Zeller (left) with actor Hugh Jackman on the set of The Son. The production offered a programme that provided confidential virtual therapy sessions for its cast and crew. — Sony Pictures/TNS
In summer 2021, when producer Joanna Laurie was planning production of The Son, an upcoming drama from Oscar-winning writer and director Florian Zeller, she knew stress levels would be exponentially high for the cast and crew.
They had to contend with strict Covid-19 safety protocols and the movie’s difficult subject matter: suicide.
So the London-based producer did something unconventional: She arranged to hire a company that would provide confidential virtual therapy sessions to anyone on set who needed it during their shoots in New York, London and France.
The programme was so popular, she plans to replicate it on other productions.
“We just had to make completely sure that in the process of making a movie about mental health, that we really took total care of the cast and crew who are going to be dealing with this, which is a very sensitive subject,” said the See-Saw Films producer.
“I think it’s something that we’ll see a lot more of.”
A necessary extra
Regardless of the subject matter, film and TV sets can be stressful and dangerous places to work.
The pandemic added a raft of anxieties as cast and crews returned to work to face rigorous safety protocols, such as testing, masking and physical-distancing.
The streaming boom put more pressure on film workers as production of new shows spiked and crew worked longer hours to keep up with demand, fuelling burnout and rising labour tensions.
As a result, more producers are considering offering therapy services, both on set and virtually, to help film workers cope with on-the-job stress.
Among the beneficiaries is Solas Mind, the British firm hired by See-Saw Films for The Son.
The company has developed a digital platform to allow crew members to schedule therapy sessions, and it has worked with studios such as Apple TV and NBC Universal.
With a team of 30 counsellors and psychotherapists, Solas Mind is looking to expand in the United States and Canada to meet demand from producers for its services.
“That sense of isolation where people are away from families, locked down in hotel rooms, all the nice stuff about the industry, the social side, had gone,” said founder Sarah McCaffrey.
“There was a massive demand for people just to be able to speak to somebody at the end of the working day.”
While it is typical to hear of producers catering to every whim of A-list stars, crews often get little support.
And despite rising costs, some producers recognise the benefit of offering therapy services as an additional perk to attract crew members.
“Productions are longer, I think budgets are tighter, so schedules are tighter, which has all those knock-on effects of people being exhausted, leading ineffectively,” said McCaffrey, a psychotherapist and former actor.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), which represents technical workers on film and TV sets, favours the push to add more therapists to productions.
“Making even more mental health resources and support available to crews and anyone who needs it is a good thing,” said IATSE spokesman Jonas Loeb.
He noted that the union has worked with the Motion Picture & Television Fund and other groups to offer mental health resources to crew members.
Working on a film or TV set can be stressful, with long hours, frequent travel and prolonged periods away from home. — Filepic
A growing trend?
The use of therapists on film sets is relatively uncommon, but there have been a few high profile examples.
Therapist Kim Whyte, based in Georgia, US, was tapped to assist the 2020 production of Amazon’s acclaimed limited series The Underground Railroad to help the cast and crew cope with the difficult subject matter on set.
“Studios and producers are really becoming more mindful about the pressures and the stressors that are going on in our society in general, and they are wanting to help their people involved with their project,” she said, adding that common issues clients raise include stresses of gig work, financial insecurities and separation anxiety.
After The Underground Railroad, Whyte also helped the Amazon production of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, said Amazon Studios’ head of US and worldwide diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility content Jerome Core.
Amazon’s The Boys spin-off Gen V also participated.
In the last year (2022), Amazon offered therapy services on six shows and plans to expand that number in 2023, he said.
“If we make it where people walk away from our sets feeling the most respected, the most heard, the most seen, we know if we come back there, they’re going to pick us as their top priority for their jobs,” Core said.
The use of mental health services on film sets is more prevalent in the United Kingdom.
Since 2021, the British Film Institute (BFI) has underwritten a programme that funds “well-being facilitators”, who advise productions on stress and mental health issues.
The programme also helps implement industry guidelines to prevent bullying, harassment and racism.
The BFI funding was expanded last year (2022).
Well-being facilitators are not therapists, but they can refer crew members to qualified psychotherapists, mediate disputes and coach newly-promoted crew members or those supervising a team for the first time.
So far, there is little of anything comparable in the US for freelance crews, said McCaffrey, whose company also receives funding from the UK government as part of the new mental health initiative.
Some companies offer employee assistance programmes, but these are often not available to freelance crew members.
An extra incentive
The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power is one of the TV productions that have tapped the services of a therapist for the cast and crew’s mental health. — Prime Video
McCaffrey launched her business in 2020, and today, works across more than 80 productions.
She declined to disclose what her firm charges, but said pricing depends on the level of support each production needs.
Many clients struggle to balance home life with very long days on productions for months at a time without breaks, she said.
“It’s very hard to have a work-life balance when you’re working those kinds of hours,” she said.
Experienced crews have been in high demand since production restarted in 2020, and offering services such as free mental healthcare for freelance workers makes producers more attractive employers.
When Karl Liegis started production on Apple TV’s The Essex Serpent at the height of the pandemic in 2020, he knew he wanted to provide mental health support to his UK crew.
Liegis was hired as head of production at 60Forty Films, which has an exclusive production deal with Apple TV and has committed to have Solas Mind available for all its future productions, such as the upcoming Idris Elba thriller Hijack, he said.
“Competition is now between the production companies trying to get experienced and good crew,” he said.
“I think the reason why my employers have now hired me is because they want to be attractive to an employee.”
For non-fiction film workers, the non-profit organisation American Documentary has funded an initiative called DocuMentality, a research project investigating key mental health challenges that exist in that sector, according to the project’s UK co-founder Rebecca Day.
Day, a documentary producer who trained as a psychotherapist, started her own UK-based therapy company called Film in Mind in 2018.
Her work includes psychological consultations, as well as workshops and speaking events.
She helps filmmakers resolve communication problems – often between directors and producers – or navigate difficult subjects and financial pressures in the industry.
“It doesn’t feel very sustainable,” she said of the current crisis facing documentary filmmakers.
“There’s lots of money around, but it’s not trickling down to freelancers who are feeling underresourced and overworked.” – By Anousha Sakoui/Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
