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Home / Using our toolkit
Get started with the Toolkit
What is the Whole Picture Toolkit?
The Whole Picture Toolkit is an essential package of guides and templates designed to support you in the creation of mentally healthy TV and film productions.
Our guides cover all stages of production – from pre-production to post – and include handy tips, case studies and links to useful industry resources.
Our Toolkit helps establish effective policies and processes to provide mental health and wellbeing support for all team members, and assists constructive conversations about mental health within teams.
How to use the Toolkit
If you’re at the beginning of a production, we suggest you start with our pre-production section and work through our get started guides – and their related how to guides – from start to finish.
Get started guides
Each get started guide leads with key actions that can have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing, by helping you manage stress factors.
In addition, there are further suggested actions towards the end of each guide, which reflect best practice in areas of mental health and employment.
How to guides and templates
Within our get started guides, some key actions link to how to guides.
Our how to guides provide important context in areas of mental health, HR, legal requirements, and health and safety to support you in supporting your teams.
These guides include editable, downloadable templates and examples, which should be used on your productions.
For example, the key action for every production is to create a mental health risk assessment – to identify stress factors that can impact mental health, as well as actions to address them.
Our how to guide links to the risk assessment templates you’ll need to support the delivery of this legal requirement.
External resources
All our guides provide links to other industry policy and mental health resources that can also support you in creating mentally healthy productions.
Support from our team
We ask those who plan to use the Toolkit on a production for the first time to contact our team for bespoke, tailored advice and support on how to start taking action.
When to start using the Toolkit
We recommend that Toolkit templates, and supporting guidance, are used at the beginning of each new production.
However, the Toolkit is designed to benefit productions regardless of the stage they’re at.
If your production is in its later stages, your production company already offers some wellbeing support, or you’re looking for help with a specific topic – such as mental health training or bullying and harassment – you can select the relevant guides for your needs.
Even if your production company already offers some mental health support and/or an employee assistance programme (EAP), it’s also worth signposting to relevant resources, such as the free 24/7 Film and TV Support Line.
This can benefit those who are cautious about seeking help, via an employer, due to stigma – and can also support freelancers who don’t always have access to an EAP between contracts.
Our guidance can also help production companies shape policies and processes across their productions.
Key Toolkit guides
Time and resources can be squeezed on busy productions, so here are our key how to guides to help you support mental health in the right way, from start to finish:
- Create a mental health risk assessment (MHRA)
- How to run a senior team meeting
- Put a wellbeing pack together
- How to talk to your team about mental health
- How to work well with your crew
- Self-care when working with sensitive content
- Self-care when working with vulnerable contributors
- How to conduct an exit interview
For a full list of all our guides – and to understand how they relate and help you create mentally healthy productions – see our Toolkit checklist.
Toolkit updates
Please note that you should not alter advice or questions in our templates and guides, as content is based on expert advice from industry, mental health, HR, legal and health and safety experts – as well as feedback from previous productions – and it’s reviewed and updated regularly.
However, individual production company information can be added where highlighted, and as necessary.
Please don’t remove any Toolkit logos from our templates, but feel free to add your own branding as well.
All guides and templates are copyrighted to the Film and TV Charity.
Tell us what you think
The film and TV industry is fast evolving, as are the needs of those behind the scenes, which is why we’re committed to regular updates.
We want our Toolkit to be helpful, accurate and genuinely useful, as well as led by experts in best practice, and to ensure all voices are listened to and represented.
If you have any comments, suggestions for additional resources or simply would like to share your own experience, please fill in our survey, complete the form below or contact our team via email.
Let’s bring about culture change that works for everyone.
Want to know more?
For more support using this Toolkit for your production, sign-up here
