CEMP@20: The Future of Work in the Media Industries
We celebrated the 20th Anniversary of CEMP with a televised panel discussion, from TV Studio 1 in Bournemouth University’s Poole Gateway building, and produced by BU undergraduate students. We were delighted to welcome the following panellists for this event:
- Kate Adie, Award-winning Journalist and Chancellor of Bournemouth University
- Helen Soden, Co-Founder, Hullabaloo
- Kate Beal, Founder and CEO, Woodcut Media
- Prof Sarah Jones, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Southampton Solent University
Dr Richard Wallis: Sustaining freelance careers in TV: Innovative approaches to support
It is a remarkable fact that the UK TV industry depends upon a freelance workforce for which it takes no responsibility, provides minimal investment, and about which it has shown little concern. In this presentation, Richard Wallis argues that, if the industry fails to nurture this highly skilled but contingent workforce, there is little chance of its hoped-for recovery from the doldrums into which it sunk in 2023. In this talk, he shares details of the project he has recently undertaken in partnership with the ‘super-indie’, Fremantle, with the aim of developing new support mechanisms for freelancers at the point at which their contracts are ending.
Richard Wallis is based at Bournemouth’s Centre for Excellence in Media Practice. His current research focus is the experience of media work in the fast-changing context in which this labour market operates, and he has a particular interest in the practical application of academic research to industry. He previously headed the education division of the Twofour Group of production companies (now part of ITV) and served on the management board of Twofour Communications. He is a recent award-holder of The British Academy’s Innovation Fellowship (2024-25) for his project ‘Supportive offboarding: Developing new practices to support sustainable freelance careers in TV’ – the theme of his CEMP talk.
Dr Emily Coleman, Exploitation and media contributors
In recent years, there has been growing criticism of the media for their treatment of on-screen contributors. From reality TV contestants, whose wellbeing has been jeopardised by poor duty of care practices, to child performers who face intense scrutiny and pressures far beyond their age, there is a widespread perception that the media is exploiting the ordinary people who take part in productions, manipulating and misrepresenting them with sometimes tragic consequences.
But incidences of exploitation are often assumed by scholars, critics and audiences without a broader understanding of how these experiences are lived. The views of the actual people who are being represented have been largely absent from public debates, and the term ‘exploitation’ itself is often used without due consideration of what it means in this context.
This CEMP talk explores the concept of exploitation and how it applies to the participation of ordinary people in the media. Drawing upon a series of in-depth interviews conducted between 2018 and now, I consider whether media contributors inevitably feel exploited and abused, or if participation could alternately be understood as a source of empowerment?
Dr Emily Coleman is a Lecturer in Creative Industries at The Open University whose research has been supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the Economic & Social Research Council. Previously, she worked in the TV industry for over 15 years, producing and directing primetime factual programmes and documentaries for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. Her book, The People We Watch: Documentary Contributors and What Their Experiences Tell Us About the Cultural Industries, was published by Routledge in March 2025.
Professor Beth Johnson and Dr Laura Minor, What’s On? Rethinking Class in the UK Television Industry
This talk presents the AHRC-funded project What’s On? Rethinking Class in the UK Television Industry (2024–2026). Working in collaboration with the BBC, Channel 4 and Candour Productions, the research analyses the production, representation, and reception of two case-study drama series. In doing so, we connect questions of who produces, what is made, and how class is represented and understood.
What’s On? understands class as an aspect of identity that is intertwined with other identity characteristics, including gender, race, disability and region. By situating class within these intersecting dimensions, the project reflects current policy and industry calls to approach diversity and inclusion through an intersectional lens.
Beth Johnson and Laura Minor will discuss key insights from their research and introduce the development of a short, research-led film produced with Candour Productions, bringing together practitioner voices from across UK television drama. The talk reflects on how creative and collaborative practice can contribute to more inclusive and equitable production cultures in British television.
