Report finds strong demand for job-sharing in screen industry

Screen Well released a major new screen industry report today, Breaking Down the Barriers to Job-Sharing, following a job-sharing pilot program it conducted in partnership with Matchbox Pictures.

The report aims to establish job-sharing as a viable and sustainable way of working flexibly in the Australian Screen Industry.

“Screen workers regularly work more than 50 hours per week on average in Australia; job sharing will allow workers who are unable to sustain those hours to continue working within the industry and maintain a healthier work / life balance,” says Ben Steel, founder of Screen Well.

Co-author of the report Racheal Rauch, said: “Job-shares can be beneficial for a range of practitioners such as carers and parents, those with illness and disabilities, as well as remote / regional practitioners. The response to our pilot program and the expressions of interest we received, highlighted the variety of reasons people want to job-share, as well as strong demand for job-sharing in the Australian screen industry.”

“We were thrilled that Matchbox Pictures partnered with us on this and were keen to understand how job-sharing could work on one of their active productions. We are grateful for all their time, expertise and support along the way,” Steel said.

Helen Panckhurst, Head of Production, Matchbox Pictures, commented: “Matchbox Pictures is always looking at ways to support the needs of our brilliant crews and encourage greater flexibility. Screen Well’s pilot program has given us a blueprint for the next stage of development, and we look forward to job-sharing becoming a practical option for us, and more broadly, the wider industry.”

Co-author and Screen Well consultant Jonathon Dutton said: “One of the findings of the pilot program was that job-sharers could benefit from presenting as a team to productions with a plan for how they intend to job-share their role. To address this, Screen Well partnered with Crew HQ who have created a way for job-sharers to identify and connect with other jobs-sharers on the Crew HQ platform, for free, which is an important piece of the puzzle.”

Kirsty Stark, founder of Crew HQ said “We’re huge advocates of job-sharing, to enable crew to create thriving careers in the industry regardless of their personal circumstances. With 30% of our listed crew having indicated their interest in job-sharing, it’s clear that there’s a significant untapped demand from freelancers for flexible roles, and we’re excited to collaborate with Screen Well to break down existing barriers and further support job-sharing in the Australian film and TV industry.”

Screen Well and Crew HQ will run a free job-share masterclass at 12pm on the 22nd of April. Register to attend: https://bit.ly/jobsharemasterclass

The report was financed with the assistance of Screen Australia’s Transferable Skills & Returning Crew Training Fund.