Read a note from our 2024–25 annual report and accounts, in which Andy Harrower acknowledges another tough year for those employed in the UK TV and film industry. He reflects on how Directors UK has been working to support directors, and that the role the organisation plays in the working lives of its members has never been more important.
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Statement from the CEO
Last year, I acknowledged that 2023 had been an incredibly difficult year for our members and others employed in the UK TV and film industry. With so few signs of recovery in 2024, the role of Directors UK has never been more important.
Over the last year, our team processed almost one million lines of data to pay out £21.5m in royalties to directors – that’s our highest ever total royalty distribution. With many of our members having had little to no work over the last year, these royalties can be a lifeline. That’s why negotiations with broadcasters, studios and streaming services to secure the best possible return for our members - in deals which recognise the value of directors as creators of copyright works - is always a core focus for us.
Directors UK provides a voice for screen directors across all genres. We represent our members in conversations with decision makers across the industry, whether that’s through the Directors and Producers Forum (launched in 2023 with Pact, BBC Studios and ITV Studios), roundtable industry discussions, or the cross-industry working groups we’re actively involved in. We also share directors’ experiences with those that have the power to set policies that impact the way they work, and the state of the industry they work in.
To that end, we continue to meet with government and to lobby on behalf of our members in areas of importance to them, including AI and copyright, pay and working conditions, and freelancer and self-employed worker issues.
Following our evidence during the inquiry last year, our recommendations were taken on board in the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on Creator Remuneration. We attended the Labour Party Conference where I spoke at the Creative Pavillion, making the case in front of government figures for a freelance commissioner and sharing the importance of royalties to creators.
Our response to the government’s Industrial Strategy consultation reflected the common issues our members face, and stressed how vital it is for us to have a healthy domestic TV and film production sector and a strong talent base. Investment and growth should spread fairly across the UK, a point we made strongly in our response to Ofcom’s Channel 4 Licence Renewal consultation.
We have argued in many discussions that transparency around AI and the enforcement of our copyright protection framework are necessary in order to drive growth and innovation in both the creative and tech sectors, and ensure fair remuneration for creators.
Directing can often feel like solitary work, which is why part of our work is about creating community. Across the year, we’ve connected with members throughout the nations and regions with meetings, events and workshops in Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield. We’ve hosted members online, and in our offices in London for events and workshops, including Town Halls, director-on-director conversations and targeted career development and skills training. Inspire, our peer-to-peer mentoring project, has seen more members than ever before connect to provide a vital opportunity for skills sharing, so often missing as directors navigate the difficult industry climate. We also continue to support, through donations, the good work that the Directors Charitable Foundation does for the directing community.
On diversity and inclusion, the latest Diamond data published by the Creative Diversity Network, shows that the UK television and film industry has a lot more work to do. Contributions from underrepresented groups still fall below national workforce averages. None of the figures around directing are good enough, and it’s troubling to see some of the numbers going backwards, for example: employment of women directors. Broadcasters need to come together to make wholesale and intersectional changes to their practices, and create paths of progression between their organisations that will lead to sustainable, supported directing careers. We’ve been meeting with the broadcasters to find out more about their commitments and to hold them to account to deliver.
Over the last year we have continued to celebrate the craft of directing, and showcase the diverse range of work of our members have spearheaded. Through our online content and our podcast, which this year marked a milestone of over 150,000 listens, we’ve amplified the important role directors play beyond our membership and industry stakeholders, and share it with the public. Our social media presence continues to grow, with increased engagement across all our platforms.
Last year, we set out our commitment to invest in our people, systems and external legal and economic advice to continue to deliver value to our members, and, as you can see this has enabled us to achieve a lot in service of our membership. So, despite the challenging economic and political backdrop, we do have much to share and celebrate as an organisation.
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