FREELANCE (Legal, Financial and Contractal)

Public liability insurance

From this video i learnt briefly what public liability insurance, as well as who needs it any why you need it. Although this told me what it was i felt as though it was not enough information and i needed to research it more in depth. I didn't realise that if you were self employed that this would be something that is needed very highly recommend to have, this is because if there is anyone who was injured by anything concerned with your business, you would be able to claim on your insurance and  only have to pay the excess of the premium compared to paying the full claim which would be incredibly expensive. For example if an audience member was to be injured by a piece of set/props etc and wanted compensation, the freelance worker wouldn't need to worry too much about how much they would have to pay out. I think this is something that any freelance worker should obtain, it isn't too expensive and therefore affordable at around £60 a year, personally i believe that it isn't wise to avoid paying for this.

Actor contract law

From this presentation i learnt what an actors agreement was - when you accept the job (find out what you get paid (legally around £18-(Equity) an hour for actors)/hours/advertisement etc). Although you get paid for rehearsals you receive a lower around compared to performances. This is sometimes looked through by a lawyer just to check that everything is in order. There are some clauses that stop actors talking about anything about the release of that project, this is included into the contract, this means that if someone did release information they could face legal issues as they had signed a contract stating against it. I think that it is important to check through with a lawyer or solicitor, and they will be able to  explain anything you are unsure of and ensure that you are signing a contract that benefits you. I found to helpful to be able to see examples of real contracts, just to be able to see the different things that may be included and what is in each section.

Agents

Agents find you work and look out for casting and auditions, one example is united agents who's clients include those who have higher status in the industry as well as some young actors that are just starting out. Some successful international actors have agents in different countries to be able to look out for as many work opportunities as possible, i didn't know this was something that was common however, for example there are many American actors who have British agents as well as American. I found this presentation i didn't know what a co-operation was, this is a very good way of a finding work as a group of actors join together and this works like a agent. Members take turns dealing with the phone and advertisement, rather than just finding work for themselves, they find auditions and jobs for each other. This is why it is important that the group is very diverse so that they can cover the physical requirements for as many jobs as possible, for example if everyone in the cooperative was made up of actors that are all similar it would be hard to reach different things and it would be difficult to share out opportunities if everyone was similar.

Tax returns

From creating a presentation about tax returns i learnt that as a freelance worker the tax that you need to pay is not already taken out of the money you receive from a job, before this i just assumed that it would have already been taken out like any other type of employment. Therefore i found this useful, as well as this i briefly understood that if you are a freelance worker you need to keep all of your receipts to claim back the VAT however i didn't know much context about this. From researching it i was able to know that the only receipts you keep and give to an accountant is ones relevant to your business, i also wasn't aware of how many things were relevant to the business, for example i thought that only things such as paying accountants, however you can actually claim back anything from travel expenses to clothing that is associated to your performance. I wasn't aware that you had to register as your own business

Casting directors

This presentation told me about different types of casting directors including a prime example for film an tv. The Hubbards are known as the top casting directors in this field, they are brother and sister based in Covent Garden, Amy has worked on films like The Hobbit and Tv such Homeland, she has also won an Emmy for outstanding casting in 2002. Dan has casted for American films such as Tomb Raider, as well as casting for British productions they are also involved overseas. Musical theatre casting directors include David Grindrod and has worked on West End productions like Mama Mia, Matilda and Once, He is known as the "king of musical theatre". Jill Green is also a musical theatre director however she specilaises in transfers, for example she would arrange broadway performers to transfer over to the West End, she has worked on productions such as Kinky Boots, Jersey Boys and Beautiful (A Carol King musical). I think it is important for actors to understand how casting directors work and the different types there are, if an actor was particularly looking for work in Musical Theatre, there wouldn't be much point in researching film and TV casting directors, however researching how musical theatre casting directors would be helpful as it may be possible to find out audition information.

Unions

A union is a democratic union of people who aim to make the working lives of their members better, each union has a different set of rules that they abide by. One example is Equity, to be able to apply you need to fill out an application and pay the subscription fee, to be eligible you need to have at least one of the following: Evidence or invoice from paid professional work, be a graduate form university or drama school, work outside of the UK or be a student at in a NQF level 2 course. The cost of this is a joining fee of £30 as well as a annual fee that is based on your annual income. Amnesty international work as a source for Equity, one example of something they have done is a stand up comedian in Burma who was illegally tortured for his "sour" taste in humor, they work with Equity to be able to help performers with any legal issues they may face, particularly overseas. I think that as a freelance performer it would be advisable to subscribe to this as it comes with a certain level of prestige and often shows agents and casting directors that someone is serious about their careers rather than just doing it for leisure. The Creative and cultural skills company provide creative opportunities for young people to work in the industry, this presentation only touched on this slightly, i wanted to find out a little more and so independently i found that they are a charity that provide masterclasses and courses for people who wish to work in the industry, They aim to provide employers with the knowledge of importance of creative skills in employers, they also wish to help support creative industries on a course of economic growth.

Book keeping

This presentation informed me about book keeping, which is the record of financial affairs in business either on a large or small scale bigger companies usually pay accounting businesses to sort this out for them, this is because they specialize in bigger financial affairs and therefore will be able to make sure is in order. However smaller companies or freelance workers would pay smaller accountant to check this as their financial affairs would be smaller and it wouldn't need someone who was extremely specialised. Freelance workers must keep all receipts, bank statements, invoices, payments and transactions etc of everything you are spending in one place so it is easy to access as by law you are able to claim back the VAT on things that are exclusively related to your business. The better you do this the more money you can claim back meaning you have more money to put towards your business. I found out that if you do not keep your books well it is east to lose control of your financial affairs and you may run out of money and may end up in large amounts of debt. I found that there are also some online services that can help you with taxes and book keeping, this may be more achievable to who may don't have enough money to pay for an accountant. As a self employed performer it is very important that you have a good knowledge about financial affairs as it is incredibility important to keep on top of it.