Our journey to the Whole Picture Toolkit

The first edition of our ground-breaking Looking Glass report found that 9 in 10 people working in film, TV, and cinema in the UK had experienced a mental health issue – compared with 65% across the general population.

These findings indicated a mental health emergency in our industry, with its roots in three specific areas of concern that we call ​‘The 3 Cs’:

1. Conditions – working conditions (including very long hours) that can be challenging and often damaging
2. Culture – an entrenched culture of bullying, and stigma around mental health
3. Capability – a lack of accessible support and targeted training to support mental health for industry workers

Our research concluded that ​‘The 3 Cs’ – conditions, culture and capability – directly correlate with mental health outcomes and must be addressed together to provide better support for our industry’s workforce.

In response to the Looking Glass research, we invited industry leaders to form the Film and TV Taskforce on Mental Health to co-create and co-fund a pioneering programme of work to tackle the mental health crisis. 

In January 2020, the first Taskforce meeting took place, with representatives from across all parts of the industry, from development and production, through to broadcasting, distribution and exhibition. 

The Taskforce was also supported by our strategic partner Mind and a wide range of industry bodies, including BAFTA, the BFI, Bectu, Directors UK, the FDA, the MPA, PACT, Time’s Up, ScreenSkills, the UKCA and the UK Screen Alliance who helped shape the work

Led by the Taskforce, the Whole Picture Programme was launched in October 2020, supported by leading industry organisations. 

The programme was an evidenced-based, two-year action plan, established as part of a sustainable 10+ year strategy to support better mental health within film, TV, and cinema. 

The action plan included expanding the support offered by the Film and TV Support Line, and designing a behaviour change programme to reduce the stigma around mental health and promote healthier, more inclusive workplaces. 

The Let’s Reset behaviour change campaign was unveiled during Mental Health Awareness Week in October 2021. 

This campaign called on leaders from across the industry to commit to the action needed to improve wellbeing and to de-stigmatise conversations about mental health. 

Let’s Reset launched with the support of leading studios, bodies, and organisations, including Banijay, BBC, BFI, Channel 4, Disney, IMG, ITV, NBCUniversal, Amazon Prime Video, Sky, Sony Pictures, ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia, who pledged to champion open discussions about the changes needed to support mental health and wellbeing. 

In March 2022, we launched the Whole Picture Toolkit website as part of the next phase of our Let’s Reset behaviour change campaign. 

Our free-to-use site is a practical yet powerful resource that gives production leaders the support they need to improve working environments and approaches to mental health. 

The Whole Picture Toolkit offers expert advice, templates, and examples of industry best practice to help embed wellbeing at every stage of a production. 

Our Toolkit engagement producer team also provide bespoke, tailored guidance and support on how the Toolkit works and can advise on the most relevant resources for specific productions. 

For more information, contact our team directly at [email protected].