Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8^th, there is a clarion call to creatives from several of this year’s longlisted BAFTA films, writes Media Parents’ Director Amy Walker. If you haven’t heard the call yet, it urges mid career (and later) creatives (women particularly, caregivers, creatives of all genders) not to give up on their creative calling, difficult though that may be. If you are feeling stuck reading this, rest assured you are in good company, and there are empathetic people cheering you on. You can read the Film + TV Charity’s recent Looking Glass Report (and get funding support) here. The secret of a sustained creative career isn’t always brilliance, it’s largely about not giving up, right?

Nightbitch is a dark, dark comedy starring Amy Adams, rising from the creative ashes of her lowest, lost moments of motherhood. You don’t have to be a mother or a middle aged woman to find yourself laughing out loud at this film that reflects most of our struggles at the moment. Adams’s character fights her situation, her husband, her heritage, her self – to rediscover self-expression. It’s not easy, it skirts insanity via magic realism, and – no spoilers here – it is a fight worth watching (and fighting)!

The Substance, if you haven’t already seen it, is a darker, Faustian dive into the extreme choices we may feel forced to make to maintain our later careers/ selves. And in The Last Showgirl, Pamela Anderson’s character Shelly grapples with society and her daughter’s condemnation for putting her now dying career in entertainment before motherhood. And for what? So interesting… Back in Europe (way, way back) Firebrand is about agency. Please watch it if you haven’t seen it, I imagine you will be cheering.

These powerful, funny, important films imprint on you. We need to sit exhausted and uncomfortable with the themes of resistance and persistence – if we can, we need to dig deep – and act.

If you can’t find work, create. You can create opportunities for work or meetings via our online Development Meet coming up on March 19th. If you are taking work outside TV to pay your bills, there is no shame in that. You can still say you work in TV even if you’re not right now, you have earned that through your previous experience. If you’re determined to get out or reinvent yourself, we have a great blog coming up that is going to inspire and empower you.

Even if you do none of the above, come for a drink at our London drinks on May 1^st. Inertia never helped anyone. Do whatever you need to pull yourself out of the hole. Creativity doesn’t have to be paid. If it makes you feel better to rest, rest. But if it makes you feel good to be creative, create.

If you would like to discuss anything related to TV work, you can log in and use the Media Parents watercooler (anonymously if you like) – request collabs, share inspiration, have a moan…

Our next event is on March 18th, see mailing list for more details. Scroll down the blog for more info www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media. For free events for subscribers, join here:https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/signup/?t=freelancer

It’s been an intense couple of months looking for work. So I rejoined Media Parents to attend last week’s January networking event, and to apply for jobs. I’ve had work through Media Parents in the past, and been to their networking events before, so despite the state of the industry, I felt confident I would feel welcomed rather than competed with, and would enjoy myself. At the event we introduced ourselves by name and job title around the room and I found myself listing a long list of potential job titles to a round of applause.

We all introduced ourselves to the floor at Media Parents January networking. It's really helpful for everyone to know who's who

At Thursday’s event Amy explained that freelancers applying for roles through Media Parents will be in a group of up to 10 applicants. Many jobs are exclusive, but where they are listed elsewhere, employers say they look at Media Parents applicants first. How do they know? Application mails via the site are branded. Why do they like it? Media Parents is the only selective jobsite, requiring freelancers (not just restricted to parents) to have at least three years TV experience before joining. So much less sifting for hiring companies. From attending the event I can vouch that most people have much more experience than three years. So Media Parents is win, win for freelancers and hirers.

Media Parents Jan Drinks provided a great opportunity to meet or reconnect with companies like Strawberry Blond

I just want to say thank you so much for the networking evening and for the work that you do at Media Parents. I am so glad I made the journey. I am just reaching out to the people I met there. I’d say that I picked up contacts from 30% of the people in the room, including some employers I would love to work with.

I did some more stats for myself which I found interesting and really clear. I thought I would share them with you. I usually go from job to job without too much of a gap. Or have done for many years.

Researcher Hannah Bairsto, seen here with HOP Tina Lohmann, said it was the best networking event she had attended because it was friendly and relevant

Here are my stats as a freelancer of 23 years in two months of job searching, December 2024 to Jan 2025, prior to joining Media Parents:

****Job applications: 24 – for PD/SD across ob doc/fact ent/talent led genres.

Average number of applicants: 200 – 300 for every job (guestimate from the large numbers of applicants per job on the large jobsite I’ve previously been applying through + assuming they are not exclusive to that site).

Number of interviews – 3 (12.5 % hit rate)

Number of jobs got: 1 and it has been delayed until end of 2025.

***Number of speculative reach outs to talent managers / people I don’t know - 20

Number of emails back – 5

Expressions of interest for future work – 5

****Number of existing contacts with actual real work on the horizon who would earmark me – 1

*** number of my industry contacts who have called me saying do I want work? – 0

This element has been wiped out and was always there before. Although it formed 40% only of my work contracts.

For more info about Media Parents January Drinks scroll down this blog

Reason for these stats: My contacts are not in work, or have left the industry, or have many mouths to feed in terms of who they are hiring. I understand many jobs are not advertised (as backed up by yesterday’s Media Parents email and ring round) – but, I agree with Talented People’s Industry Health Check that broadcaster and streamer-approved candidates are going from one job to the next. If the same people are working on what is being commissioned then like any eco system it will start to fail or massively diminish and no longer flourish. Even the bits that are left.

Prognosis:  Doing what I did before is unlikely to find me work on the basis of these stats. Hence joining Media Parents to increase my reach and opportunities.

Actions:

• Apply for jobs on a platform with a great reputation / less competition
• Meet new people and build new relationships (watch out for Media Parents next event which will be online on Feb 19th)
• Write for this blog which has a reach on social and direct mail of 35K people in TV. I’ve made this post anonymous as I feel it’s a bit contentious, but I will be writing, I will

Our next event is on Feb 19th, see mailing list for more details. Scroll down the blog for more info www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media. For free events for subscribers, join here:https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/signup/?t=freelancer