The HMRC’s Film, Television and Production Industry Guidance (updated October 2026)

Please note that this information is intended for general guidance only; it represents our understanding of the relevant guidance as at October 2026.

The infamous HMRC’s ‘Film, Television and Production Industry Guidance Notes’, provide advice on who can be self-employed/freelance (as a sole-trader or Limited Company) in these industries.

News…. the guidance was updated in October 2026 and here is everything you need to know about the new guidance…. that we know so far!

The old guidance was issued originally in 2003, revised in 2011 and 2012, and revised again with a major change in December 2019.  It provides advice “with regard to the application of PAYE and National Insurance Contributions to non-permanent, casual and freelance workers in the Film, Television and Production Industries” and contains the all-important list of WHO can legitimately be freelance in these industries.

The old Film, Television and Production Industry Guidance notes are here.

The original Guidance was published as a PDF, but at the end of December 2019 the new Guidance was moved to the HMRC’s Employment Status Manual (ESM) website, starting at ESM4115.

There were two main differences in the revised 2019 Guidance:

• the 9 month rule was completely removed. Previously the Guidance said that “The following workers may be regarded as self-employed, provided they are engaged on a temporary, casual or freelance basis, as long as they are engaged for a one-off production (feature film, single drama or documentary) or for less than nine months on a series or programme strand (HMRC may agree to a longer period than nine months in exceptional circumstances)”.  The 2019 guidance gave no time limit (but see the caveats/criteria below)
• The ‘list of accepted grades’ at Appendix 1, which is a list of the self-employed roles allowed, was modernised and expanded significantly.

The changes in the new 2026 HMRC guidance:

• the list of accepted roles has been expanded again, with more detail.  17 new roles have been added, including Production Coordinator. Each role has a job description.
• The roles are split into 14 different “departments” (e.g. audio, camera, costume, design, editorial, electrical and lighting, makeup, music, post-production, production management, rigging, special effects, story and other roles)
• Appendix 1 is now available at ESM4120 .  Appendix 1 lists the behind-camera roles that are accepted as self-employed if they meet the “rules” laid out in the list.
• The changes only apply to new hires or extensions (it is not retrospective).
• There is still a Column A and a Column B in the Guidance.  If a role is on the list and the conditions in Column A and/or B are met, then the individual can be treated as self-employed. Each Column gives an alternative route to self-employment.
• Column A – looks at the individual and how they work – e.g. do they provide their own equipment, do they do most of their work away from your base.  Some roles previously had no Column A requirements but all roles do now.
• Column B – looks at the reason for the engagement – are the individuals hired for a specific production, for a finite period, on separate terms? (Column B has not changed).
• Column B always says “refer to ESM4115” which means that if the engagement is on a “specific production” for a finite period (see below) they can be self-employed; and in the case of re-engagements, where an engager rehires an individual in respect of further engagements relating to any specific production, it qualifies as a discrete engagement.
  

“Specific production” means either:

• a feature film, single drama, single documentary, commercial or music video, or
• a single programme or series of programmes, at a specific interval for a fixed term, or
• a recommissioned programme is accepted to be a specific production provided that each re-enagement of a contractor is a genuinely seperate agreement, and not part of an over-arching agreement for a longer-term contract.

“Finite Period” means:

• contracting for a specific production where the term of the contract is fixed to a specific deliverable or completion of a specific project, rather than by reference to a defined period of days or months;
• contracting for a specific production on a case by case basis (i.e. a project is started and aborted, and the individual contracts for a seperate and new project with the same company) that each are treated seperately as they meet the definition of “specific production” for a finite period.

“Discrete Engagement” means:

A genuine, seperate engagement entered into on its own terms, and not one where the parties have an overarching agreement for a longer term commitment to each other.  Factors which indicate that an engagement is a genuine re-engagement and not part of an overarching agreement can include (but are not limited to):

• there is a period of time between engagements etc.

Where an individual is engaged for another series – each time a programme is re-commissioned the employment status of the individual should then be reviewed more thoroughly. HMRC advise that you should consider whether, if the engager re-hires the same person for further engagements, each of those engagements continues to be a separate agreement, or if the parties have created an overarching agreement for a longer term commitment to each other.

The list of roles in Appendix 1 is not exhaustive. Where a role is not listed it does not necessarily mean an individual is an employee. HMRC and engagers in the industry should use the full range of employment status indicators to decide the status of people not on this list. The HMRC Employment Status Guidance/Manual is at ESM0500.

The Guidance goes onto say that (short-term engagements):

Some behind camera individuals may not meet the criteria in the list of roles normally treated as self-employed (for example if they are not providing their own equipment), but they might work on a succession of short term engagements with a large number of different clients.

‘Short’ in this case means 10 days or less.

Where the work patterns and business structure are consistent with the circumstances of the Lorimer case, such individuals can be treated as self-employed. See ESM4116.

It can be difficult for an engager to verify such work patterns, the individual can seek confirmation from HMRC that an engager may treat them as self-employed. ESM4110

For behind camera individuals who do not meet the criteria in the list of roles normally accepted as self-employed, and where the engager has determined their status as employment, HMRC will permit NI only deductions to be made provided that:

• the individual is engaged for a period of 7 days or less, and
• there are no predetermined arrangements in place for the individual to be engaged frequently or at regular intervals (for example if the individual is to provide their services for the first week of every month)

NI only deductions means that National Insurance contributions are deducted but not tax.

The period of 7 days includes rest days and weekends if these fall between the first and last days of engagement. For example, if a worker is engaged for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and for the following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the weekend must be counted and the limit of 7 days will be exceeded.

This is a very brief Summary of Appendix 1 Roles (the full list can be found here)

“Roles will normally be treated as self-employed provided specific criteria from either column A or B, or both are met”:

(apologies if the columns don’t line up!)

Camera operators

Designers

Directors

Producers

Production management

Any queries just let us know.

Please note that this information is intended for general guidance only; it represents our understanding of the relevant guidance as at October 2026.  We will update the information if anything else becomes clearer!