How to push boundaries and navigate legal risks in unscripted TV

As part of the Mind Your Business strand, we're offering training 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. 

This session will give you:

• An overview and introduction into the key legal and compliance issues impacting unscripted content, including duty of care, fairness, libel, privacy, data protection, viewer trust.
• An understanding of when to seek legal advice and how to utilise it effectively.
• A roadmap for what to do when plans change and things become more high risk (e.g. filming with criminals, investigative journalism, filming with children, filming in dangerous scenarios, including internationally).
• An appreciation of why it’s important to keep editorial ethics in mind throughout production.

Trainer:

Rowena Cordrey is an expert content media lawyer with extensive experience across the industry – including television, film, publishing and online content.  She is a consultant at Reviewed & Cleared where she provides legal, regulatory and reputational advice at every stage of production, broadcast and publication.

Ro is known for her work on some of the most complex, contentious and acclaimed programmes in the business.  She began her career at a leading law firm acting primarily for defendant media organisations - including tabloid newspapers and magazine publishers.  She has significant ‘in-house’ media experience, including at Channel 4, the BBC, ITN and Viacom (now Paramount).   

Who it's for

Anyone working within unscripted TV – a helpful introduction or refresher of the key issues involved for people of all levels who want to make bold, unscripted programming.

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 3 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.

How to apply

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

If you need additional support to complete your application or require the application form in an alternative format please contact USF@screenskills.com

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.