Almost a third of people in TV have taken practical steps to leave the industry, according to the initial findings of the Film and TV Charity’s latest Looking Glass survey.
With 64% considering leaving TV in the past year due to concerns about their mental health, some 32% of respondents were taking action by applying for jobs elsewhere and meeting with recruitment consultants.
Some 30% of respondents said they had experienced suicidal thoughts in the past year, while 35% said their mental health is ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
More than 4,300 people responded to the survey, which will be published in full in early 2025.
The F&TVC published these initial statistics to help make the case to evolve its Whole Picture mental health toolkit into pan-industry standards with the support of the BBC, Apple TV+, Disney+ UK, Paramount, Warner Bros Discovery, Fremantle, Channel 4, ScreenSkills and Bafta.
Speaking to anonymous crew members, The Guardian has highlighted the grey area of the risks of exhausted crew falling asleep at the wheel on the way back from long shoots – which can fall out of producers’ duty of care responsibilities if out of expected work hours.
One head of department described a “structural issue” around hotel accommodation for junior crew members.
“When the production office is London-based, no one would normally get overnight accommodation if they’re travelling from somewhere like the Midlands or Yorkshire, because they [the production office] expect everyone to live in London,” they said.
One insider said that around 48 accident reports were filed on a Netflix series that involved filming in mountainous areas and switching between night and day work.
The streamer said it takes health and seriously “very seriously”, pointing to its 24-hour hotline, its requirement for dedicated health and safety teams on each production, and its ‘Netflix Lifesavers protocol’.
Meanwhile the Mark Milsome Foundation, set up following the death of a cameraman while filming a stunt for BBC/Netflix drama Black Earth Rising, is calling for mandatory education about on-set health and safety.
It is calling for the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act to be reviewed and updated to account for freelancers and the gig economy.
The charity’s Film and TV Support Line offers free confidential support to anyone working in film, TV and cinema. Contact 0800 054 0000 or visit
Anyone working behind the scenes in film, TV and cinema can access immediate, free and confidential support through the Film and TV Support Line on 0800 054 0000 or via the Charity’s website.
