The Production Guild Innovation Awards
The Production Guild Innovation Awards, in association with Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, celebrated the innovative work of PGGB members who have navigated new ways of working to keep UK production moving forward during lockdown. The Awards will celebrate the achievements of PGGB members working in film or television drama in the fields of the production office, accounts, locations, assistant directing, post production or VFX, who have shown exceptional resilience and resourcefulness in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020.
Through MBSi we are proud to have sponsored the PGGB Special Recognition Award
Winners: John McVay OBE, Chief Executive of Pact, and Hakan Kousetta, COO Television of See-Saw and Pact Council Member
John and Hakan are recognised for their extensive work with Government to put into place the £500m Film and TV Production Restart Scheme. From early stages of lockdown, the pair made a compelling case to the Chancellor that in addition to comprehensive Covid-safety guidelines, Treasury intervention was also needed, to cover Covid-related insurance costs if domestic productions were going to be enabled to restart. McVay went on to Chair the industry working group on insurance for the BFI’s Screen Sector Task Force which worked with Government to inform and shape the scheme.
It’s expected that the scheme, which opened on 16th October, will support more than 40,000 jobs by ensuring planned productions can proceed after a period of disruption due to the pandemic.
Jury Chair, Co-Producer and Financial Controller Andrew Noakes said: “Hakan and John at Pact absolutely stepped up to the mark and have done an incredible job in achieving the Production Restart Scheme with a £500m insurance fund, underwritten by the Government. This is a vital part of the UK film and TV industry’s recovery, it’s providing the safety net domestic productions need to get back up and running whilst also helping future productions to plan how to proceed amidst this pandemic.”
Darren Smith, Managing Director MBSi: “We are incredibly proud to be part of a community that has proven itself to be so creative, resilient and so capable of navigating a safe path back to the workplace.
The ways in which John and Hakan have worked with Government to deliver something that will benefit us all, are a fantastic example of just how innovative and resourceful our industry can be. They have done a tremendous job together and thoroughly deserve recognition as winners of this award.”
John McVay says: “The Restart Scheme is the product of months of hard work by many, many people across the industry. I’d like to thank everyone who worked with us on the insurance working group, the BFI Screen Sector Taskforce, the broadcasters and of course the dozens of productions that worked so hard to contribute the data we needed to make the case to the Treasury that this support was absolutely necessary.”
Hakan Kousetta adds: “It was clear early on that insurance was going to be an enormous problem when it came to getting production going again. We knew we had to move quickly to persuade Government to step in and help the industry back on its feet. Working with John, and the many others involved in this ambitious task, we were able to meet the challenges and thankfully get the result the industry needed.”