Beth Johnson is Professor of Television and Media Studies at the University of Leeds and Principal Investigator of What’s On? Rethinking Class in the UK Television Industry. Her work spans drama audiences, television policy and creative labour, and explores how who makes television shapes what appears on screen.
Laura Minor is Senior Lecturer in Television Studies at the University of Salford and Co-Investigator on What’s On?. Her work examines creative labour, authorship and social class in British television, especially in relation to gender and genre.
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Amelia Knott, TV Industry Human Rights Forum: Human rights risks in the making of TV
This talk will share insights from 6 years of research exploring what a human rights lens can bring to our understanding of the TV industry and the people involved in it. There will be a deep dive into the experiences of ancillary workers, including cleaners and security guards, and a summary of findings from a project looking at human rights risks in post production, including editing, sound, picture grading and VFX. The talk will also highlight how a human rights approach can help broadcasters and companies to identify ways to address risks to people, linking the research to practical outputs.
Amelia Knott is a human rights specialist who has been leading the work of the TV Industry Human Rights Forum since 2019. As well as the TV industry, she works with businesses across a range of sectors, most recently in construction, consumer healthcare and food. For the Forum she conducts research and facilitates events to develop insights, tools and resources on the intersection between human rights risks and TV production. She has also represented the Forum on the Advisory Standards Board for the new Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) and is currently contributing to the BFI's Good Work Programme.
Jeremy Mathieu, Head of Sustainability at ITV: Striving for sustainability at ITV
ITV’s sustainability work focuses on reducing its environmental impact and promoting social responsibility. Its Climate Action strategy aims for net zero carbon emissions by 2030, addressing energy use, travel, and sustainable production. ITV also promotes responsible content, using programming to raise awareness of climate issues. Through its Social Purpose agenda, ITV champions diversity, mental health, and community initiatives. It supports sustainable advertising and partners with organizations like BAFTA’s Albert to encourage eco-friendly production practices. ITV actively reduces waste, improves supply chain sustainability, and engages employees in green initiatives to create lasting positive change
Jeremy Mathieu is the Head of Sustainability at ITV, a media company based in London. He leads the company's sustainability efforts, including climate change, reporting requirements, and audience engagement. His responsibilities include helping ITV meet its net zero targets, supporting audience commitments, navigating reporting requirements, building a culture of sustainability, and ensuring ITV is ready for a net zero economy. Mathieu's approach involves engaging senior leaders and younger talent. He aims to involve all stakeholders and build a shared vision for a sustainable future. He envisions a future in which sustainability is integral to every aspect of the business. Mathieu has experience from previous roles at ITV, BBC, and FWC. He completed an MSc in Sustainability after working as a Sport TV Producer for 10 years Mathieu's work has helped ITV set a benchmark in the media sector for sustainability.
Dr Catalin Brylla, Bournemouth University: Impact-driven Media Practice for Disability Advocacy
This talk explores two impact-driven projects that leverage media practices to enhance wellbeing within and for the disability community. The first is the AHRC project “Youth Disability Activism in East Africa”, which employed participatory grantmaking to launch and support media advocacy campaigns in Tanzania. The second is the ongoing BA project “Media Engagement for Wellbeing in the Visually Impaired Community”, which collaborates with charities to organise and deliver media creation workshops for visually impaired service users. Both projects address the intersection of disability, gender, age, class, and culture, as well as the positionalities of the researchers. They focus on participatory action research and public involvement strategies to harness the positive potential of media practices for marginalized communities. The projects' impact is evaluated using a novel framework that assesses how communicative interfaces between stakeholder groups influence their knowledge, attitudes, and actions.
Catalin Brylla is a Principal Lecturer in Film and TV and Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Conflict, Emotion, and Social Justice at Bournemouth University. As a practice-led researcher, he has directed documentaries about marginalised communities, including Muslim women and disabled people. His publications include Documentary and Stereotypes: Reducing Stigma through Factual Media (2023), Documentary and Disability (2017), and Cognitive Theory and Documentary Film (2018). He chairs the DEI Committees for Visible Evidence and the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image, where he also serves on the board of directors.
