UK Film and TV Sector Accelerates Inclusion Efforts After 2024 Mental Health Survey Reveals Crisis

A recent mental‑health survey has sent shockwaves through the UK film and TV industry, prompting a flurry of initiatives that promise to reshape how the business cares for its people and expands its creative horizons.

The Film and TV Charity’s 2024 Looking Glass survey, released in February 2025, showed that 35 % of respondents rated their mental health as poor, 63 % said working in the industry negatively affected their wellbeing, and 30 % often felt lonely. The data, drawn from more than 4,300 workers, has become the industry’s wake‑up call.

In response, the charity rolled out the Whole Picture Toolkit and the Principles for Mentally Healthy Productions, offering production teams templates and guidance for embedding healthy working practices. ITV followed suit with the Green Room, a peer‑support network for freelancers that ran from January to April 2025 and is slated for expansion across the UK.

Parallel to mental‑health work, a wave of festivals and programmes has broadened opportunities for under‑represented creators. Oska Bright, the world’s leading festival for films made by or featuring learning‑disabled and autistic people, held its 2026 edition in Brighton. The six‑day event screened more than 120 films from over 400 international entries across five venues and is a BAFTA‑ and BIFA‑qualifying festival funded by the BFI.

Primetime’s inaugural re:PRESENT event, held in January 2026 in partnership with Picturehouse Central, screened eight films on‑screen and distributed a digital catalogue of ten additional titles to 30 agents from leading agencies. Filmmakers reported securing multiple meetings in the weeks that followed, positioning the event as a model for connecting unrepresented talent with industry gatekeepers.

Reclaim the Frame, a UK‑wide charity that champions authorship and equitable access, reported that in 2025 it supported 18 new releases by women and gender‑expansive filmmakers, generating 1.3 million cinema admissions. The organisation’s outreach reached 33 % new audiences, 96 % of whom felt included. Yet only 16 % of UK and Ireland theatrical releases in 2025 were directed or co‑directed by women or non‑binary creators, and just 7 % by women of colour.

The University of York’s Reframe VP project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, is a four‑year study that brings together workers, employers and experts to co‑produce interventions that transform diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the industry. The project is exploring how virtual production can create new working models that address structural inequalities.

The Displacement Film Fund, launched at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in 2025, awarded five €100,000 production grants to filmmakers from Ukraine, Somalia‑Australia, Syria, Iran and Afghanistan. The resulting short films world‑premiered at IFFR 2026 and received a five‑star review from The Guardian. The fund is led by Cate Blanchett and partnered with IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund, Amahoro Coalition, Master Mind, the Tamer Family Foundation, UNIQLO and the SP Lohia Foundation.

Women in Film & Television (WFTV) hosted its 2026 festival across London, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow, showcasing works such as Wuthering Heights, Pillion and The Pearl Comb. The event included screenings, panels and networking opportunities and is part of WFTV’s broader mentoring and professional‑development programmes.

The Women and the World International Film Festival, a London‑based event founded in 2024, held its second edition in 2026. The festival screened 34 films from more than 40 countries, hosted 25 public and industry events, and opened with a gala attended by Lady Sophie Windsor. The closing gala featured the UK premiere of Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, Eleanor the Great.

Warner Bros. Discovery Access (WBD Access) launched a new Production Incubator programme for UK production companies, offering collaboration on concepts for Food Network and discovery+. The organisation’s pipeline programmes, such as Black Britain Unspoken and Reframe the Game, continue to provide opportunities for emerging talent.

The British Film Institute’s inclusion team partnered with IFFR in 2025 to bring a delegation of four disabled filmmakers to the festival, providing access that had previously been limited. The collaboration was funded by BFI National Lottery money and aimed to make festival spaces more welcoming.

Finally, Mairi Claire Bowser’s four systems maps – the Accessibility Resource Map, Material Redistribution and Second‑Hand Sourcing Map, Sustainable Set Design Map and Sustainability Resource Map – compile resources and best practices for inclusive and environmentally responsible production. The maps are intended to support decision‑making from crew to production buyers.

Collectively, these initiatives illustrate a coordinated industry response to the mental‑health crisis highlighted by the Looking Glass survey and a broader push toward inclusive, sustainable, and equitable filmmaking practices.