Nearly a third of respondents experienced suicidal thoughts in the past year.

The Film and TV Charity’s Looking Glass survey has highlighted the deepening mental health crisis in the industry, with nearly a third of respondents stating that they have had suicidal thoughts.

The fourth iteration of the charity’s survey saw more than 4,300 film, TV and cinema workers responding over the summer.

Some 35% of respondents said their mental health is ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, which is an increase on the 24% who reported the same in the previous survey in 2022. Furthermore 30% of respondents this year said they had experienced suicidal thoughts in the past 12 months.

The results indicate outstanding issues within the TV industry’s culture, its working conditions and its capability to support workers’ mental health. It found 63% of respondents reporting their work has had a negative impact on their mental health, and 64% stating they had considered leaving the industry over the past 12 months due to such health concerns. This latter figure marks a slight rise on the 60% who stated similar in the last report.

Nearly a third (32%) of those surveyed have taken steps to leave, such as applying for jobs in other fields or meeting with recruitment consultants.

Just 12% believe that the film and TV industry is a mentally healthy place to work.

However, the FTVC noted that it is not all doom and gloom, with respondents who had worked on productions that used the charity’s Whole Picture Toolkit giving better ratings for mental health, as well as having a better awareness of good practices and the support services available to them.

Setting new standards
The FTVC is building on the success of the Toolkit by partnering with major industry players, such as the recently-established Action for Freelancers, BBC, All3Media and Banijay, to develop and agree pan-industry standards which would set out the core actions a production would need to take to ensure support for mental health is routinely embedded in the production process.

The other parties working with FTVC on these standards are: Apple TV+, Bafta, Banijay, BBC Studios, Channel 4, Creative Diversity Network, Disney+ UK, Fremantle, IMG Productions, ITV, Paramount, ScreenSkills, Sky, Sony Pictures Television, UKTV and Warner Bros Discovery.

The Whole Picture Toolkit will also be revamped into a new product to support adherence to the new standards, with former Toolkit executive Anna Mishcon, head of programme delivery at the FTVC’s new unit Mentally Healthy Productions, and Andy Glynne, head of programme development in the same unit, leading on the strategy and delivery of the new work.

The existing Toolkit and its team will continue to provide support for all productions while the FTVC and its partners work out the new standards.

Marcus Ryder, chief exec of the FTVC, said: “Across previous iterations of the Looking Glass Survey, we have consistently identified how prevalent poor mental health is right across the industry. The early headlines from our 2024 survey are remarkably consistent – somewhat positive given the various crises that have hit the sector in recent years, but far more a cause of great concern that things are not improving quickly enough.

“While the Charity continues to provide invaluable in-the-moment support for anyone experiencing poor mental health it’s evident that, collectively, the industry needs to grip the root causes far more robustly than it has so far managed to do. So, it is our hope that, by building on the success of the Whole Picture Toolkit, by working with stakeholders to develop pan-industry standards, and by providing the tools and resources to support their implementation, we can start to properly address one of the most pernicious issues our creative sector faces. We know our workforce is the best in the world – imagine what the industry can achieve if they are also the best looked after in the world.”

A spokesperson for Action for Freelancers said that mental health and wellbeing are “core elements” of the organisation’s response to the challenges facing freelancers.

They added: “It’s essential that freelancers receive the support and resources they need to protect their wellbeing. By developing industry-wide mental health standards together, we can reduce duplication, communicate more clearly, and create a safer, more supportive working environment for everyone.”

The Looking Glass report is expected to be published in early 2025 as detailed analysis of the survey’s responses continues.

This article first appeared on our sister site, Broadcast.