This week, James Graham’s MacTaggart Lecture addresses working-class representation, Action for Freelancers aims to improve freelancer conditions, and broadcasters hope this year’s Paralympics can leave a lasting legacy in the industry.
Read all about it in this week’s digest.
News
• This week James Graham delivered his MacTaggart Lecture at Edinburgh TV Festival, addressing working-class representation in the sector, defending public service broadcasting and more. You can watch the full lecture now. (Edinburgh TV Festival)
• Some of the industry’s biggest organisations are coming together to form Action for Freelancers, with an aim to improve the working lives of freelancers. (Broadcast) This week UKTV’s Richard Watsham (part of Action for Freelancers) has said that the latest iteration of the Freelance Charter, originally launched at the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival, will have money behind it. (Broadcast)
• Channel 4’s Ian Katz has annoucned that the broadcaster’s commissioning spend is back at pre-covid levels, and the volume of shows sitting on its shelves for more than 12 months will soon return to normal. (Broadcast)
• Prominent Welsh indie producer Wildflame Productions is to close after eight years. (Broadcast)
• Channel 5 and its streaming service My5 are set to relaunch in 2025 under a unified parent brand titled 5. (Broadcast)
Features
• The co-producers of Waterloo Road have called for a “structural conversation” around drama models to ensure the UK domestic scripted landscape can remain strong in a turbulent economic time. (Broadcast)
• Networks in the US and UK have shared their hopes for this year’s Paralympics to leave a lasting legacy, both on-screen and in the production sector. (Deadline)
• Manori Ravindran investigates how broadcasters and streamers have shifted their content strategies and what impact this could have on production. (Broadcast)
• How English language students use British film and TV to study British English. (Guardian)
• Louis Theroux discusses giving the next generation of documentary filmmakers a chance to shine through his production company Mindhouse. (Broadcast)
Director Interviews
• Showrunner and director Jeff Schaffer on the Series Finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm. (IndieWire)
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