Controlling freelance finances

As part of the Mind your business strand, we're offering training in in a range of areas related to business management & development, production finance, legal & business affairs, rights, and compliance, giving individuals the tools needed to thrive in their chosen field in unscripted TV. 

Freelance finances can be unpredictable at the best of times, so how can we control them when the unscripted TV industry is dealing with such uncertainty? 

Who it's for

This session is for new or established freelancers in unscripted TV who want to refresh their finance skills.

It’s jargon-free and perfect for people who hate spreadsheets but want to feel more organised during this time of difficulty. 

The majority of the USF online short course offering is for those at early career stage and above. As a result, we generally require applicants to have at least three credits (unless working in a traditionally uncredited role). If you strongly feel you would still benefit from the training, please email USF@screenskills.com so we can assess if an exception should be made.

We are committed to ensuring all our courses are accessible to everyone. This course is designed to be as interactive as possible. Please email the above address if you have any access requirements and we will be delighted to help, be that clarifying the form such interaction is likely to take or discussing reasonable adjustments.

What it covers

• Assessing your current finances
• Planning your cash flow for the coming months and identifying pinch points
• Agreeing and chasing all payments
• Understanding tax and NI basics and deadlines  

If successful in applying, we’ll send you a more in-depth survey ahead of the session to give you the opportunity to inform David of what more you would like to be covered during the session.

Trainer

David Thomas has been running his training business - David Thomas Media Ltd - for nearly 20 years, helping creative freelancers all over the UK to set up on their own, get organised around their finances, and be more business-like in their thinking.

He specialises in finance and networking skills training, and loves working with people who would rather hide under the duvet than open a spreadsheet.

David has a background in broadcasting, having worked at the BBC for 22 years. He helped set up two local radio stations, produced current affairs output at the World Service and ran the BBC department producing English language teaching materials.

How to apply

This session will take place online via Zoom. Click ‘apply for ticket’ and follow the instructions to apply for your place: you must login or register before you are able to complete your application.

Places on these free online courses are limited and applications are often highly competitive. To stand the best chance of securing a place, please be sure to consider the following:

• When asked to list your three most recent credits, please include the programme title and your job role.
• When asked what you hope to gain from the course, please be concise but ensure you cover the specific elements of the topic you would like to gain knowledge of and what gaps in your skillset you believe the course may address. A rewording of the course title or a general comment on career progression does not tell us much about how this course would benefit you.

If you are no longer able to attend, we ask you to please use the 'decline ticket' function on the right hand side of the page so that we can release your place. Our sessions are often oversubscribed, so we’d like to give other freelancers the opportunity to fill available spots. Thank you for your consideration.

This session is supported by the ScreenSkills Unscripted TV Skills Fund which invests in training for the unscripted workforce thanks to contributions from broadcasters, SVoDs and production companies.

This course would normally cost participants to attend, but thanks to this support, we are able to offer it to you for free. If you fail to attend, we reserve the right to request reimbursement of costs, unless your place can be taken by someone else.