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These are the Hands  - awards                                                                                                            

Finalist certificate : at the Cannes Corporate Media Awards 2020. 

Finalist : Association Awards UK 2020 : Best Membership Engagement for EVCOM

December 2020 recognition from EVCOM for These are the Hands -

EVCOM awards nomination

'We are delighted that we have had three of our 2020 projects shortlisted at the Association Awards UK. Our NHS campaign film 'These Are The Hands', created in conjunction with the BFI, Tim Langford and many more has been shortlisted for Best Membership Engagement.'

The film was shown at the climax of the EVCOM london live and film awards ceremony

Recent revealing interview I gave about the behind the scenes story of the the making of These are the Hands

Life goes on.

Mum died on 4th July 2013 (Independence Day in America). Dad had died in 1993. This is what Mum wrote to me in January 2012 just before she had an operation for her hip when she was waiting in hospital -

'Tim. Monday a.m.

Angela (Dr. Neilson's nurse) just called as I've had doubts about the op. Anaesthetist also came.  Hopefully all will go well.

Have had good life. Happy marriage. Especially with you & Gill. Life goes on.

Make the most of it. xxx

All paperwork in green case small bedroom. Trust you can sort.'

Originally published as a thought piece by EVCOM as part of their Executive Directors Digest.

'Ken Loach’s passionate and excoriating film Sorry We Missed You exposed the exploitation and human cost to a debt-laden family where Mum Abby and husband Ricky toil, like latter day serfs, in a service-economy based on zero-hours contracts.

The premise for Loach’s story is ‘the gig economy’ - which metro.co.uk recently defined as 'an economy where organisations and businesses rely more on freelancers and independent workers, contracted on a short-term basis’ - and although those of us who work freelance may not be delivering parcels (though I did once have a temporary Christmas job with the Royal Mail tramping Dudley’s impoverished Wrens Nest estate where I suspect the gig economy is now a way of life) a significant part of our industry relies on freelancers to fill temporary jobs or provide short-term services to companies; the BFI’s employment survey of 2017 found 49% of those working in film and video production were freelance.

So if we accept the proposition that the very foundations of our industry are dependent on this large temporary workforce just how mindful are we of how we treat freelancers?

Casey Bird - the founder of The Freelance Circle - argues that businesses that treat freelancers well will benefit from an engaged team of flexible workers and the standard of work will improve if employers embed certain good practices. Her advice is -

• Embrace them as short-term members rather than treat freelancers as a resource.
• All too often, freelancers get briefed as if they already know what’s going on. They don’t.
• Get the IT and the basics right.
• And crucially ‘get the money and the policies right’. In other words you can avoid a lot of aggravation if the payment terms are transparent from the get go.

From personal experience a lot of what underpins this is about good communication but there are also some wider long-term issues:

Training: can we address the skills gap? In the Annual ScreenSkills Assessment 2018-19 only a third of surveyed employers were able to provide training for freelancers, compared to 84% for in-house employees.

Mental health: A University of Westminster report found ‘that the mental health of musicians and producers was negatively affected by factors including anxiety about where the next piece of work might come from’.

Last minute scheduling: This is a fundamental part of the ‘gig economy’ and indeed the ‘just-in-time’ principle of the production process that we all have to manage. The question is do staff keep freelancers in the loop when things chop and change or are they left in the dark?

Policy making: a Creative Industries Federation report of 2017 found that ‘despite their importance to the sector, the self-employed in the creative industries feel invisible to policy-makers’. Freelancers said that they had never been consulted about how policies affected them and many of the businesses the CIF spoke to had never taken stock of how many self-employed they worked with.

I appreciate those running businesses and working within, who hire freelancers, have their side of the story not to mention the stresses they may be working under. The point is - one way or the other - we are all dependent on each other. We may not be delivering parcels but we are all trying to deliver good service.'

Brene Brown made a decision  'to live in the arena' because previously she had 'engineered smallness'. And because we live with a great fear of shame.  As she says 'You have to be vulnerable to be brave'. Show up and be brave. Dare greatly. But there's a caveat: Be warned  - you will know failure. And heartbreak.

Which brings me to These are the Hands that you can read about here -  https://www.evcom.org.uk/news/evcom-and-bfi-collaborate-on-new-film-to-support-the-nhs

These are the Hands, on reflection, was a project which was about stepping into that arena with that attendant fear of failure and the heartbreak that would surely follow. It began with a 'back of an envelope' idea, a 2+2 = 4 moment after I heard one verse of a poem called 'These are the Hands' by poet Michael Rosen read out on Radio 4 in the early part of April. That lightbulb moment just fired me up. With a passion. With a desire I haven't felt for a very long time. It propelled me to 'step into the arena' by pitching the idea to colleagues on the board of EVCOM. Three in particular - Claire Fennelow, Andrew Smith and Sara Cooper listened. Without them it was dead in the water.  I needed their validation. I feared they would disapprove. I feared the shame of their disapproval. I pitched it to Patrick Russell, the Head of Non-fiction film at the BFI. He listened. Without him it was dead in the water. These 4, early on, were the foundations of support I needed to carry this forward. 

There were so many challenges, so many hurdles, so many unexpected moments in the 4 week life of These are the Hands.  I needed a great voice-over artist. I wanted a top actor. Many turned it down or I just couldn't get reach them. I needed Michael Rosen's  (who was gravely ill)  permission and blessing and his agent took an eternity to get a decision and then said we would have to wait.  It's at times like these you fight impotence.  I needed an editor cut this film. My editor was not convinced with the idea. My music choice. The poem. It's at times like these doubts set in. 

There was so much I needed. People, resources and some luck. I needed free music, free images, free production facilities. I need the NHS to give the project it's official backing. I also needed to prove the idea would work. 

I needed a marketing plan. For a long time it was vague. We didn't have one. 

There are many lessons to be learned from the experience but for now the lessons are  -  trust your instincts and trust people.  Step into the arena.

Now I am going to blow some trumpets. Here's some of the feedback since the film was released:

Pete Stephenson, boss of The Edge Picture Company (who was a big supporter and believer) -

'Just wanted to say another huge congratulations on this film Tim. It feels like a real labour of love and I’m sure that it nearly killed you getting it over the line! But it was so worth it and so full of emotion. You should be very proud.' 

Martin Frizell - big wheel at ITV -

'That’s a lovely film, very powerful and timely.'

Jon Snow, Channel 4 news -

'I cried as I watched Michael Rosen's 'These are the Hands' a Fund-raising ad for NHS Charities Together: from @BFI and @evcomur How the NHS has cared for us for 70 yrs.  The most emotional 1 minute 50 second film I have ever seen! DON"T MISS IT - massive!'

Paul Widdowfield, Communications and Marketing Manager, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust -
'It's a great film and a brilliant watch.'

Fahira Mulamehic - RefugeeCouncil.org.uk - Head of the Building Bridges project working with the NHS -

'It is beautiful, can’t imagine anyone not being deeply moved after seeing it.
…..shared it widely, and crying lie a baby….'