3.1 Which type of company or organisation was employing you?

Base =1,150.

Table 6.3.1 Which type of company or organisation was employing you? (by occupational group)

Just under half (48%) of the survey sample had been employed on a fixed-term contract for the feature film production, i.e. for a fixed number of hours, days or weeks. Over one in five (22%) had an open-ended weekly contract, a further 9% had been employed as dailies, and 9% had been permanent employees. 8% described their working relationship with the production in some other way, most commonly as open-ended freelance contracts, negotiated from week to week, with no specific fixed terms (Figure 6.3.2).

Workers in the production and costume departments were the most likely of any occupational group to be permanent employees rather than freelance. And those in the camera department were the most likely to be on daily contracts.

The 2005 survey report showed a much higher incidence of daily contract workers in make-up and hair (46%), which had fallen to only 10% in the present findings, with a higher proportion in this occupational group holding fixed term contracts than was previously the case. None of the respondents in this occupational group had an open-ended weekly contract, which was highest among construction workers (42%).

Figure 6.3.2 Which of the following best describes the sort of contract you had when you were working on that production?

Base = 1,137.

Table 6.3.2 Type of contract (by occupational group)

Women were more likely than men to have a fixed term contract, and less likely to hold open-ended weekly contracts. There was no significant difference between the proportion of men and women that were permanent employees.

Younger workers were more likely to be on permanent or daily contracts, while older respondents were more likely than their younger counterparts to be employed on an open ended weekly basis.

Type of contract did not vary significantly by ethnic background or disability.

Table 6.3.3 Type of contract (by stage of production)

Table 6.3.4 Type of contract (by gender)

Table 6.3.5 Type of contract (by age)

Respondents living in Scotland were more likely to have a fixed term contract than those in other nations and regions, while those in the South East were the most likely to have a daily contract.

Table 6.3.6 Type of contract (by place of residence)

Those respondents who worked on a larger number of films in the past year were more likely to be on a permanent contract. 16% of those who had worked on 7 films or more were permanent employees, compared with 8% of those who had worked on 1-3 films in the past year.

Table 6.3.7 Type of contract (by number of feature films in past twelve months)

85% of the survey sample had a written contract, a slightly higher proportion than was found by the 2005 survey report (80%). There was little variation by gender or ethnic background although there was some variation by occupational group (Figure 6.3.3), while those aged 16-24 were less likely to have a written contract (77% of this age group had one compared with 85% of the over 25s).

Table 6.3.8 Did you have a written contract?

Figure 6.3.3 were your wages or fees paid?

Base: Construction = 91, editing, post production and VFX = 61, other = 204, camera = 104, sound and electrical = 74, make up and hairdressing = 48, location = 41, assistant directors = 66, production and script development = 191, art, set decorating and props = 192 and costume = 66.

Respondents who had a written contract were asked if this had entitled them to any holiday credits or leave, or any sick leave and just over three quarters (77%) said that it had.

There was greater uncertainty about entitlement to sick leave, with 43% not knowing whether this applied to them or not. 17% of those with a written contract said they had rights to sick leave, the same proportion as reported in the 2005 survey.

Table 6.3.9 In this contract, were you entitled to any holiday credits or leave? Were you entitled to any sick leave?

The vast majority of the sample (74%) were paid weekly on their recent feature film production, with 5% paid monthly, 1% fortnightly and 5% in instalments. Less than 1% of respondents were paid on a daily basis. This varied by type of contract. Although the majority of permanent employees were still paid weekly, a sizeable minority (32%) were paid monthly. Of those on a daily contract, 42% were still paid weekly, and 46% were paid in some other way (mainly by a one-off payment or a deferral).

Figure 6.3.4 How were your wages or fees paid?

Base (n)= 1,145.

Table 6.3.10 How were your wages or fees paid? (by contract type)

Overall, 8% had agreed to defer at least some of their fees for that production, almost the same proportion as reported by the 2005 survey. This did not vary significantly by occupational group. However, there was a difference by contract type, with those on a daily contract being the most likely to have agreed to defer fees (in contrast, the 2005 survey report found those on a daily contract were the least likely to defer their fees).

Table 6.3.11 Did you agree to defer any of your fees for that production?

Table 6.3.12 Did you agree to defer any of your fees for that production? (by contract type)

In terms of the mode of payment, over half of respondents were paid via a payroll, with the remainder receiving payment on invoice.

Table 6.3.13 What mode did your payment take (or did you expect it to take?)

As reported in section 2.7, 52% of respondents had stayed away, or expected to stay away, from home overnight in order to work on a recent film production. Of these, 81% received (or expected to receive) per diems.

Table 6.3.14 When you stay away from home overnight on the production, do you receive per diems (daily expenses)?