Creative union Bectu has voiced its support for a new campaign which is pushing for a healthier working culture in the film and TV industries. The Film and TV Charity has launched its new The Whole Picture Toolkit: For Mentally Healthy Productions as part of a wider push for healthier working practices and Bectu says the resource could be crucial to ensuring that freelancers are supported in the workplace.
The Whole Picture Toolkit features a free-to-use website providing guidance, advice and resources designed to help embed mental health and wellbeing best practice in film and TV productions. The toolkit was developed by the Film and TV Charity alongside a coalition of industry partners, practitioners and bodies, as well as mental health experts and freelancers.
Bectu was among those to contribute, with the union’s new welfare policy incorporated into the toolkit. Philippa Childs, Head of Bectu, participated in the working group which collated resources for the toolkit. The toolkit follows the October 2021 launch of Bectu’s Let’s Reset campaign, which aims to get industry leaders to commit to improving wellbeing in the sector and destigmatise talking about mental health.
Philippa Childs commented: “There is a real problem around mental health in film and TV, 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.”
“We want to be part of the solution to bring the industry into a place where people are not suffering quite so badly.”
