UK’s Film & TV Charity creates ‘toolkit’ to support mental health in the industry

UK-based The Film & TV Charity has created a ‘toolkit’ to support and enable healthy working practices as part of its campaign to destigmatise the causes of poor mental health in film and TV.

Alex Pumfrey

The Whole Picture Toolkit: For Mentally Healthy Productions, available here, has been developed in collaboration with industry partners and bodies, individuals, mental health experts and sector practitioners.

Among those are senior leaders from Amazon, Banijay, BBC, BBC Studios, BFI, Channel 4, Disney, IMG, ITV Studios, Sky, Sky Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount and WarnerMedia.

It has been developed with the support of organisations including Apple, Leopard Pictures, Mini Productions, Offspring and See-Saw Films.

It aims to give clear guidance, expert advice and resources to highlight examples of industry best practice to help embed mental health and wellbeing on productions of all sizes.

The Film & TV Charity is seeking to get 100 productions on board and using the toolkit by the end of 2022, marking the next phase of its 12-month behaviour-change campaign to redefine working culture in the film and TV industry.

This campaign began in October 2021 and calls on leaders from across the industry to commit to the action needed to improve wellbeing and to destigmatise the conversation about mental health.

The charity last month published its Looking Glass ’21 report, which found that long hours and well-documented skills gaps are challenging the mental health and wellbeing of many working behind the scenes in film and TV.

Meanwhile, 57% of respondents said they experienced bullying, sexual or racial harassment or discrimination, or other harassment or discrimination in the past year alone.

Alex Pumfrey, CEO at The Film & TV Charity, said: “Our recent release of Looking Glass ’21 shows that there is still a long way to go to improve the industry’s mental health, but The Whole Picture Toolkit represents a pivotal moment on that journey.

“Those who adopt the toolkit as a whole or in part are immediately grasping the challenge of changing behaviours, adopting healthier working practices, and making a real, practical difference.

“Now, we want to see the Toolkit put to work and hope to reach the milestone of 100 productions doing so by the end of 2022, each one of them sending a vital message to people working behind the scenes – only 10% of whom currently believe the industry is a mentally healthy place to work.”