ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

3 years, 7 months ago - Vasco de Sousa

I moved away to Belgium and then to Romania, for family and economic reasons. Some will probably say I should have applied for leave to remain and stayed in the UK.

Finding work as a freelancer is not necessarily hard in Europe, but working legally is more complicated. The problem is not convincing clients, you have to convince the government as well.

In Belgium, to be self-employed, you need /proof of competence./ (at least in Wallonia). Yes, a film degree can actually help get through the paperwork here, which is why I guess you get all those Europeans studying film in British universities.

You need to register before offering your services. You need to pay all these social fees.

Romania looks similar. But in Romania, you need written permission from your landlord, and maybe neighbours. And that written permission can be rejected by the authorities.

In the Uk, you can always work from a PO Box. In Europe, it is not easy (or even legal) to find cheap registered offices, there are usually strings attached and time limits.

And, if you studied abroad, you pay extra to translate your certificates. (Which, again, you might actually need to prove competency to the government.)

Also, your bank account might be closed when you move out of the UK. Getting a new one in a foreign country is not as easy as it used to be.

Raising money might seem hard to some in the UK, but all you have to do there is convince someone with money that you know what you are doing. It can be anybody, an uncle, a neighbour, a recent lottery winner, an athlete, a dentist, a property developer. Or ten people with a tenth of the budget, or 100 with a hundredth, and so on.

Yes, I know it is work, but believe me, I would prefer to spend my time trying to convince investors to trust me with their money than trying to convince government agents to allow me to even advertise my skills. I do not know if I would be breaking the law by applying to freelance jobs here on Shooting People, but some people are advising me that I could get fined if I do.

What we don't have as much of here is bad film advice. We have con artists, but they tend to be into bitcoin, real estate and loan sharking. So, there are some advantages to this bureaucracy, I suppose.

Complain if you want about the state of the UK film industry. Just appreciate what you have, you live in probably the easiest country in the world to start and run a business. (And by extension, one of the easiest places to make films.)