Scouting for Talent

Friday, Mar. 1, 2002
At the core of the world of television and film broadcasting are freelancers. A production company with a fulltime payroll of 10 could see its ranks swell to 100 in the days, weeks or months it's actually shooting a film, TV show or commercial. But once a shoot is done, all those additional workers are back in the job market. In the U.K. alone there are an estimated 120,000 freelancers working in broadcasting. "So, there's huge growth potential," says Robin Brattel, creative director at Artism (www.artism.com), an online job market for Britain's broadcasting industry.

The kinds of jobs Artism fills range from wardrobe assistants to makeup artists to assistant directors to camera operators and photographers--and, of course, actors. "A lot of jobs in this industry go to people you know," Brattel admits. "But there is always a shortfall and companies are always looking for people."

Freelancers register and post their details on the site for free. Artism's business clients pay a fee ranging from about $420 to $1,420 a year, based on the size of the company. Its client list includes the 10 largest production companies in Britain. Artism has about 6,000 freelance "creatives" on file, but Brattel expects to boost that to 20,000-plus by year-end. Toward that goal, Artism is establishing relations with all of the big performing arts guilds and associations, like the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

One problem it faces is keeping data up to date. If, for instance, a camera operator goes on a six-week shoot somewhere, it's hard to keep track of that. So the site will soon have a diary function. In addition to posting their CVs, freelancers will be able to create and update their diaries, detailing their availability. Users will also be able to upload photos or video "show reels," though they'll pay a small fee for that service.

Artism is also a service provider to business clients, hosting on its server an application it calls CV Manager. A small production company can easily receive around 1,000 CVs a month, which tends to swamp their small administration staffs. Artism's software lets applicants post their CVs on a production company's website, and then sorts and files them electronically.

The company was created in late 1999 by two University of Edinburgh graduates. It was bought last year by Armstrong International, an executive-search firm. Artism has competitors, but Brattel says it's the only service that doesn't charge freelancers, which should enable it to create a larger talent pool. Artism also wants to expand beyond the U.K. Many Hollywood films are produced in Britain, and it wants to become a source for American producers, too. Moreover, when a British company is shooting overseas in, say, Australia, it may need to quickly find local workers to fill vacant slots. The company also wants to expand into the music industry, which also relies heavily on freelancers. Indeed, the ephemeral nature of the performing arts could provide Artism with a long-running business.