RIG Seeks Level Playing Between Indies & In House

Posted on 9th March 2007

It has been one of those inherent truths of being a commissioned indie working for the BBC that you are not treated fairly compared to in-house production teams. Part of this is a natural side-effect of being independent, of course. However, when the only additional opportunties to win commissions are in 'open' rounds in which indies and in-house compete with one another, there needs to be a level playing field.

As such, RIG has been lobbying the BBC to allow indies improved access to programme making resources previously only available to in-house teams. A current example is access to the BBC Archive Database. Indies can access this in two ways - via phone (with a cost), or by visiting W12 in London in person. However, not all indies are in Northwest London, and for many accessing this valuable research resource is simply not viable. Therefore RIG are working with the BBC to allow indies access via the BBC's internal network located at any of the BBC's local and regional offices and production centres. Such a move will be a sea-change in the way indies can compete with in-house production teams...and we hope is just the first step to levelling the playing field.