The hardest thing to measure on a production is what people don't say.
The first week of November made that impossible to ignore. On 5 November, Russell Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The next morning, on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the conversation turned to how hard it is to speak up in this industry when you're worried about your next job.
In the same week, Channel 4 showed what taking welfare seriously can look like. After an external review of contributor welfare, it announced that Married at First Sight UK won't return. The review found that Channel 4 and production company CPL's welfare protocols met the required standard, but putting its recommendations into practice would have meant changing the show itself. After ten years on air, and with a new series already in production, that can't have been an easy decision. Channel 4 is also sharing what it learned with other broadcasters, which helps the whole industry.
Three things every production can take from this week
1. Silence isn't the same as safety
A quiet set can look like a happy one. Sometimes it's a set where people have decided speaking up isn't worth the personal risk.
2. The duty now reaches further
Since 30 October, under the Employment Rights Act, employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, and they can be responsible when staff are harassed by third parties, such as clients, contractors, guests and visitors. On a production, that's a lot of people you didn't hire.
We looked at what the new law means in practice, and the grey areas productions are asking about, in New UK anti-harassment laws: what it means for productions.
3. Early is everything
The small things, a comment, a doubt, an uncomfortable moment, are where prevention happens. Heard during the job, they can be put right. Heard after wrap, the chance has often gone.
Where Talent Trust fits
That's what Talent Trust is built for.
We're an independent platform that measures psychological safety on film and creative productions: whether cast and crew feel able to raise a question, a worry or a concern, big or small, without fear of what happens next.
Our surveys are anonymous, and nobody on the production sees an individual response, so people answer honestly. They run live, while the job is still going, so you hear what's happening in time to act, not in a review after wrap.
For productions, that means an honest picture of how people really feel on set, and a practical step towards meeting the new duty. For cast and crew, it means being heard.
If you'd like to know what your crew would say, book a demo or email us at info@thetalenttrust.com.