Mark Heholt, Head of Policy, ScreenSkills.
The UK’s film and television sector is a world-renowned multi-million pound industry that kept the nation – and many nations - informed and entertained during lockdown.
So the safe return to production is an outcome to be welcomed by the Treasury and the Foreign Office as well as by consumers who have begun to register the supply of top quality content was in jeopardy from the continued hiatus in shooting.
It is why we – the skills body for the UK’s screen industries - are proud to be playing our part in supporting the efforts to get back to work with the risks to all involved managed and minimised.
This week, we are launching free online training - an e-learning module - which provides key knowledge and measures to reduce the risk of the spread of the virus on production in areas from transport and catering to equipment. Production usually involves many people, working in often close proximity and with considerable amounts of kit so operating under the threat of the coronavirus is not a simple exercise. The impact on different departments in production will vary. Being a location manager on the periphery of a shoot will be different from being a focus puller working close to a camera operator and actors. Everyone is going to have to understand not only what they must do to stay safe, but the impact of their actions on the cast and crew around them.
However, the industry was making movies and TV safely before the arrival of Covid-19 and will do again. The training is designed to make sure that everyone knows how to keep themselves, their colleagues and their environment safe in the new context.
The step-by-step course concludes with a short test upon successful completion of which candidates will receive a certificate that can be easily validated on the ScreenSkills website. Certificates are normally valid for six months after which candidates will need to re-take the test to ensure their knowledge remains up to date.
The training was developed to complement the production guidance for film and HETV and is also expected to help those working in unscripted television. In many ways, it is the sensible application of Covid awareness and common sense to the circumstances of a film location or television set. All productions will also have their own processes adapted for the particular context of their shoot.
It is not a silver bullet to the many challenges facing productions right now, including some, such as insurance, which we know are being considered at the highest levels of government. However, it should provide reassurance to crew worried about their safety at work, to financiers keen for production to continue but conscious that an outbreak on set could be costly, and for government who understand that the UK’s screen industries are an important part of the economy. At least £426 million worth of productions were postponed or suspended when social distancing measures followed by lockdown were announced.
ScreenSkills has partnered on our basic training with Skills for Health, a not-for-profit organisation that is well-known within the health sector and is already working with the NHS on the Covid-19 crisis, and First Option, established safety consultants to the entertainment industry, to ensure expert input in delivering health and safety solutions for the screen industries.
It is a sensible approach to the biggest challenge facing the industry – and the country – in decades. We may be the entertainment business but we know training is a serious matter. We invest in skills and training to continue to open the industry up to the widest possible diversity of talent and to ensure the UK remains a global production powerhouse. We believe this coronavirus awareness e-learning is a proper duty of care to our workforce and will enable us to resume making great film and television – and a major contribution to the nation’s finances.