[Tech1] OFFCOMM

[Chris Woolf]

To be honest it is all a bit of a nonsense.

For some years I used to help out a small facilities company based in 
Plymouth. Since most productions looked for London based crew at the 
time, irrespective of where the job was, the company merely ran a London 
phone number.

Nobody ever queried where they worked out of, and since the company 
wasn't interested in London day-jobs, it really made no difference that 
they travelled for a 3-day shoot in Manchester or wherever, from 
Plymouth rather than Marble Arch.

If regionalitis rears its head in a serious fashion we'll just see lots 
of accommodation addresses attached to mobile phone numbers. Your 
lighting director will exist magically in Manchester, Bristol and 
Glasgow at the same time, and probably under a slightly different 
company name in London too.

Talent gets used because it is good, not where it lives.

Chris Woolf


On 04/05/2020 18:00, David Denness via Tech1 wrote:
> Alan,
> I believe it was a certain Tony Blair who decreed that more productions should be moved out of London, supported wholeheartedly by Michael Grade.
> Then the accountants got hold of it and realised they could make lots of money!
>
> Dave D
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tech1 <tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk> On Behalf Of Alan Taylor via Tech1
> Sent: 04 May 2020 15:05
> To: Tech-Ops-chit-chat <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: [Tech1] OFFCOMM
>
> I agree with Albert.  My time on BBC TV outside broadcasts meant that I worked alongside people from all the regions and I felt that they were every bit the equal of people in London.  Obviously there was friendly rivalry, which is a good thing, but there was also mutual respect.  I too would single out Bristol as being  a real gem of television production.  We all know about the natural history output, but they also had directors who came up with interesting ideas for unusual programmes and executed them very well.
>
> Since leaving the BBC, I have also worked in some ITV regional studios and my experiences there have been positive too.  I especially liked the fact that in some Meridian studios, staff were encouraged to work in other disciplines within their studio, which widened their experience and also gave them a better awareness of other department's problems.
>
> These days the BBC seems to have essentially turned it's back on how the regional television operations used to be conducted and have instead promoted a decentralised operation.  I can understand how it might be possible to save some money compared to London property prices and pay rates, but I completely fail to see what other advantages there might be, especially as most performers, celebrities and newsworthy people tend to be centred on London. The old chestnut about being able to get from London to Manchester in about 100 minutes means nothing if you have to travel at either end too.  All but the most remote towns have a nearby station where you can get a train to London, but if you live outside of London, getting a train to Manchester is not so easy and can take a long time.
>
> Alan Taylor
>
>
>
>
>
> On 4 May 2020, at 4 May . 14:34, Albert Barber via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> I think I should qualify talent.
>>
>> The BBC talent base, and ITV come to that, throughout the whole of the country in my view is excellent.
>> I have I should think, worked in every region and found the quality of work and the people there all, with very few, very few, exceptions a wonderful experience. I spent much of my time in Bristol and thought that (in the 80’s) they would not be as good as London. How wrong could I be!?
>> The quality of work and subsequent programmes were excellent, won international prizes and influenced many in the audience towards science and number.
>> THEN the production base returned to centre on London and studio A was pulled down with the work migrating to London. London, equally good with a lot of good programmes plus fun and excellent with innovation and talent. Then SALFORD! What realistic is going on? Politics. Certainly not programme talent.
>>
>> I can see that one extreme above the other often ends with exclusion and that is why the Offcom regime is not fully fair or worked out.
>>
>> We all remember the bad old days at TVC when the unions went too far only to be clamped down on too hard.
>>
>>
>> Best to all
>> I feel better now I got all that off my chest.
>>
>> AB
>>
>>> On 4 May 2020, at 13:50, Graham Maunder via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>> There is a 25% (I think) limit that this doesn’t have to apply to. Based on personnel numbers NOT salary from my recollection.
>>> Graham Maunder
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>> On 4 May 2020, at 13:29, Dave Plowman via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> In article <11C6B7BA-56B4-41C2-9E80-984EFCDE016E at btinternet.com>,
>>>> Albert Barber via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>> Offcom has one or two issues to deal with thanks to a government
>>>>> decree that they want more jobs to be outside London. Well, you
>>>>> might say, that is a good idea BUT when much of the talent is
>>>>> within the M25 many lighting experts are having their contracts
>>>>> cancelled because of their address.
>>>> Does the same happen with the talent? Only get jobs in their local area?
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> *There are two kinds of pedestrians... the quick and the dead.
>>>>
>>>> Dave Plowman     dave at davesound.co.uk     London SW 12
>>>>
>>>>
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