Hiya!
I remember chatting to Lorna Clarke, controller of Pop Hub at the BBC, when I was an MA student trying to break into the BBC after many many many rejections from the BBC’s Production Trainee Scheme and other jobs.
I sent her an email (first.surname@bbc.co.uk, it’s pretty easy to work out), attached my CV, and asked her to meet up, which we all know is a very industry way of saying “please remember me and please give me a job one day, preferably now but I can wait.“ She was super nice and one thing she said to me was that in this business, ideas are your currency – that is how you make money.
It’s something that has always stuck with me, so when our contributor this week, a freelance producer, spoke about paying development fees for ideas it made sense. It’s a tough one: some ideas are generated off the hoof and take about two mins to write up, others take weeks and weeks of research, so understanding what is an acceptable fee for developing ideas is really tricky. I’m sure there are some industry professionals who don’t think developing ideas should be remunerated at all – it’s all part and parcel of the job they might say. Others think paying a fee should be the standard. There’s no simple answer in my opinion.
Said producer and I also had a good chinwag about a particularly well-known production company. I’ve heard lots of rumours about this company, none of them good, so it was strangely affirming to know that lots of professionals haven’t had a good time at company X.
If you want to get better acquainted with this newsletter, read the first ever post here. And if you want to contribute to this newsletter please get in touch at oparaandwade@gmail.com.
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What do you do?
I’m a freelance radio producer. I started out making short documentaries for a local radio station, then did internships at various production companies which led to a job at the BBC. I was at the BBC for a few years and then went freelance. I’m still relatively new to freelancing!
How much money do you make on average per annum?
My income fluctuates but I make around £27k - £30k a year, which is less than I was making as an assistant producer (AP) at the BBC. I still make programmes for the BBC but my other clients include universities and other companies.
Why did you decide to go freelance?
I left the BBC because I wasn’t working on the types of stories I wanted to. It was really hard to get internal staff jobs at Radio 4, or Radio Current Affairs, or World Service, which is where I wanted to work. Most of the things I wanted to make for the BBC were already made by indies so I decided to leave after my contract came to an end.
What’s struck me about going freelance is how much more time-consuming the work I do now is. It’s definitely harder than my old AP role, but I get to choose what types of projects I work on and that is golden. That said, I also haven’t taken a sick day in two years and holidays are always a tricky one for me because if I don’t work, I don’t get paid – that thinking is always in the back of my mind. I really miss having a salary but going freelance has been a good thing. I love it.
How do you feel about the money you make?
I think the money I make is pretty good but I could be earning more.
I’m not a great negotiator, and I think that’s sometimes exploited by clients. I know I should be more forthright with fees, and I should be asking for more when I think it’s warranted, but as a natural introvert, I find it really tough. In the beginning, I was especially bad with knowing my worth, and whilst I have got better I think there’s still a long way for me to go.
One thing that has limited my earning potential, I think, are project fees. As a freelancer you’ll usually earn more if you charge a day rate as opposed to a total project fee sum. If I break down some of the projects I worked on comparing how much I earned to how many hours I put in the project vs how much I would be paid if I charged a day rate, the latter is usually higher.
It’s also really easy to get resentful with project fees because undoubtedly the time required to work on a project spirals, you’re putting in more hours but the amount you earn remains fixed – it can be really frustrating. I understand it is difficult to sometimes put a time span on projects, and things change as the project develops, but I think laying out precise responsibilities and days is really important.
What’s it been like working for various audio production companies in the UK?
A really mixed bag!
Some companies have been really great to work with – places like Whistledown, where they’ve always paid me on time, the team is really nice and they’ll pay more for additional work.
Other companies aren’t so great. There’s one company in the industry – I won’t say which – but they’re infamous. I’ve worked with them and have heard stories from other people about them, mostly about what the company promised and then the actual reality of working on a particular project. They’re quite all over the place, so it’s hard to know what’s going on and to get clear answers, but they will still want you to have things done at short notice. I don’t think they have much integrity but they have lots of work, and you know, passion projects alone won’t pay the bills (yet!!).
What changes would you like to see in the industry?
I really wish development work got paid, because so much of this job is idea generation. There’s a lot of work that goes into researching an idea and some remuneration would go a long way into showing that commissioners and production companies appreciate that.
I remember spending a solid week writing up proposals for a number of ideas for Radio 4. This was after the short proposals had been reviewed mind you. All of the ideas I wrote up got rejected, and while I can accept that – no-one is owed a commission – I could have been earning money that week. Even a token sum, like £50 - £100 per idea or something would have been appreciated. The fact that there’s often no budget for development (although you do see it happening sometimes) is something that needs to change I think.
Writing up proposals for other companies, like Audible for example, requires even more effort. It takes about two days to put together something they’re happy with, and again, if they don’t commission the idea that’s the end of it. That not to say the writing experience isn’t valuable, I always learn a lot and meet lots of interesting people, but it’s always hard to be rejected after spending potential earning opportunities writing something up.
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With many thanks to our contributor this week!