Bectu (the crew union) has five agreements in place with Pact (the producers' trade body) that dictate the terms of work on scripted film and TV. They were the result of negotiations between crew members and producers, organised by Bectu and the relevant producers or production companies.

The negotiations are ongoing, and the separate Bectu branches work together to argue for better conditions. Crew members from the workshop departments are involved in the negotiations and volunteer their free time to attend meetings and present data to producers. The term 'workshop departments' refers to departments that work off set, in workshops or offices rather than on the shooting floor, covering Art Department, Set Decoration, and Props. If you're interested in getting involved or finding out more, contact your department's Bectu branch.

The biggest practical effect these agreements have on workshop crew is working hours. Because workshop departments work off set, their hours were historically left unspecified in contracts, which were written with the shooting crew's hours in mind.

The MMP and TV Drama Agreements set out terms & conditions of your working day, including how many hours you are contracted to work.

That's why they matter day-to-day, even if you never read the full text of either agreement when you sign your contract.

The five agreements currently in place, also listed on the Bectu website here and here, are:

What if my production is under £30m?

The Major Motion Picture Agreement only applies to feature films with budgets over £30m. Below that threshold, a production is outside the jurisdiction of any agreement and the production company or studio can write whatever terms they like into the contract. In practice, many productions under £30m do choose to follow the MMP Agreement anyway, since it's become something of an industry standard, but they're under no obligation to. Worth checking your contract terms directly rather than assuming the agreement applies just because it's common practice.

Do the agreements apply to US studios and streamers?

Officially, the agreements only cover production companies that are members of Pact, the trade body for producers. Warner Bros is a Pact member but most other US studios are not. When the agreements were originally negotiated, the non-Pact studios were in the room and agreed to follow the terms voluntarily, even without formal membership.

In recent years, though, there have been examples of those terms not being followed on some of the bigger shows. If you believe your production isn't honouring the terms it agreed to, whether it's a Pact member or one of the studios that committed voluntarily, let your Bectu official know.

What is it?

An agreement between Bectu (the media and entertainment freelancers' union) and Pact (the producers' trade body), applying a set of terms and conditions to all contracts for feature film productions over £30m as well as standalone streaming productions. Implemented in April 2018. The full agreement can be downloaded directly from Bectu here.

What does it mean for workshop departments?

Many conditions improved for shooting and off-set crew as a result. For workshop departments specifically, the biggest impact was that working hours are now clearly stated where as previously, contracts often only specified hours for the shooting crew during principal photography. As a result, off-set crew are now contracted to work 11+1 hours a day (11 hours work, 1 hour unpaid for lunch).

But I've never worked those hours on big budget films!

In negotiations, producers acknowledged this and conceded that although contracts specify 11+1 hours, workshop departments could continue working their traditional hours under what's been described as a "gentleman's agreement." This is obviously problematic, since it differs from the terms in the actual employment contract. The Bectu Art Department Committee has been campaigning to change the contracted hours, working alongside other workshop departments facing the same issue. Pact has agreed to discuss this in the next round of negotiations.

The Art Department Committee presented research to Pact in November 2019 as part of this campaign. This document, and further updates, can be found on the Art Department Bectu website. Producers agreed to place "workshop hours" on the agenda for the next negotiation meeting. Bectu is waiting on a date for this.

What is it?

The Pact–Bectu UK Independent Television Drama Agreement was implemented in 2017, covering terms and conditions for contracts from Pact-member production companies. A new version was implemented in January 2023, voted in by Bectu members at the end of 2022, followed by all Pact-member productions. Larger studios and streamers are also expected to follow it.

The 2023 Pact–Bectu TV Drama Agreement and a comparison document with the 2017 version are both available to download. The Agreement is reviewed regularly, with a team set up by the Bectu Art Department Committee to attend negotiations on behalf of workshop departments.

Is the 2023 Agreement an improvement on the 2017 version?

This is disputed between Bectu branches. Art Department and other workshop branches felt the changes were mostly positive overall, and that members would be better off under a joint agreement than negotiating individually with production companies, while Props, Camera, Lighting and other branches were unhappy with the proposal and wanted members to reject it at the vote. What matters most for workshop crew is that the negotiating work Bectu put in did secure real improvements to working hours and conditions in the 2023 version, most notably, the standard non-shooting-crew day dropped from 11+1 to 10+1 hours, and Art Department was removed from the Prep and Wrap list.

Do workshop departments do Prep and Wrap?

Prep and Wrap is additional time worked, on top of contracted hours, for no extra pay. Art Department, Set Decoration and Props are not listed on the Prep and Wrap lists on either the 2023 TV Drama Agreement or the Major Motion Picture Agreement (for features over £30m). In both sets of negotiations, it was agreed that workshop departments do not do Prep and Wrap. There's no specific guidance for features under £30m, but the Bectu Art Department branch advises using the existing agreements to argue that workshop departments don't do Prep and Wrap on productions of any size.

If you'd like evidence to present to your HoD or production department about the inefficiency of long hours, the Bectu Eyes Half Shut report covers this, as does the Art Department Committee's research presented to the Pact MMP negotiation committee.

Can a term be applied differently to how it was intended?

Yes, and this is a separate issue from a production simply ignoring an agreement altogether. Sometimes a production does follow the letter of a term, but implements it in a way that doesn't match what was actually agreed.

Worked example — 2026 Bank holiday pay on Band 4 TV productions What the agreement says Bank holidays should be paid at 1T if not worked. What's happened instead Where crew already had a day off scheduled immediately before or after the bank holiday, some productions have treated the bank holiday as absorbed into that existing day off, rather than paying it separately. The bank holiday ends up unpaid, even though the term technically exists in the contract.

If you notice a term being applied in a way that seems to work around its intent rather than honour it, whether it's this bank holiday example or something similar, flag it to your Bectu official. These patterns are easiest to challenge when they're reported as they happen, rather than after they've become common practice.