Tag: finances/legal
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Tips for Self-Assessment Tax Returns and Expenses
Tax tips for actors: self-assessment, allowable expenses, and Making Tax Digital explained by an industry expert. In this essential The Spotlight Podcast episode for every working performer, we sit down with Mark Carr, a Chartered Accountant and Director at Streets. Mark has over two decades of experience helping those in the media and entertainment industry…
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UK Child Performer Safety: Our Call for Urgent Reform
Find out how Spotlight and the AYPA are demanding an urgent government review to establish uniform, safer protections for the UK’s child performers. It’s time we properly acknowledged the vital contribution of young performers to the UK’s creative industries. Despite their essential talent, the current regulations leave these performers vulnerable, lacking crucial financial and safeguarding…
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Performing Arts Charities
The performing arts industry can be tough and sometimes you may need some support during your career or beyond. We’ve gathered a list of fantastic charities who can offer help should you ever need it. Last updated on 16 October 2025 Whether you need help to make ends meet, support your child in education or…
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Spotlight Wins Landmark High Court Ruling
Spotlight today received a decisive ruling in the High Court, with a judgment delivered in its favour in the case of Equity & others vs Talent Systems Europe Ltd t/a Spotlight. The ruling, handed down by Her Honourable, Justice Howells, reaffirms Spotlight’s position as a directory service and software provider used by performers for their…
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What Performers Need to Know About Employment Law Changes
New rights for workers and concerns around tax: how the upcoming changes to employment law will affect performers in the UK. The Labour government is in the process of changing rights for workers in the biggest shake-up of employment law in decades. The government has already introduced legislation to increase the rights of workers in…
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How Political Parties Shape Cultural Policy with Stuart Andrew MP
The Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Stuart Andrew, joins us on The Spotlight Podcast to discuss how cultural policies impact performers. The Rt. Hon. Stuart Andrews MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, joins us in the Spotlight studio to discuss how cultural policies impact performers. He…
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How to Get a Mortgage as a Self-Employed Performer
Expert advice for freelance actors and performers about how to increase your chance of getting a mortgage and what you can do now to prepare for future home ownership. As a performer, your income structure can be quite unique with your personal finances fluctuating depending on your working situation. Due to the particular nature of…
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How to Fund Your Feature Film
Discover what sets feature films apart from shorts, as well as the core funding options available for feature filmmakers in the UK. Feature films offer filmmakers a unique set of opportunities compared to short films. They allow you to develop more complex characters and narratives and to stage them within a cinematic world that has…
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Is Your Audio-visual Work Shown Overseas? Get Additional Payments from BECS
How the British Equity Collection Society (BECS) helps performers get additional payments when their film and TV work is shown overseas. If your work is being shown anywhere in the world, you may have the right to receive additional payment (additional to what is provided for in your contract with the producer) – and that’s…
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The Spotlight Podcast: AI and Performer Rights
Solicitor Tony Morris joins us in the Spotlight studio to talk about artificial intelligence and what performers should know about copyright law and contracts when it comes to protecting their identity and work. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developing at an incredibly fast pace and is becoming more prevalent in our daily lives. Whilst AI offers…