Under the slogan "Initiative Fair Film" more than 25 associations of the film industry demand in an open letter to the Minister of Culture Roth improvements for the adherence to social standards at film productions as a condition for any film promotion.
The letter was triggered a few weeks ago by numerous press reports about alleged abuses in the production of "Manta Manta - Zwoter Teil". The authors of the letter write about this:
"From our own experience we can confirm that this is not an isolated case." The case figures of Themis, but also the survey of "Diversity in Film" prove, the structures in the film and television industry promote systemic abuse of power. Time pressures, excessively long hours, and lack of funding on many productions often lead to physical and psychological overwork for filmmakers."
An amendment to the Film Promotion Act (FFG) is now intended to counteract this, or to initiate a necessary cultural change in the film industry. The Fair Film Initiative puts forward the following proposals, among others:
For a positive funding decision, the calculated budgets must ensure compliance with minimum social standards. For small projects, the funding pots should take this into particular consideration. A code of ethics should be drawn up for the rules. In addition, there should be fixed points of contact in the event of problems.
A company pension plan should also be offered on a mandatory basis, and collectively agreed wages should not be so easily circumvented. Overtime in particular should not be compensated as a matter of course.
Productions should also offer models for part-time job sharing and family-friendly models in general. For this purpose, among other things, incentives should be developed for the fulfillment of socially sustainable standards.
Much more detail can be found in the initiative's letter, although the ensuing discussion on this is almost foreseeable ("Who can still pay for this?"). Ultimately, though, it's much more a question of how much humanity on set we as a society want to promote and what it's all worth to us.
Of course, there will and may continue to be teams who, as well-rehearsed workaholics under eustress, will put on impressive productions around the clock far below the minimum wage. However, this has never been particularly sustainable as a role model. Und dass sich niemand freiwillig unterbezahlt von Cholerikern herumkommandieren lassen will, muss man wohl auch nicht in Frage stellen.
Danke an Rüssel für den Hinweis bei uns im Forum
;)