Pass wellbeing planning to post-production

Ideally a wellbeing handover plan for post would be outlined during the pre-production stage.

As crew members and teams change when a project moves into the edit and delivery phase, ensure new starters and/or facilities know what plans and processes are – or could be – put in place to support mental health and wellbeing.

Post-production teams should receive all the information and resources provided during production.

If you’ve used this Toolkit to create a wellbeing plan, and implement support in the pre-production or production phases, now it’s time to hand documentation over to the post-production team.

If you’re just coming to this in post-production and don’t yet have a wellbeing plan, these earlier guides can help you create one:

• Agree a wellbeing plan
• Communicate your wellbeing plan to your team

In our guide on planning a handover to post-production, you can:

• Understand what, and how, to handover to your post-production team to ensure a smooth transition

Wellbeing handover to post-production

Review your mental health risk assessment (MHRA) – or create one if there isn’t yet an assessment in place.

Check that your identified risks and actions cover all your post-production processes and working environments, adding any additional hazard areas you’ve found.

This might include potential risks regarding:

• Working in isolation
• Exposure to potentially sensitive or traumatic content

Ensure you discuss key learning from previous production phases along with any further support measures needed for post-production teams.

If you don’t yet have a mental health risk assessment, use the following guide to: 

• Learn how to put an MHRA together and download our templates

Create a mental health risk assessment

As explored in our pre-production guides, it’s essential to build a safe working culture where everyone can raise concerns and knows how to report on issues.

Check post-production crew can access all your policies and information regarding bullying, harassment and discrimination.

Make it clear who your team should speak with if there’s an issue and what to expect if they do.

These details should be included in the wellbeing pack sent out when new starters join your project.

In the following guide, you can: 

• Find useful definitions for bullying, harassment and discrimination
• Ensure a clear policy is in place to tackle issues
• Share sources of support

Be clear on bullying, harassment and discrimination

Extend all the support and resources provided during production to post-production teams, wherever possible – it’s a shared project, responsibility and reputation.

This could include additional or expert support from:

• A wellbeing facilitator, if there’s one working on your production and budgets allow
• A psychologist or counsellor
• Mental health first aiders
• An employee assistance programme, if you have one
• The free 24/7 Film and TV Support Line on 0800 054 0000

Post-production challenges are often unique, so signposting to specific resources can help post teams to feel heard and understood.

The following apps are also good sources of additional support:

• The Call It! app: Paid for by production companies, this app helps track staff wellbeing by enabling people to anonymously report how they’re feeling, as well as incidents of bullying and harassment
• The Time Project: This anonymous data collection tool, which aims to improve working patterns in the industry, can be used by anyone working in film or TV production to log hours worked above and beyond what they’ve been paid for

As we continually review Toolkit content, if you have any suggestions to improve this guide, or any other part of the site, we would love to hear from you.