Mentally healthy productions: using the Whole Picture Toolkit

By James Jones, founder of Granary Digital · Updated 5 November 2026

The Whole Picture Toolkit is the first thing to open when you are planning a production with a crew, however small. It is free, and it is organised around the order in which a job actually runs. Most of the value comes from doing the pre-production steps before the first call, because that is when hours, breaks and the way concerns get raised can still be set.

What the toolkit is

The Film and TV Charity built the toolkit to promote mental health and wellbeing across film and television productions. It is free to use. The charity says you can use it during pre-production, filming and post-production, and right up until the debrief with production companies and funders.

The three stages

The toolkit runs in three stages: pre-production, production and post-production. Each stage has "get started" guides that list the key actions, and "how to" guides on mental health, HR, legal requirements, and health and safety. The "how to" guides link to industry templates and to outside resources, so you can take the template and use it on your job.

What the charity offers

The charity's engagement producer team meets productions to recommend suitable guides and templates. They also offer a mid-point check-in and a wrap-up debrief. The charity does not manage team members' behaviour, check that a production complies with the toolkit, or give health and safety risk assessment advice. It does not support individual contributors' mental health directly.

A practical plan for a small crew

1. Name one person on the crew that people can talk to about hours, breaks and conduct. Put their name and contact on the call sheet.
2. Write the working day down: call time, expected wrap, and the longest day you expect in the schedule.
3. Build breaks into the schedule. A break that is only hoped for is often missed on a busy day.
4. Agree how someone raises a concern, and who receives it, before the first call.
5. Brief the crew on that route at the start of the shoot day, not only in an email the week before.
6. If you want the charity's check-in and debrief, book them into the production diary at the start, not at the end.

Common mistakes

• Treating the toolkit as a box to tick once and then file.
• Leaving wellbeing to the end of the job, when the decisions about hours have already been made.
• Assuming the charity will handle a problem on the day. It does not act as an emergency contact.
• Forgetting crew who join late or leave early, and who may not be on the first briefing.

Intimacy and closed sets raise their own questions, covered in intimacy on set: coordinators and closed sets. On a studio day the crew has a fixed base, with a dressing room and a client viewing area, so breaks and changes are easier to plan than on a location day. For the difference in planning, see studio day vs location day: the real maths. This is general guidance. The production's own risk assessment and its managers must cover the actual job and the people on it.

Sources

• The Film and TV Charity, The Whole Picture Toolkit, read 5 November 2026

Related guides

• Intimacy on set: coordinators and closed sets
• All guides and tools