In this episode Lucy Tallon, Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing at The Film & TV Charity, joins us today to talk about how the Film & TV industry can improve the mental health of the massive workforce that enables the artistic work that we enjoy. Lucy started her career at The Economist as an editorial assistant. Throughout the years, Lucy has worked at several well-known organisations, and she has worked in media & mental health-related positions for more than fifteen years. We start the conversation with her career journey and her leadership at The Film & TV Charity.
The amount of hard work involved in producing a movie or a TV show is immensely bigger than the viewers realise.
That heavy workload comes with a set of challenges that the workers in the Film & TV industry have to deal with on a daily basis. This week on the UK Psych Health & Safety podcast, we’re having a conversation with a leader who has dedicated her work to improving the mental health & wellbeing of workers in the Film & TV industry.
Lucy Tallon, Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing at The Film & TV Charity, joins us today to talk about how the Film & TV industry can improve the mental health of the massive workforce that enables the artistic work that we enjoy.
Lucy started her career at The Economist as an editorial assistant. Throughout the years, Lucy has worked at several well-known organisations, and she has worked in media & mental health-related positions for more than fifteen years. We start the conversation with her career journey and her leadership at The Film & TV Charity.
“Nearly nine in ten people who were working in the Film & TV industry had experienced a mental health problem at some point in their lifetime,” says Lucy, citing some of the key findings of their research.
We dive into some of the mental health issues that are prevalent in the industry such as increasing workloads and bullying and what cultural changes should be initiated within organisations to address these issues.
Another area we touch on is the concept of psychological safety. We dive into what it means for the people in the Film & TV industry and what measures organisations can implement to improve psychological safety.
Wrapping up the conversation, Lucy shares her take on the readiness of the industry to take the necessary steps to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the workers.
[01:50] Getting to know Lucy – We start the conversation with a brief look at Lucy’s background, career journey, and her current work related to mental health and wellbeing.
[06:50] Film & TV Charity – We dive into some of the issues Lucy and the team are trying to address at Film & TV Charity and some statistics that indicate the level of mental health issues that professionals in the Film & TV industry experience.
[13:00] Research updates – Lucy shares with us some of the latest results & data points about mental health in the Film and TV industry that show the workforce in the Film & TV industry is becoming more and more stressed out.
[18:15] Issues in the industry – We dive into some of the common issues related to hiring and operational procedures that negatively impact the mental heal and well-being of people in the Film & TV industry.
[26:30] Risk-based Approach – Lucy shares her thoughts on implementing an industry-wide risk-based approach to address the issues related to mental health.
[31:03] Industry attitude – We talk about how industry leaders approach mental health and wellbeing and what they could change to make the industry a better place for the workforce.
[36:10] Psychological safety – Lucy’s suggestions to build psychological safety in the Film & TV industry.
[40:27] Future of the industry – Lucy shares her thoughts on whether the Film & TV industry is ready to make the required changes to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the people in the industry.
Resources
A free-to-use website, The Whole Picture Toolkit has been created by the charity and a coalition of industry partners and bodies, freelancers, individual trailblazers, mental health experts, and sector practitioners.
The Whole Picture Toolkit is the key to HOW the industry can start to action changes.
Visit www.wholepicturetoolkit.org.uk
Connect with Lucy
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lucy-tallon-37378a51/
The Film & TV Charity: filmtvcharity.org.uk
Connect with Sheila:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-lord-bmr/
Connect with Peter:
LinkedIn:: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-kelly-%F0%9F%92%99-98605036/
Connect with BMR Health and Wellbeing
Website:bmrhealthandwellbeing.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bmr-health-and-wellbeing
Twitter: twitter.com/BMRHealthUK
Quotes
“Nearly nine in ten people who were working in the Film & TV industry had experienced a mental health problem at some point in their lifetime.”
“We are experiencing a production boom in our national economy in our country, which we're really proud of. And it's something that's talked about a lot. What's not talked about is the human cost of that.”
“The industry is spending a lot of money on diversity schemes, as it should be, but a too many of, I think are focused on entry level. And they’re bringing people in, bringing people in, bringing people in. Not necessarily looking after them very well.”
“Our research shows that probably not enough incidents are being reported. There's a pretty good reason for that. Because when people reported it, the vast majority said that nothing changed something like 16% said it's made the situation worse.”
“As with any mental health movement in any industry, so much of it is about the champions that you have and those leaders and those personalities who drive it from inside.”
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