A new survey of freelancers working in the Irish film, TV and video industry paints a picture of an industry that is underworked and overstressed with many freelancers often feeling isolated and unhappy.
The survey was carried out by the online freelance talent platform Crewless which allows producers hire freelance talent online. The platform was set up by Kevin O’Regan and Tommy Flavin.
According to the survey, the number one concern listed amongst freelancers was, unsurprisingly, not getting enough work. “Anecdotally, we know that 2024 has been a poor year for the industry. Our respondents reported that decent paying jobs were extremely thin on the ground. And they mention that even where there are jobs available, the competition is more intense than before,” the survey notes.
“Many crew spoke about the stresses of the feast-or-famine cycle. With many experiencing long periods without work, there’s a pressure to accept any job that comes your way. The result is that many crew find themselves oscillating wildly between not having enough work and having far more work than is manageable,” the survey’s authors say.
“Further to that pressure is a feeling that budgets are constantly being squeezed and that freelancers have less room to negotiate than they would like. Many reported issues around roles being cut, rates being undercut, and expenses like travel not being properly reimbursed.”
When it came to networking for the freelancers, the Crewless research found that there is a widely held perception that jobs are being kept in tight circles, so that whenever work does come along, most crew don’t hear about it.
“To mitigate against this, crew reported needing a huge network of contacts, which is extremely time consuming to build and maintain,” the survey noted. “Newcomers to the industry in particular repeatedly spoke about how difficult it is to break into the Irish industry.”
“Aside from wanting more regular work, what came through loud and clear was that freelancers want more support for their careers. They mentioned wanting more Government support for the self-employed, such as holiday benefits, sick pay and better tax treatment. They also want more upskilling opportunities. But within the industry, there’s a surprisingly strong demand for a peer support network, where freelancers can help each other and not feel so alone in what can be, by its nature, a very isolating career.”
In drawing several conclusions about the state of the freelance market, the Crewless survey says there is a “distinct feeling amongst many respondents that their careers aren’t sustainable- they struggle with the instability of work, they feel unsupported and struggle to manage the mental stress of trying to make it all work.
“What comes across loud and clear in this survey is that, aside from needing more work, freelancers are calling out for better treatment. This means better working conditions, less corner-cutting, and more openness to hiring new talent,” the survey concludes.
