"Your focus is on the current project. That is the most important thing at this moment. Everything else has to be subordinate to that. Just a few more to-dos on the list and then it's finally finished." Is that your everyday life? In the project business, such stories are probably among the typical lies of life, according to those who have not experienced it themselves. Maybe it's not a lie at all, but a way of life. After the project is before the project. Worse still, the new project will once again enjoy our full attention and priority. In truth, we are never finished. We had got used to that. These days, many filmmakers are realising that not having a project is the real catastrophe.
The unprecedented crisis in the production market is creating an unexpected vacuum. This is disconcerting for project workers and an industry that lives from order to order. Large companies are cutting staff on a grand scale. Broadcasters and streamers are commissioning fewer projects, serialised formats with fewer episodes, fewer shooting days and less revenue overall. In this economic situation, which has been unrivalled for decades, collective bargaining negotiations are taking place and Verdi is currently reporting on the status of these negotiations in various cities. The current demands for a four-day week with the same pay and regulations on artificial intelligence are backed by the tailwind of years of pandemic-related order volumes characterised by staff shortages. With the similar tone of other collective bargaining negotiations, this only sounds unsettling at first glance.
Production workers are employees. They are not concerned with the acquisition of orders, which are preceded by years of highly risky development and sales endeavours. They accept jobs that are offered to them. In contrast to other sectors, comparable jobs, such as in technology, decoration construction and assistant positions, are significantly higher paid. This means that the expectation of high reliability, teamwork and commitment is priced in. However, this is by no means a complete list of the privileges of film work.
Normal employees receive between 24 and a maximum of 30 days paid holiday. Conversely, this means that around 220 working days have to be taken per year - every year, mind you. Most filmmakers benefit from project periods without work, especially during the three-hours winter period, which are paid for by the general public via ALG1. Thanks to the Rundfunk pension fund, employees do not have to worry about compensation for reduced pension contributions. The realisation of the volume of annual working hours is currently being gained by some when reorienting to other sectors.
The social status in the family and circle of friends, including that of one's own children, also differs significantly. Tales of the latest construction site only become interesting when a film set with well-known personalities is created there. Hardly any other industry celebrates itself on so many occasions and across all hierarchical boundaries. Thanks to social media, the brief premiere moment resonates longer than a winter holiday on a South Sea island.
Our times are characterised by the major issues of climate, war and immigration. Thanks to GreenMotion, companies with a strong commitment to social sustainability and fair working conditions, from broadcasters to service providers, we are able to make a name for ourselves without having to get involved.
In the current situation with falling budgets, rising costs and an uncertain future for Germany as a film location, the current demands of employees seem dystopian. Once again, conflicts are being fuelled, trenches dug and dissent provoked instead of actively shaping the future together in a spirit of partnership. Germany as a production location is also characterised by high qualifications and reasonable personnel costs. The fates of actors, service providers, suppliers, manufacturers and employees in many different companies depend on this location. A reasonable agreement is in the interests of the German creative industries as a whole.
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(Author: Markus Vogelbacher, picture Ensider.net)