Supportive Offboarding: Report on the design, development and testing of an intervention to improve the way the TV industry supports its freelancers.

Abstract

The period leading up to the end of a TV freelancer’s contract is a crucial moment when better support could positively impact their experience and future career decision-making. Many freelancers have reported feeling a profound sense of lacking support – a problem we know to be directly correlated to high numbers of people leaving the industry by mid-career. Supportive Offboarding addresses the lack of meaningful feedback, welfare support, and professional development opportunities for the industry’s largely freelance workforce. It introduces an intervention centred on a short, structured meeting between the freelancer and a representative of the employing production company, timed to take place as the freelancer’s contract approaches its end. The project was funded by The British Academy’s Innovation Fellowship scheme 2023-24 and undertaken between March 2024 and February 2025.