<p>Based on 30 years of work experience in TV and film production, I have made a phenomenological analysis of my perception of meaning in work - how it arises and how it is undermined. The story starts in my experience of early professional film making in the 1980's and describes how a change to work in TV production required the development of a new professional identity. </p><p>The text also illustrates how as a female director I have managed my role in a male dominated and structured work environment. Being defined as an exception from the male norm has pushed me towards femininist reflection and the need to redefine my own work role - the generally accepted view having felt uncomfortable. </p><p>An analysis of structural change in TV and film production shows how market pressures and ways of thought have increasingly invaded cultural endeavour. Professional spheres of influence are weakened, while developments in the media are characterised by a commercialism which encroaches more and more upon artistic, spiritual and moral values. This attitude, where quality is in retreat, has transformedprogramme makers from creative originators into becoming suppliers of raw material in a factory- like process geared to produce great volume at low cost.</p><p>The aim of this essay is to show how changes in society and in TV and film making have affected my perception of my work. Structural transformation in the media has circumscribed the scope for creative play as an important source of energy and inspiration in work and it has eroded my feeling that work is personally meaningful.</p><p> </p>

Based on 30 years of work experience in TV and film production, I have made a phenomenological analysis of my perception of meaning in work - how it arises and how it is undermined. The story starts in my experience of early professional film making in the 1980's and describes how a change to work in TV production required the development of a new professional identity.  The text also illustrates how as a female director I have managed my role in a male dominated and structured work environment. Being defined as an exception from the male norm has pushed me towards femininist reflection and the need to redefine my own work role - the generally accepted view having felt uncomfortable.  An analysis of structural change in TV and film production shows how market pressures and ways of thought have increasingly invaded cultural endeavour. Professional spheres of influence are weakened, while developments in the media are characterised by a commercialism which encroaches more and more upon artistic, spiritual and moral values. This attitude, where quality is in retreat, has transformedprogramme makers from creative originators into becoming suppliers of raw material in a factory- like process geared to produce great volume at low cost. The aim of this essay is to show how changes in society and in TV and film making have affected my perception of my work. Structural transformation in the media has circumscribed the scope for creative play as an important source of energy and inspiration in work and it has eroded my feeling that work is personally meaningful.