Tens of thousands of film and TV production staff left jobless by the coronavirus shutdown must be included in the chancellor’s coronavirus support package, an influential group of MPs has argued.
However, the Film and TV Charity estimates up to half of the 50,000 staff that work in film and TV production, from directors and camera operators to prop makers and researchers, are ineligible for any financial support under these schemes.
“They float in the middle,” said Amy Fung, an administrator for the UK Covid-19 support Facebook group for the Television and Film Industry.
Bectu, the trade body for the entertainment industry, wrote to 280 UK production companies urging them to furlough freelancers on their payroll on 28 February.