Gap Yah star takes aim at internships (or as he calls them “intahnshups”)

“JUST LIKE A JOB – BUT THEY DON’T PAY YOU” EXPLAINS ORLANDO

Remember Orlando, the star of hit YouTube video Gap Yah? Well, his life has moved on – and he’s now doing an ‘intahnshup’ at an art gallery. In fact, it’s his third. And guess what? He still isn’t getting paid.

In the three-minute video, Orlando – on his mobile, during a break from his art gallery placement – explains to a friend that internship are “basically just like a job – except they don’t pay you.” 

He’s doing the placement for “CV points dot com” – and the opportunity came his way via an “intahnshup auction”. Happily, he’s not alone – fellow interns Tilly, Venetia, Fantasia and Peas Blossom are “super-nice”. He has also done internships in “meeja” and at the Houses of Parliament. The latter came his way “via Hugo’s dad”.

The video was produced in conjunction with Creative & Cultural Skills, who are delivering the Creative Employment Programme on behalf of Arts Council England, which banned adverts for unpaid internships in July. The video supports fair access to paid jobs in the arts – a key message in Creative & Cultural Skills’ new national campaign, Building a Creative Nation, which challenges employers to create 50,000 fairly paid jobs for young people in the sector by 2016.

Well-known faces backing the campaign include Chair of Building a Creative Nation and ex-Dragon, Doug Richard and Wayne Hemingway MBE, Founder of Red or Dead.

Founder of the MOBO Awards Kanya King MBE – challenged in September by BECTU and Intern Aware for seeking unpaid runners for this year’s Glasgow event – is also involved, having apparently seen the error of her ways.

Creative & Cultural Skills have committed to help employers create the first 6,500 jobs. Through the Creative Employment Programme they will provide wage subsidy funding to support employers to offer unemployed 16-24 year olds fair access to paid apprenticeships and internships.

Matt Lacey, who plays Orlando, said:

“It’s great that this programme allows young people to get into the arts based ontheir flair for the job, rather than whether they can afford to work unpaid for a prolonged period of time.”

Graduate Fog would like to point out that Orlando is by no means typical of interns – most of whom are not loaded, and work extremely hard during their placements. But the video serves as a light-hearted reminder about this important issue and we support anything that draws attention to the battle for a fairer deal for young workers.

* LOVE ORLANDO’S NEW “INTAHNSHUPS” VIDEO?
Did Matt Lacey get it right – or is Orlando an unfair stereotype? What should Matt’s next video be about? Post your ideas here and we’ll make sure he sees them!