15-6-16
To whom this may concern,
I am writing this letter of complaint about your recent job opening for an 'Apprentice Digital Video Production Producer'. I feel that there are many problems with your form, after reading the opening through thoroughly. Why are the hours so vague? You've stated that the hours range from 10-45, similar to the salary ranging from £15000-£35000 if I was to work 10 hours does that mean I'm still being paid £35000, in comparison to someone else who is being paid £15000 to 45 hours. This is too great of a range and is very difficult to follow, I'm unsure whether I can live on this money. I also feel that it is unacceptable that you have stated that the applicant should be under the age of 30 this is against the equality act as this is completely age bias. As the job is for a Production Producer I feel that the applicant can be of any age, there is no signs of heavy labour or high movement.
Finally you have also stated that the applicant must have christian religious views, adding that the person must promote ideals of the christian faith trying to encourage young people. This is very unethical, you shouldn't enforce a religion onto people you should comply with equal opportunities.
The Equality Act was put in place in 2010 and replaced many different Acts from the 20th century. The Equality Act protects the public against unethical factors, for example your form stating the fact that the applicant has to be under the age of 30. Just because the applicant will be of a certain age this does not mean they're inadequate of doing the job, if you do not allow, then this also comes under the Equal Opportunities code of practise. Equal Opportunities are put forward by employers to ensure that they're hiring fairly.
As I will be shooting at a school/college I will be the one liable to any sort of prosecution as there are no signs of a contract in place. Whereas I should have Employer Liability rights, if something was to go wrong in the location that I was filming I should be covered by Flipside Media. This all comes under the employees rights, there is no healthy safety put in place for me whilst shooting and I haven't been told about any sort of training. The applicant should be covered by a trade union such as BECTU which currently can protect a person for £120 per annum.
In one paragraph you have asked the applicant to shoot a group teens, asking them to renact any scenes that they may have experienced. What happens if one of the teens experiences a emotion change, you have not shown that there are any Codes Of Practise in place to protect the teens that will be in the shooting of the film. As the employer you should be putting policies and procedures in place to protect individuals from harm. Once again the applicant could become liable for prosecution as you haven't covered them. As long as not being protected, you have asked them to re-enact and dramatise the episode in which they were attacked in. Highlighting the point that you told the applicant to film the female victims and male offenders, this alone is once again a move toward the equality act. You're stating that the male has to be the offender and the female has to be the victim, by doing this you're representing both genders in a negative view. So by the media the males will be portrayed as being aggressive and offenders whereas the women will be shown as weak and defenseless.
Ofcom Broadcasting Code sets standards for British broadcasting, the organisation is made up of around 10 main sectors. The two I would like to put to you for this letter are 'Protecting the Under-Eighteens' and 'Harm and Offence', starting with under eighteens. On the Ofcom website in this sector this is a statement that says 'broadcasters should also be particularly careful not to provide clues which may lead to the identification of those who are not yet adult (the defining age may differ in different parts of the UK) and who are, or might be, involved as a victim, witness, defendant or other perpetrator in the case of sexual offences featured in criminal, civil or family court'. In your letter you have stated something that runs in parallel with this regulation, 'you should interview teenagers and other individuals who might be/have been affected by the topic'. If the applicant was to film these targets then they would be going against the code, as it shows the victims experiencing what they have already been through, this could effect any court cases etc.
The second sector is 'Harm and Offence', part 2.4 states 'seriously antisocial behaviour and is likely to encourage others to copy such behaviour'. This affects your advert job role as you're showing no signs of helping the students to decompress after the filming, it also shows that you have no rules in place to not replicate the scenes that the viewer would have seen. So when displayed at a school nearby the students may go out and try and copy what they have seen in the clip, as there are no rules to stopping people from doing recreating the scenes. If the clip was to show signs of Obscenity then this would come under the 'Obscene Publications Act' which a lawyer will check when watching a clip so that there are no signs of infringement. Factors such as age range of the viewers and the time of production can go against this Act, although non of these will be in place for your clip as it will be shown to students (not age specifically stated). If the clip has Obscene content then it will have to be limited by the BBFC, an organisation that decides whether the clips are suitable for certain ages. Your clip will have references to sexual scenes this meaning that its unsuitable for certain ages, as some of the youngest viewers will be sensitive to this sort of clip, hence why BBFC is there to set an adversary.
During the editing process one of your criteria is to use a popular music soundtrack, which will be difficult for the applicant as this is classed as copyright if they use the music without permission. You're only allowing £20 for production of the video which makes it difficult to gain the permission of a soundtrack, as this isn't enough for a licensing fee.
In conclusion I really hope that you overview any further job applications that you may release to the public. Ensuring that in the future you revise the Equality Act so that every person is able to apply for your job, including religious views and age. I also hope that you can provide protection for all members of staff, specifically those that are filming as anyone who was to take this job are liable to get fined or prosecuted. Finally just ensure that all of the characters that will be in your shoot can be able to contact you if they experience any psychologic harm or emotion, and are at an adequate to be able to decide their own rights.
Yours Sincerely,
Toby Middleton
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