Lucy Horsman. Concept Media Academy.

There are quite a few Facebook groups around where TV professionals post jobs for freelancers and help each other with tips and advice on their applications. The Runners Facebook page is one, where Producers, Production Managers and others offer the benefit of their experience to help new entrants to the industry shape up their CV and make the best of what they’ve got to offer.

They do it for free of course. It would be pretty poor practice for anyone to try to extract money from a young, inexperienced (and likely broke) keen industry entrant when all they are trying to do is get a job in their career of choice.

But that’s not the perspective of one Lucy Horsman it seems. Because Lucy has clearly smelt an opportunity in them thar hills.

Hence this:

The above advert was posted this evening on the Facebook Runners’ page. It consists of the copy and paste of a job advert from an employer who is completely unaware that Lucy Horsman has taken it, and it is attached to a link to her company (Concept Media “Academy”) which apparently offers a “career support session” so she can “help you land this job”. All for the princely sum of £25.

When asked about this, Lucy declared that all she was trying to do was “help people”. She was less keen to chat however when it was suggested that she had in mind more of a chance to take £25 out of the pocket of an applicant for a job which she had no right to take and package up in this way.

Pretty sleazy behaviour.

There is, of course, no need for anyone to fork over any money to any "academy" to be able to successfully apply for a job in the industry (Lucy Horsman graduated last year and has next to no experience in the industry). If you need tips and advice, it is available for free and aplenty from numerous kind and generous souls on the Facebook group in question. And of course via the resources on here - all also available for free. And if you want to find jobs, there are plenty of free sites to find those too.

So Concept Media Academy/Lucy Horsman: freelancers beware!