Anti-Bullying and Harassment App ‘Call It!’ Partners With ITV Studios in U.K. (EXCLUSIVE)
“Call It!,” an app that empowers the U.K. film and TV workforce to call bad behavior out, has entered into a partnership with ITV Studios.
The app enables the workforce 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. It also allows 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.
After 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 U.K. 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.”
The independent app, set up as not-for-profit, is created by director Delyth Thomas (“Victoria”) and producers Jules Hussey (“Guilt”) and Kate Wilson (“Sounds Like London”). It was created to tackle the 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 financial impact: poor mental health at work costs the U.K. economy £45 billion ($50.6 billion) every year.
Hussey, Thomas and 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.”
Tim Hunter, director of learning and new talent at BAFTA, added: “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 Birmingham City University’s Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, Bectu, the Casting Guild, Directors U.K., the Film and TV Charity, the Mark Milsome Foundation, The Personal Managers Association, The Production Guild, Sara Putt Associates, Time’s Up U.K. and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and others to embed the app in the industry.
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