It’s quite sobering to see how much discomfort exists among filmmakers. How much fear.
Fear of not getting a job, fear of losing a job or never working in the film industry again. Fear of illness and missing work because of it. Fear of exhaustion. Fear of poverty. Fear of speaking up, fear of negative consequences. Fear of making mistakes. Fear of making demands. Fear of saying No. Fear of being abused.
We are gradually finding out what is restricting and limiting us and how we don’t want to work. It’s time we learnt to say how things can or should work instead.
On this website, I would like to look at a few aspects and try to find new ways. Let’s start with
Work-Life-Balance, Compatibility
Ten years ago, on Apri 14, 2014 I asked on my blog „SchspIN – An Actress’s Thoughts“ Can the Film Industry be called a family-friendly Workplace?
Since then very little has changed. Not many filmmakers are able to lead a balanced life (-> work-life-balance), filmmakers with family commitments can hardly reconcile this with their profession. Too many creative people are being lost to the industry because of this.
In 2023, I was invited to contribute to the Berlinale congress Familiengerechtes Drehen / Family-friendly filming organised by Pro Quote Film. They subsequently commissioned me to create a package of measures on the topic. Instead, I expanded it into the German website ffd PQF Familienfreundliches Drehen / family-friendly filming, a guide and information platform for the industry. The site went online on 19 February 24.
Here, on All for the Film Family, I will initially be focussing on three work-life balance topics that will hopefully advance the discussion in the industry and lead to positive changes:
- Compatibility Guides for the Film Industry. Presentation of the concept – seminars.
- Shared Jobs – help for those interested. Notice board / ‘Tandem Matchmaking’.
- The portrayal of working parents / carers in film / TV – surveys.
And also…
there is more going wrong in the film family.
- Bullying, abuse of power and physical and sexual assault. Too many have experienced this on their own bodies, too many have witnessed it and kept quiet.
- Discriminating of filmmakers because of who they are.
- Simultaneous existence of great wealth and great poverty, side by side, strangely connected.
I would also like to address these and other topics in due course.
