According to the latest iteration of the Film and TV Charity’s Looking Glass Survey, the UK’s TV and film industry has seen a positive shift in culture and behaviour over the past year.
The research involved 2,000 people in job roles right across the film and television spectrum answering questions about conditions, culture, and the industry’s capability to respond to issues linked to poor mental health, including bullying and harassment, line management, and financial pressures.
Some 80 per cent of respondents agreed that they sensed a positive change to the industry’s culture and behaviours – a notable shift when compared to 63 per cent in 2019 survey.
The survey also found that the industry is an improvement in working conditions and feelings of job security, but extreme working hours, although decreasing, remain high. Furthermore, 75 per cent of respondents said that future income is a key concern as the cost-of-living crisis continues to pose a real threat to financial and mental wellbeing.
“Although the picture is a complicated one, the latest Looking Glass Survey results show that positive change can be achieved,” said Alex Pumfrey, CEO at the Film and TV Charity.
“In the period since 2019 we have seen a concerted effort by many across the industry to improve on a pretty bleak situation and it is heartening to see that some of that effort is starting to pay dividends, with attitudes and overall mental health scores beginning to move in the right direction,” she added.
“The release of this latest research is an opportunity to galvanise and to develop partnerships with the members of our Mental Health Task Force, to re-focus our strategy and to ensure that people across the industry understand that improvements, although sometimes hard won, can and must be made. Ultimately, however positive the signs may be, still only 11 per cent of the industry workforce believe it is a mentally healthy place to work and that statistic must not be left unchallenged.”
The full report is available to read here.
