The Call It! app, designed to stamp out bullying, harassment, and all forms of discrimination in the TV and film industry has signed its first deal with ITV Studios.

Call It! empowers everyone working in the film and TV industry to record incidents of bullying, harassment and discrimination quickly, and anonymously without fear of reprisal or repercussion. It also provides easy access to employers’ Dignity at Work policies and procedures for formal reporting and signposting to third-party support and resources.

The App enables companies and productions to monitor the safety and wellbeing of their staff by asking, “How were you treated at work today?” and gathering anonymous data regarding experiences of bullying and harassment.

Call It! is a proactive tool designed to encourage collective accountability for safer, healthier and more respectful working environments, empowering producers and project leadership to intervene early if issues arise, and provide better and more targeted support and training.

Further to a pilot and proof of concept phase, the app launched to the film and TV market earlier this month. ITV Studios are the first major partner to sign up and will begin introducing the app to its UK companies.

ITV Studios’ managing director Julian Bellamy said, “The welfare of everyone working at ITV Studios is of utmost importance and Call It! will be a great addition to the ongoing evolution of our Duty of Care best practice and the existing initiatives we have in place – both in-house and with our external partners – that enable those working on our productions to feel safe and supported in speaking up. Call It! will perfectly complement our processes, which aim to help those leading our production teams to not only identify issues early but also manage them in a timely and appropriate fashion.”

Call It! Co-founders Jules Hussey, Delyth Thomas and Kate Wilson said, “We are overjoyed that everyone working on ITV Studios’ productions will have the opportunity to use Call It! We salute their proactive commitment to creating a safer, healthier and more productive workplace. We hope the entire industry will follow in ITV Studios’ footsteps and use Call It! so that better treatment at work becomes commonplace and instances of bullying, harassment and discrimination are reduced. Our industry can and should offer the best, safest and most fulfilling workplaces, and our partnership with ITV Studios is a jolly good start! ”

Call It! is the innovation of director Delyth Thomas ((Then You Run, Victoria, The Story of Tracy Beaker )and producers Jules Hussey (Ralph & Katie, Guilt, My Mad Fat Diary) and Kate Wilson (Sounds Like London, Balls, 13). The App is entirely independent and is set up as a not-for-profit. It has been created to tackle the shocking statistic that 84% of workers in the film and TV industry have experienced or witnessed bullying at work and are subsequently twice as likely to leave the industry and more likely to have mental health problems*. These incidents also have a significant financial impact: poor mental health at work costs the UK economy £45B every year.**

Call It! is designed to act as a complementary resource that aligns with and amplifies the work underpinned by the BFI/BAFTA Principles and Action List, the Coalition for Change Charter, and the stellar work of the industry’s leadership who are committed to improving the treatment of everyone working on their productions.

Tim Hunter, director of Learning and New Talent at BAFTA says, “Driving a collective response to tackling bullying and harassment across the screen industries is an ongoing priority for BAFTA, as part of our mission to support creative talent and drive positive change. Our work in this area has focussed on ensuring the industry has more robust and systematic processes for dealing with reports of poor behaviour and that these are trusted and reliable for all involved. The Call It app provides a confidential temperature check for productions and, apart from the useful information it generates, it also represents a strong statement from employers that feedback is useful and welcome and will help improve working conditions for all.”

Call It! is collaborating with multiple partners, including Birmingham City University’s Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, Bectu, the Casting Guild, Directors UK, the Film and TV Charity, the Mark Milsome Foundation, The Personal Managers Association, The Production Guild, Sara Putt Associates, Time’s Up UK and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) and others to embed the app in the industry.

Call It! is grateful for funding to date from industry supporters including Directors UK, the Film and TV Charity, Bectu and Sara Putt Associates, and will raise further investment to roll the app out across the UK and international film and TV markets. Call It! is working with The Space to pilot the app in the arts and cultural sector and has identified further markets across the creative industries and beyond.

 

Pippa Considine

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