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DirectorsUKAGM2022:openingspeechfromDirectorsUKChairKarenKelly
Read the full text of Directors UK Chair Karen Kelly’s speech to the Directors UK AGM 2022 below.
I’d like to begin by thanking you for attending this AGM.
It’s never been more important for our members to engage with us. We need you if we are to succeed in giving you what you want, and what you need, from Directors UK. Given the pace of change within our industry, and the chaotic and catastrophic backdrop of our world at present, it’s never been more challenging.
I replace our highly regarded previous Chair, Steve Smith, who, in July 2021, reached the end of his time in office. Steve, along with the majority of the other long standing Board members, had served his maximum term as Chair. The brilliant thing about the Directors UK Board is that when people’s time on the Board comes to an end, many of them stay actively involved in our work and remain lifelong champions for the rights of directors. I want to take this opportunity to thank them all for their enormous contribution, having spent many years tirelessly, and passionately, lobbying and campaigning on your behalf.
Following an election, which saw more candidates stand than ever before, a new Board was elected, and I was appointed Chair.
It’s crucial that the Board of Directors UK reflects the membership’s wealth of expertise and points of view, and I believe our new Board does just that. It’s made up of directors working across all the different genres, from different backgrounds and with varied experiences of the industry.
When I stepped up to take on the role of Chair, it left the Nations and Regions position empty, so we co-opted Alexander Jacob to represent the Nations and Regions, which was a brilliant move. We also co-opted Tom Toumazis to benefit from his commercial expertise, and that has already reaped huge benefits.
As with all Boards, our first step was to understand the nature of the beast. So, we spent our first year considering, planning and clarifying our objectives in order to build solid foundations. As a Board we felt strongly that, given the difficult years we have all experienced, it was not appropriate to apply a cost of living increase to our remuneration as Board members at this point in time.
We were elected in lockdown, so unable to meet in person, and that presents its own challenges — but we have all made the commitment to growing together to become the most effective Board we can, in order to best serve the 8000 members’ voices we represent.
With the support of the brilliant management team and staff, we have now drawn up a strategy that we believe will serve the organisation well over the long term.
As a collection agency, it is right that Directors UK have been principally focused on the need to collect every penny our members are owed.
While our UK Rights Agreement has been under review and renegotiation, a lot of the Board’s energy has been going into supporting our CEO Andy Harrower and the team as they fight hard to ensure the best deal possible for our members.
Andy will talk more about this later, but, by making the most of new revenue opportunities, we can ensure that directors are rewarded appropriately for the huge value their works bring to audiences in the UK and around the world. And that is why securing fair remuneration for you has been, and continues to be, our strategic priority.
During the 2021/2022 financial year we paid out our highest ever total distributions in one year, and also our largest ever foreign distribution.
The streamers have been investing more in the UK than ever before, which has opened up lots of opportunities for directors. But they don’t play by the same rules as the UK broadcasters when it comes to paying for the secondary rights. They only pay an upfront fee for the rights to your work.
Directors UK is challenging that. We are pushing for new ways to secure a more commensurate financial reward for the use of your work across the world on their platforms.
Whilst lockdown and its legacy has been very challenging at times, we now operate in a world that is less reliant on you being based in London. This has opened up more opportunity for directors outside London in the Nations and Regions. It’s also meant that directors with caring responsibilities are more able to work from home.
However, one of the knock on effects of not needing to be so office-based, is isolation. Directors, as a community, are already remote from each other, so it’s important that Directors UK acts as a focal point. In the last year Directors UK membership grew to 8,082, which is really heartening.
By embracing new ways of working, we found new ways to build connections and community within our membership, which I hope you are all benefitting from. We offered an extensive series of in-conversation events with acclaimed directors working across formats and genres, an array of skills webinars and networking opportunities.
We delivered services tailored to our members both online and in person – and that has opened up access for so many of us. And our specialist legal support was accessed by a record number of members.
We also worked on many projects designed to give you, professional directors, the tools and experience you need to sustain careers, no matter your level of experience.
These projects included: partnering with BBC Studios to deliver mentoring and training opportunities to under-represented directors on continuing drama productions; supporting 4Stories to offer emerging drama directors the opportunity to direct a film for the BAFTA-winning anthology On the Edge; and securing funding from ScreenSkills’ Unscripted TV Skills Fund to programme a UK-wide training course designed to address urgent skills gaps in unscripted TV.
All of our career development programmes directly support and bolster the skills within the existing workforce, and aim to push back on the barriers to progression that we face.
It is also vital that the experiences of our members are shared with policy makers and those shaping the regulations that affect directors. Directors UK has been a voice for directors in industry and government conversations. We’ve responded to numerous complex consultations, inquiries and roundtables on a broad range of issues — from the impact of the pandemic on the industry, to public service broadcasting issues.
And, by being actively engaged in the work of several cross-industry working groups covering subjects such as bullying, harassment, anti-racism and working conditions, we have ensured that directors have a seat at the table, so that we can help to move conversations forward into action.
Directors UK has also played a key part in celebrating the craft of directing, through coverage in trade and mainstream media, articles on our website and our podcast, we’ve shared the working practices of directors and our craft with a global audience.
This all solidifies and reaffirms the importance of the role of the director. We all know how important it is to protect that.
So that was 2021. And 2022 is already proving to be a year we will never forget. No matter what, Directors UK is here to provide stability and support for all our members.
Alongside Andy and the team, we, the Board, are looking to the future with confidence. Thank you.