The Film and TV Charity unites with industry changemakers who are calling time for change on mental health
Date Posted: March 21, 2022
The Film and TV Charity has launched The Whole Picture Toolkit: For Mentally Healthy Productions as part of the next phase of its 12-month behaviour change campaign to redefine working culture in the film and TV industry.
To celebrate the launch, the charity has brought together a coalition of industry changemakers – leaders and trailblazing individuals who worked closely with the charity on developing and trialling The Whole Picture Toolkit and who see action to support mentally healthy productions as being representative of real, positive change.
A free to use website, The Whole Picture Toolkit is a practical yet powerful resource that gives anyone working in production – from large scale productions to those on a shoestring – the tools they need to improve working environments and the industry’s wider approach to mental health.
The launch of the Toolkit comes after the charity unveiled its Let’s Reset behaviour change campaign in October 2021, calling on leaders from across the industry to commit to the action needed to improve wellbeing and to destigmatise the conversation about mental health. The Whole Picture Toolkit is the key to the ‘how’ the industry can action changes.
Alex Pumfrey, CEO at the Film and 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 per cent of whom currently believe the industry is a mentally healthy place to work.”
One of the changemakers, Seetha Kumar, Chief Executive at ScreenSkills, said: “I think what’s been absolutely brilliant is the power of collaboration, the power of partnership, the power of acknowledging, yes, there is a problem. And we’ve acknowledged this problem, and we are all collectively working together to try and do something about it.”
“There is a real problem around mental health, and so this piece of work has been really crucial for pulling together all of the resources across the industry, that productions can use to make sure they support their freelancers, and make sure that it is a healthy production,” says Philippa Childs, Head of Bectu. “We want to be part of the solution to bring the industry into a place where people are not suffering quite so badly.”
Helping to turn a desire to support mental health into a reality, The Whole Picture Toolkit can be used in its entirety or through the adoption of any of the individual sections of advice and guidance. Users visiting the Toolkit’s bespoke website will be greeted with a comprehensive package of mini guides for all stages of production, from development and pre-production through to production and post, with subjects including:
- Creating a wellbeing plan and mental health risk assessment
- How to include wellbeing messages throughout production
- How to support a team’s training needs
- Planning for rest and time off
- Debriefing senior leaders
The Whole Picture Toolkit is supported by The Film and TV Charity’s Mental Health Task Force, comprising senior leaders from Amazon, Banijay, BBC, BBC Studios, BFI, Channel 4, Disney, IMG, ITV Studios, Paramount UK/Channel 5, Sky, Sky Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment and WarnerMedia. It has been developed with the support of organisations including Apple, Leopard Pictures, Mini Productions, Offspring, See-Saw Films and many more.
You can access The Whole Picture Toolkit: For Mentally Healthy Productions and help improve the mental wellbeing in our industry by visiting www.wholepicturetoolkit.org.uk.
Find out more about the mental health research underpinning all our work on the Film and TV Charity here: Better mental health behind the scenes – Film and TV Charity
