Inclusion Riders: What They Are & Why We Need Them

What is an Inclusion Rider?
An “inclusion rider” is a clause attached to an actor’s contract that makes stipulations about the diversity of the cast and the crew, in order to retain the actor services. It is essentially a contractual obligation that need to be adhered to by the company making the production – and it should ensure that diverse hiring in the film and TV projects they work on is guaranteed.

How Does It Work?
The idea was first coined by Stacey Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California at her TedTalk, as she spoke about the positive outcomes that come from this method. She believed it could be a way to tackle Hollywood’s diversity problems, by removing the conscious/unconscious bias that people face in auditions, interviews and hiring processes.

Network Across Rather Than Up

Network. Network. Network.
A word that has been drilled into our heads our entire careers. Here are some tips for anyone starting out in the creative industries.

When it comes to networking; actress, writer, director, and producer of the HBO hit series Insecure, Issa Rae offers a simple but effective solution for aspiring creatives.

“Who’s next to you? Who’s struggling? Who’s in the trenches with you? Who’s just as hungry as you are? Those are the people that you need to build with.”

Issa says she did not see herself being accurately portrayed in mainstream media, so she set out to fill the gap herself. She gained a massive following online through her mini-series The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl on YouTube, which garnered almost 20 million views.

How To Become a Producer

What is a Producer?
A Producer is the individual that starts the entire production process of a TV series, play or film – they are the person responsible for finding a story a home and seeking out investors willing to fund the entire process, which will be crucial to the development of the story.

How To Become a Location Scout

What Is a Location Scout?
A location scout is essentially the director’s eyes and ears, and helps to develop the narrative by seeking out the perfect location. This is accomplished through finding a place that seamlessly follows the story at hand. The locations may vary from local suburban areas, to tropical islands in a foreign country.

The crucial thing to always keep in mind is the director’s intentions for the film, and the producer’s budget. If you sway too far out of the guidelines set by the producer then you risk bankrupting the film, or being told you aren’t fit to scout for that particular company. As a scout it is your responsibility to ensure that you are making the suitable decisions needed to help in the development process for the film, and to avoid pushing for a location that you have taken a particular liking to, despite it not having much relevance to the plot.

A Basic Guide To Editing Software

Software for professional editing: the pros, the cons and where to start from.
There are many alternatives on the market, but just a few are used by professionals and learning all the tricks of the trade takes time and experience. So what are your options?

Avid Media Composer
The undisputed industry standard for feature films and big productions, which is equipped with the most stable platform for the most complex workflows. Plus, with a complete set of tools to make the most of shared storage and multiple operators working on the same project, it is the go-to choice for post-production companies and editing studios dealing with large teams and complicated setups.

How To Become a Director of Photography

How to become a Director of Photography

What is a Director of Photography?
At the top of the Camera Department, the Director of Photography (or DoP) is in charge of giving the film its own visual style and identity, coherently with the Director’s creative vision.

The DoP is responsible for coordinating the camera crew, including Camera Assistants and Trainees, as well as the Gaffer, who takes care of the lighting, in order to respect their idea of the visual theme of the production.

How To Kick-Start Your Career In Post Production

It takes a lot of time and work to shoot a feature film. But even when all the filming is done, the movie is only half-way through its path to be a finished product. The other half usually happens inside a post production house, where different departments work in synergy to put video and sound together into a blockbuster.

If you think post-production is the right path for you, here are the first steps to make your way into this world.

Figure out which department you want to work in
Most post-production companies structure their organisations (hence, human resources) along three main departments: Production, Editing and Sound. The first step, which you’ve probably already taken, is deciding which one of these is the right fit for you, depending on what you want your daily job to be like. Here’s an idea:

Meet The Speakers: Lisa Clark

We return to The Hospital Club later this week for the latest in our long-running series of TV Networking events, featuring top programme-makers from across the industry. Along with Label 1’s Simon Dickson, we’ll be joined this time around by legendary comedy producer, Lisa Clark, who along with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, co-founded award-winning company Pett Productions.

Lisa Clark
Lisa has been producing entertainment and comedy shows for over 25 years – from the iconic The Big Breakfast in 1992 and the multi-award-winning live Saturday night show Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, to the ground-breaking panel show Shooting Stars in the early 00s and, most recently the critically acclaimed sitcom Vic & Bob’s House Of Fools.

Meet The Speakers: Simon Dickson, Label 1

We are fast approaching our next TV Networking event, taking place on Thursday 8th February at Covent Garden’s Hospital Club. For the February Edition we’re delighted to be hosting Label 1 Co-Founder and Creative Director, Simon Dickson.

Simon Dickson
Widely regarded as one of the industry’s most prominent and captivating creative thinkers, Dickinson has a reputation for approaching mainstream factual subjects from a unique perspective.

BAFTA-nominated for Discovery/Channel 4’s The Plane Crash, his credits include titles such as Bear Grylls’ Wild Weekends, along with multi-camera ‘rig’ shows One Born Every Minute and The Hotel, both of which he commissioned when he was head documentaries at Channel 4.

6 Pieces Of Advice From Award Winning Directors

No matter what they achieve in their career, every director was once a runner, a film student or a production assistant… So they are often keen on giving advice to young filmmakers. Here are our top picks:

Wes Anderson – Always start with your characters
During the 10th Rome Film Fest in 2015, the director from Houston, Texas, met the audience and, in a Q&A session, he shared several directorial tips like this one:

“For me a movie, the project usually begins almost always with a character or a group of characters. Usually there’s a sort of world… that’s tied in. But, for instance, the last film that I did, The Grand Budapest Hotel, there was a person we were modelling this role, this character who Ralph Fiennes plays in the film. There’s a real inspiration for him, and he was someone my co-writer Hugo Guinness [and I] were close to. In that case, if we put a style to it, it could be a literary style because of the way he talks. We wanted to write the way he talks to create a character in that way. But in that case it’s really the character that comes first.”

ProductionBase Community