U.K. Film and TV Charity Sets Mental Health Survey to Measure COVID-19 Impact

Two years after it lifted the lid on a “mental health crisis” behind the scenes of British screen industries, the U.K.’s Film and TV Charity is planning a new mental health survey.

The organization’s latest “Looking Glass” survey is expected to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw vast numbers of the U.K.’s predominantly freelance workforce face major financial pressures as projects were put on hold and government support measures failed to take them into account. It will also look into widely-reported systemic discrimination within the industry, highlighted in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, alongside bullying and harassment, recently brought to the public attention in high-profile exposes, such as those against filmmaker Noel Clarke.

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The charity — which is calling on all of those working in the film, TV and cinema industries complete the survey — says the results will enable it to track trends and change over time, adapt the support services it offers, and influence the £3 million ($4.2 million) Whole Picture Program, launched as an urgent response to the outcomes of the original research.

The 2019 Looking Glass survey — the results of which were revealed in February 2020 — showed that nearly 90 percent of the 9,000 people who took part have experienced a mental health problem. Its findings revealed that workers were twice as likely to experience anxiety compared with the national average, that workers were three times as likely to have self-harmed compared with the national average, and that over half of workers have considered taking their own life (compared with one-fifth nationally), and one in 10 have attempted to do so.

“Our 2019 Looking Glass survey confirmed what many already knew – that people working in the film, TV and cinema industry are disproportionately more likely to suffer from poor mental health,” said Film and TV Charity CEO Alex Pumfrey. “With the events of the last 12 months having increased the pressure for many, we are asking every colleague from across the industry complete the survey again, or for the first time. As well as acting as a crucial barometer of the wellbeing of our workforce, it will help us to design the support services people need, and will contribute to the delivery of meaningful, systemic change that we know will benefit everyone.”