Dr Barry Dixon, British Film Foundation: Research at the British Film Institute - an Introduction
This presentation will introduce colleagues to the breadth of research conducted by and for the BFI, focussing on its interdisciplinary and intersectoral nature. It will trace and mirror the ways the research funding landscape has changed over the last five years for the GLAM and creative industry sectors, before offering a case study on the impact of research on screen sector policy.
Barry Dixon is Head of Research Development at the British Film Institute (BFI), leading on the developmental and strategic facets of the BFI's external research funding operations. He came to the BFI from the academic sector, having spent ten years in research management roles at the Universities of Warwick, Sheffield and Cambridge. Prior to this he worked for the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg and Irish Research Council in Dublin, which came after a brief stint as a lecturer in philosophy
Laura Mansfield, ScreenSkills:The Future of Training for the UK Screen Industries
Currently developing a pan-industry skills strategy, ScreenSkills is the skills body for the UK screen sector. Industry-funded and informed, it provides national training and development programmes for all career stages. Creating a fair, equitable and inclusive workforce is central to ScreenSkills’ mission. From career development programmes like Leaders of Tomorrow and Film Forward, resources including a comprehensive portfolio of e-learning and an industry-approved HR toolkit and skills checklists, and ScreenSkills Select in partnership with higher education, ScreenSkills delivers training and resources that provide opportunities for everyone irrespective of their background to realise a career in the screen industries.
Prior to joining ScreenSkills as CEO in January 2024, Laura Mansfield was Managing Director of Outline Productions and a Creative Director of Tin Roof Media Group. She has enjoyed a successful career in television and has worked with all the major UK broadcasters. She has worked for BBC Entertainment, BBC Youth and Entertainment as well as at Watchmaker and Rapido TV. Currently a non-executive director for Elstree Film Studios, she was member of Pact Council between 2012 and 2016, and chair from 2014 to 2016. She also served as an advisory board member to the Indie Training Fund (2012-2014).
Dr Tamsyn Dent, Kings College London:‘What works?’ for equitable access, inclusion and diversity in creative Higher Education?
This CEMP talk summarises the Making the Creative Majority research report launched at the House of Commons in October 2023. The report, commissioned by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Creative Diversity, was the result of a collaborative research project between researchers based at King's College London, University of the Arts London, University of Manchester and the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre (Creative PEC). The project explored pathways into creative and cultural work for the 16+ age group within the UK, examining entry routes via Higher and Further Education, degree apprenticeships and alternative routes to consider ‘what works’ for supporting equitable access and inclusion to work in the UK creative economy. The report provides a comprehensive understanding of the efficacy of current creative Higher Education (HE) pathways and indicates key recommendations for the UK Government and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
This is a critical time for Arts and Humanities education within the UK; therefore the talk encourages critical reflection on how both the HE sector and creative industries can collaborate for increased recognition to support the sustainability and diversity of the future creative economy.
Tamsyn Dent is a Lecturer in Cultural Work in the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries (CMCI), King’s College London. She received her doctorate, Feeling devalued: the creative industries, motherhood, gender and class inequality through CEMP at Bournemouth University in 2017 and since then has continued to explore questions of equitable access, sustainability and inclusion across the creative economy. She was one of the lead authors on the APPG in Creative Diversity research outputs. Her research profile can be accessed here: Tam Dent – Research output — King's College London (kcl.ac.uk)
You can access the full Making the Creative Majority report here: Making the Creative Majority | King’s Culture | King’s College London (kcl.ac.uk).
Greg Childs OBE, The Childrens Media Foundation: From Dialogue to Policy: Impactful Research and Advocacy in Children’s Media
Greg worked for over 25 years at the BBC, mainly as a director, producer and executive producer of children’s programmes. He created the first Children’s BBC websites and, as Head of Children’s Digital, developed and launched the children’s channels, CBBC and CBeebies. Greg then went on to advise global broadcasters on channel launches and well as producers on digital, interactive and cross-platform strategies.
