Hannah Tyne

Employment Report: Film and Publishing

Each of these media sectors has an important role in the industry. Film and publishing are possibly the largest sectors in the world. The film industry is huge and produces hundreds of films every year. It works in the production and distribution of movies. The large production companies include Disney, Warner Bros, DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios. Making a profit is the only way these companies can stay in business. It costs a lot of money to make films and the profits from cinema viewings and DVD sales make up the money made for the production companies. The film industry is continuously growing. There are around 400 permanent companies and the industry has a workforce of around 27,800 in the UK. In 2010, there was an estimated workforce of 300,000 in the USA. Unfortunately, most of the film sector is located in America. Audiences can access the films through cinema and DVD purchases. Award ceremonies like the BAFTAs or the OSCARs inspire audiences to watch films they may not normally see. This also informs people of the wide diversity of jobs in the film industry. Jobs range from creative work, technical, editorial, marketing, managerial, administration, legal and financial. Job titles include directors, editors, producers, scriptwriters, casting and distributors who are in charge of coordinating the sale of DVD and Blu-Ray. These people are vital in the making of a film because they are the people behind the pre-production, production and post-production as well as being a part of a huge team of people in the making of the film. The industry requires permanent employees but also includes shortterm contracts with freelance individuals or companies. The film making industry has job opportunities including full-time or part-time work, shift work which means there is a rotation of people who work at different times a day, temporary, multi-skilled work which means work that has more than one component, voluntary work which means the person is not paid for the work they do, casual which requires someone to stand in for short periods of time to make up for lack of staff, hourly paid and piecework which means the person is paid per product they sell, however, this term is not very common in the media industry. You can find information about recruitment in the film industry from talking to people and receiving careers advice, going to trade fairs, reading the national press and trade press which discusses new television programmes and films that have been given the green light. You can also talk to personal contacts, do some networking, hear it through word of mouth and the Internet. Networking is useful because it helps you to get the contacts you need to gain access to the industry. Publishing is the process of releasing information to the public via books, magazines and newspapers. Publishing in the UK consists of several publishing houses for books including Penguin books and Pearson Education. Magazine published in the UK include Closer, Heat and FHM. Newspapers published in the UK are The Guardian, Daily Mail, The Sun and The Daily Mirror. There are

Hannah Tyne hundreds of books, magazines and newspapers every week and the sector employs over 195,000 people across the UK. The industry makes a turnover in the region of 10.1 billion GVA (Gross Value Added) and is one of the biggest earners and exporters for the UK Creative Media Industries. The industry consists of a majority of small companies: 88% of them having less than 10 employees. Yet the 3% with 200 or more employees have over half of all those working in the industry on their payroll. (http://www.creativeskillset.org/publishing/industry/article_6686_1.asp) Audiences gain access to this from newsstands, bookshops and on the Internet. They choose the publication that interests them whether it is because they like the front cover, like someone that features in the publication or are a subscriber to the publication. The type of jobs in the industry include creative, editorial, marketing, managerial and administrative. Employment opportunities can include journalists, editors, writers and publishers. Employment within the sector is with the publishers, the newspaper or magazine creators or the writers. Most of the work in this industry is full-time and permanent. INTERVIEW: We interviewed Sue Barr, the Head of Journalism, at Harlow College regarding the media industry about her specialism. 1. Which course did you study and where? Was it useful? I did a degree in English Literature and then a fast track Journalism course in South Africa. 2. How did you gain access to the media industry? There were only 16 of us doing the Journalism course and there was a guaranteed place at a newspaper at the end of it. 3. What kind of work experience did you do? I had no work experience before the Journalism course. I was incredibly lucky to get a course with a job at the end. 4. How do you make contacts in the industry? Luckily, I didnt have to because of the job I got at the newspaper. 5. How can you make yourself stand out from others? - Research the course/job and make sure you know every piece of information before you start - Be up to date with the news - Be confident - Use your initiative and have ideas to suggest if in an interview for a job. The interview indicated to us that to enter the industry you need at least a university level of education and some training to show your knowledge of the work you want to do to be able to get a part-time or full-time job. To get a good job, being a Level 3 graduate would show you have a better understanding of the media industry but a Level 2 graduate may also be acceptable. Work experience will show your understanding and familiarity in the industry by also showing a continuing professional development. You will gain workplace knowledge and may get some contacts that may be useful for future work experience or nob opportunities.

Hannah Tyne

Before starting any job you must carry out some research into whom you will be working for and what your responsibilities will be. You should speak to Sector Skills Councils, trade unions and careers services. You need to make yourself stand out from others and one way of doing this is through your Curriculum Vitae (CV). In this document you can include your record of employment history and the skills you have acquired from them. You can also include references from your past employers so that the new employer can find out whether you are a good person for the job. You could also show your career development which includes your training on the job, continuing professional development, self-training and functional skills including ICT, Mathematics and English in the form of a portfolio, show reel, CD or personal website. Another way to make yourself stand out is through your professional behaviour. Employers are drawn to reliability, attendance and punctuality, commitment, efficiency, self-presentation, communication skills, contribution to team projects, time management and personal responsibility. If you show your ability for each of these things, an employer will remember you and be more likely to think you are right for the job you have applied for.