Bullying is no joke in film and TV. If you’ve experienced it or watched it happen to others, it’s probably affected your mental health. Replaying things that have happened can make things worse, so we’ve launched new services to empower you to look after yourself and your colleagues.
Take the first steps
Anyone can be the target of bullying. If you feel uncomfortable, it counts. Bullying could be deeply personal criticism, abusive behaviour or specific discrimination or harassment, such as racism, homophobia, sexism or ableism. Whether it looks like this or something else, the most important thing is that what happened made you feel uncomfortable.
We’re giving you two new services to help you to stay in control and decide what to do next.
Spot is a clever new tool that helps you to anonymously record your experiences and organise your thoughts quickly and easily. Each record remains completely confidential within the system, it’s not accessible by us or anyone else. Just you. No human (not even Spot) will see what you’re writing. It’s important to do something now, not later. As well as helping you to process what happened, it allows you to save everything in one place, including emails, photos or screenshots in case you need it later on. Spot isn’t a reporting tool and your information won’t be shared with anyone, including us.
Our Bullying Pathway Advisor is a first-of-its-kind support for people who work in our industry, available for free through the Film and TV Support Line. Book an appointment to talk through your thoughts and experiences and receive specialist guidance to help you decide what to do next. If you don’t feel like talking, use our Anti-Bullying Resources Directory to look at what other kinds of guidance and support are available in the industry.
It’s important to remember that you’re not alone. Nearly 9 in 10 workers told us they’ve experienced or watched bullying or harassment happen. Together, we can improve mental health for everyone behind the scenes.