This November, we’re hosting The Clause Forge: an exciting series of one-day, hackathon-style events taking place in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Belfast.

Each event brings together legal experts, producers, HR specialists, and trade body representatives from across the screen industries to co-create and refine practical contract wording that promotes fair, inclusive, and ethical working practices aligned with CIISA standards.

Your input will help shape the WorkWise Clause Bank — a free, trusted resource launching in January 2026, designed to help screen businesses across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales create clearer, fairer contracts and policies.

Event details:

Each workshop will run from 9:45am to 5:00pm, facilitated by WorkWise Programme Director, Keith Arrowsmith — an experienced solicitor known for his engaging, practical sessions (that finish on time!).

We’ll be providing:

Coffee, tea, and pastries from 9:30am, so you can arrive and settle in
A tasty lunch and refreshments throughout the day
Optional networking drinks afterwards to connect and unwind

You don’t need to prepare anything in advance — though you’re welcome to bring examples of contract wording you’ve seen (good or bad!) that could help inform discussion.

This will be a collaborative event where we’ll work together to improve prepared sample paragraphs. Your feedback on clarity and usefulness will help shape the final published resources.

What will we create?

Together, we’ll develop model clauses that can be used in contracts and policies - along with supporting glossaries, practical guidance, and mini e-learning modules to make them easy to understand and apply.

These resources will help embed good working principles across the screen sector, including:

Fair pay
Healthy workplace culture
Clear communication
Inclusivity
Ethical practice

Who are we looking for?

We’re inviting screen-sector professionals with expertise or interest in employment, contracting, or business management - including:

Legal or HR specialists
Producers and production managers
Freelancers or business owners with hands-on hiring experience
Trade body or union representatives

Your insights will help ensure the final materials are accurate, useful, and reflect real-world working practices.

Why it matters

It’s about creating usable, plain English paragraphs that can be easily used in contracts, policies, and guidance across film, TV, animation, VFX, games, and beyond. By joining, you’ll be part of a collective effort to close resource gaps, avoid duplication, and help embed better, fairer working practices across the screen industries.

DATES:

LONDON, Brixton House - Thursday 6th November

CARDIFF, Chapter - Thursday 13th November

EDINBURGH, Edinburgh Napier University, Merchiston Avenue Campus - Wednesday 19th November

BELFAST, The Mac - Wednesday 26th November

Not free for the full day?

If you can’t attend the full workshop but would still like to meet others in the industry, you’re warmly invited to register for the networking drinks only option at the end of the day.

Will participation comply with competition law?
Yes. WorkWise recognises the importance of complying with all relevant rules and regulations, including those relating to anti-competitive agreements. These rules are designed to prevent any kind of formal or informal agreement which unfairly restricts competition.

Our Clause Forge events focus on creating training and educational materials to explain different types of model contract wording. We will not handle any confidential or sensitive information, nor establish standards ourselves.

Participation in the Clause Forge events is open to everyone, the process is transparent, and access to the published materials will be unrestricted. There is no obligation for anyone to adopt the final versions.

Events