The Whole Picture Toolkit
We want you to see the whole picture when it comes to managing the mental health and wellbeing of production teams.
That’s why we’ve created the Whole Picture Toolkit to help support people at all levels of production, and to guide managers and senior creative leaders to look after the mental health of crew members.
You can use our free Toolkit during pre-production, filming, post-production and right up until you’re debriefing production companies and funders.
Valuing wellbeing – by embedding mentally healthy working practices early on in a production – helps retain and support talent.
We understand how much goes into production planning, and additional form filling can seem overwhelming. But, by following the Whole Picture Toolkit’s practical solutions, everyone can benefit from happier, more productive teams and help make positive mental health practices an industry standard.
Our research means we understand how culture and working conditions have impacted the mental health of people working in our industry – see our Looking Glass survey report for further information. The Toolkit gives you the templates, guidance, and other resources to help mitigate against some of those pressures.
Designed to give a clear understanding of the whole picture of mental health across the production process, we've divided the Toolkit into three clear sections:
- Pre-production
- Production
- Post-production
Within each section, our get started guides list key actions that can positively impact mental health and wellbeing.
Then, our how to guides provide important context – in areas of mental health, HR, legal requirements, and health and safety – and they link to essential industry-focused templates for use on each production.
There are also links to useful resources provided by external industry and mental health organisations.
We recommend that Toolkit templates, and supporting guidance, should be used at the start of each production.
However, the Toolkit is designed to benefit productions regardless of what stage they’re at.
If your production has already started, your production company already offers some wellbeing support, or you need help with a specific topic – such as mental health training or bullying and harassment – you can select the right guides for your needs.
Our guidance can also help production companies shape relevant policies and processes across their productions.
We offer direct support from the Charity's Toolkit engagement producer team.
They’ll meet with your production team and talk through the requirements of your programme or film to recommend which guides and templates would work best for your production.
We'll then arrange for a mid-point check-in, and a wrap-up debrief to help you review what’s worked well and where there may be room for improvement.
For more information, contact our team directly at [email protected]
- Mental health of contributors
- Managing the behaviour of team members
- Compliance with the Toolkit and external resources
- Individual mental health issues
- Health and safety risk assessment advice
Please note that we're not able to act as an emergency contact or provide emergency assistance on behalf of productions.
However, anyone working behind the scenes, including production leaders and people in senior positions, can call our Support Line on 0800 054 0000 for one-to-one support and advice on a range of issues including ones relating to mental health or legal matters.
The Toolkit maps to existing standards and resources that are already in use within the industry.
We've worked with industry professionals, and with the UK’s leading mental health charity, Mind, to co-design the written resources within the Toolkit.
The Toolkit is also endorsed and co-funded by broadcasters including BBC, BBC Studios, Channel 4, ITV, Sky, Disney, Banijay, IMG Media, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apple TV, Amazon and Paramount.
Whole Picture Toolkit
Start seeing the whole picture when it comes to your team's mental health – take a look today.
