October 2nd 2021

Word has reached the Watercooler of concerning events on a short film drama (“Letters for Lost Lovers“) being produced in Leeds by Raza Mallal of Talking Lens Productions.

Late issuing of contracts (with terms which clearly break HMRC regulations) have now been compounded by numerous freelancers saying that they have not been paid what they are owed for their work. And now it seems that Raza Mallal is apparently washing his hands of any responsibility, despite the company throwing in delays in passing invoices on and threatening to withhold pay.

Talking Lens is a dissolved company but the name is still being used in all communications with freelancers, while the company which issued the contracts is New Leaf Productions (Faisal Ahmad).

It seems that that company isn’t very keen to honour its financial obligations by stumping up the cash to those who are due it however, as payments are now overdue and there is no word on when they will be made.

Strong recommendation for all freelancers then is to take care if you are considering embarking on any working relationship with either company.

Any updates will be posted here as and when – including whether people get paid what they are owed.

**UPDATE**

Both of these companies and individuals have now gone to ground on this, leaving several freelancers unpaid for their work. Faisal Ahmad is not responding to emails and Producer Raza Mallal is apparently now washing himself of any responsibility to ensure payment for the freelancers who worked for him.

Added to this concerns have been raised by other freelancers who have worked on other Talking Lens productions, where ex Northern Film School students were used for their work on poorly organised productions and promised “deferred payments” which never ended up being paid. Caution is strongly recommended if anyone is considering working for this set up in the future.

**UPDATE June 2022** Faisal Ahmad was taken to court over his failure to meet his financial obligations and County Court Judgments were awarded against his company. He has failed to pay the money owed and baili!s are now being instructed.

**Meanwhile Raza Mallal has had a continuous stream of people coming in to work unpaid for his company for some time. If you have done this work and feel that you should have been paid for it, do feel free to get in touch (derrywatson@gmail.com).