MCAST sparks row over ‘gratis’ adverts by students

Representatives of media companies, audiovisual industry practitioners and former MCAST Art and Design students have kicked up a row over one of the institute’s study units, which asks students to produce an advert for a commercial company as an academic requirement. 

While the institute is adamant that the move is of great educational value and that it connects students to the professional world, others have insinuated more sinister implications.

The study unit in question is ‘Professional Media Production’, for which students are asked to produce an advert for a commercial client, with the possibility of one of them being selected and used by the company for their own promotional use. Given that the work would be done as part of the students’ assessment within the institute, it would not be against remuneration. 

This sparked controversy when it was posted on a Facebook group for Maltese audiovisual students and professionals, with many arguing that a private company using the work of students for free would be tantamount to exploitation. Furthermore, many claimed that such an approach only further strengthens the widespread tendency to assume that creative freelance work should either be done for a pittance, or be entirely free of charge.  

While her focus remains on writers – including writers employed in the audio-visual industry – Cassi Camilleri of the Creative Writers’ Alliance Malta (which campaigns for the fair treatment of freelance writers) described MCAST’s strategy as being symptomatic of a wider malaise. 

“It continues to feed a major issue creatives in Malta have: getting paid fairly for their work. It is a reality of the Maltese market that private firms and companies want to have top notch work from artists, illustrators, writers, filmmakers, editors and many more, but they are rarely willing to pay for it,” Camilleri said, adding that “with this credit, MCAST is undercutting the industry as a whole. Not only does this credit take work from professionals – i.e. MCAST’s very own graduates – but it fails to value the work of its own students”. 

Camilleri added that such an exercise would need to be bolstered by a more thorough and “realistic” scenario for students. 

“MCAST has to have an open dialogue with the companies looking to collaborate with their students and have those companies provide a budget for them to work with. In a case where companies are not willing to provide a budget, students should be given the option of using a fictitious company for whom they can produce the advert or production in question.”

Camilleri added that “placements, internships and other such structures” would be a healthier alternative to helping students build bridges with industry. 

“Producing an ad for a company is not nearly as effective in terms of ‘building bridges’ as is a team working for them and consistently providing insight and new ideas.”

Similarly, Martin Bonnici of film and media company Shadeena said that the study unit “tries to give students a professional experience but is misguided in its approach”, going so far as to say that it “hinders the industry”. 

“I am yet to find any other educational institution that competes with the industry for clients and to make things worse, pushes the idea that creative work can be done for free or exposure. Education should be pushing for higher standards and more respect towards the field, not less,” Bonnici said, while also suggesting that work placements and internships are the way to go.

But not all practitioners saw the MCAST task as problematic, with Wesley Ellul of web development company Untangled Media viewing it as a potentially enriching exercise that would prepare students for the realities of the industry.

“The commercial element was a study unit but what is being learnt isn’t how to make an advert, but how to meet a client’s demands in a real world situation,” Ellul said, adding that the exercise could be useful for students because it would also motivate them to negotiate with the client should any issues crop up. 

And contrary to what appeared to be the prevalent opinion during the social media discussion that sparked this debate, Ellul doesn’t view the exercise as being damaging to the industry – or exploitative of the students – in the long run. 

“Some companies will try and opt for this free work again. But these will be the companies that do not care about their image. Others will go back to the guy they worked with in the free project and pay them for their services. That student would have built a relationship, and may have set up a long term client,” Ellul said.

Contacted for comment, MCAST Principal and CEO Stephen Cachia strongly objected to descriptions of the study unit as ‘abusive’ or ‘exploitative’, pointing to the fact that the initiative is in line with international “best practice”, and that it gives students a direct link to the professional sphere, arguing that involving a real client would give students a more tangible grasp of the industry which they will seek to enter upon graduating. 

Describing the furore that the study unit sparked as being “blown out of proportion”, Cachia stressed that the unit is “only one small part” of the institute’s overall course, and that other such ‘live cases’ are done on a non-profit basis – such as collaborations between students and government entities and NGOs. 

And reacting to the main sticking point of the debate, Cachia said that the possibility of the commercial company getting an advert out of the exercise is only fair considering that they would be taking the time to meet students and guiding them through the process.

“At the end of the day this is only one study unit, and the aim was never to exploit students or to take the work of other audio visual companies – this would certainly be against our interests, as our students are very likely to look for work with those very same companies once they graduate…”

However, Cachia admitted that all the relevant information about the study unit “could have been communicated better”, and he also emphasized that students are provided with equipment from the institute and aren’t pressured into forking out any money towards the exercise out of their own pocket.  

“However, the observation that we should bolster our commercial outreach with internships, over and above courses like this, was a fair one,” Cachia said, in light of the fact that other MCAST institutes have in fact been facilitating internships in their relevant industries. 

“We already offer some apprenticeships at the lower levels, but internships for all of our Arts and Design students are something we’re definitely looking into,” Cachia said.