He is Editorial Director of Europe's largest Children's Media event - The Children's Media Conference as well as the Director of the Children's Media Foundation (CMF), a UK advocacy body which campaigns and lobbies for the best possible media choices for UK kids. The CMF contributes widely to consultations on children’s media, and is in regular productive dialogue with the DCMS, Ofcom and those with a children’s media interest in Westminster – for example, through the All Party Parliamentary Group of Children Media and the Arts.
Professor Helen Wood, Aston University: Reality Television, working practices and duties of care: Care about and care in the research process.
This paper outlines the thinking behind, and initial stages of, the AHRC funded project ReCARETV (2023-2026). The project is holistically investigating care across the reality television sector through the analysis of policy, production and participation. Public scrutiny and broadcast regulation has focussed on ‘duties’ of care and new protocols are changing the landscape for reality television production. This project aims to put together the intersecting relations of policy, working practices and the experiences and outcomes of reality television into dialogue for the first time. Working within a feminist framework for care, the paper draws out some initial observations and outlines our approach to data collection which puts care at the centre of our research practice.
Helen Wood is Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Aston, Birmingham. She is author of numerous articles on gender, television and class, as well as the books Talking with Television (2009), Reacting to Reality Television (2012) and Reality Television and Class (2011) and her latest book Audience (2024) is now out with Routledge. She is currently PI of the AHRC project ReCARETV: Reality Television, Working Practices and Duties of Care.
Dr Oleg Fryazinov, Bournemouth University: Virtual Production as a Sustainable Practice -A look at sustainability in film production from a system dynamics point of view
When it comes to the sustainability practices in the film industry, the problem of the industry's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is often overlooked, while the UK aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. With the help of a mathematical model built on existing data, we evaluate the ecological footprint of traditional film production and explore sustainable alternative approaches. One such approach is virtual production technology, a digital filmmaking practice that integrates real-time computer-generated imagery (CGI) with physical sets and actors. Our mathematical model shows that virtual production practices drastically reduce GHG emissions compared to traditional movie production, thus contributing to the ongoing discussion on sustainability in the movie industry.
This research was conducted by Muhamad Bahri and Dr Oleg Fryazinov, with the latter presenting this work. The project was funded as a part of AHRC-funded project XR-Stories.
Dr Oleg Fryazinov is an Associate Professor at the NCCA. He is working in a multi-disciplinary area of applied mathematics and geometry in the field of computer graphics with applications in various sectors, including social sciences, education, manufacturing and healthcare. He was the principal investigator and co-investigator on various externally funded research projects. At Bournemouth University, he is teaching real-time technologies for Computer Animation and Visual Effects and also exploring the new emerging area of Virtual Production. In 2021, he was a part of the BU team to explore Virtual Production facilities for teaching and research purposes
Professor John Oliver, Bournemouth University: The Fog of Streaming War
The SVOD streaming market has seen explosive growth in recent years with global revenues reaching $154bn in 2022. SVOD players thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, a new phase of low-growth competitive rivalry is emerging with global and local players fighting for market share. This talk will examine the strategic context and outlook for the SVOD market and illustrate how the international growth ambitions of global player (Disney+) and local player (Viaplay) pivoted to a new strategic play where costs are being cut to protect revenues and growth will be achieved by acquisition in an industry that will inevitably consolidate.
Prof. Dr. John Oliver is a leading academic in the field of media management and a former President of the European Media Management Association. He has a successful track record in delivering world class impact from his research which has informed the UK Government’s Innovation Strategy, UK communications policy and regulation, and influenced the public policy debate on internet regulation. His research into ‘strategic organisational transformation’ resulted in multi-million pound investments made by FTSE 100 firms.
Prof. Oliver currently serves as an advisor to the Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology’s Horizon Scanning & Foresight Committee
Fog of Streaming War - Slides
