Hollywood A-listers including Keira Knightley, Phoebe Waller Bridge, Carey Mulligan and director Emerald Fennell have signed an open letter calling on creative industries in the UK to put an end to bad behaviour and bullying in the entertainment industry.
The letter, published on the Creative Industry Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) website, urged creative organisations to help fund the new watchdog that aims to keep the creative industries safe and free from harassment and bad practices.
“So many of us in this industry would have loved to have an objective outside body that we could go to for advice, for mediation and in the very extreme circumstances, that we might need some outside body to hold people accountable for the bad behaviour or bad practices that sometimes happen on our sets, on our stages, behind the scenes,” the letter read.
“This issue needs to be tackled by everyone working together. We need and it will become the blueprint across the globe for keeping our creative industries safe.”
The letter went on to quote figures from a recent survey of creative industry professionals from film, TV, music and theatre which revealed that 91 per cent of people are strongly in favour of CIISA’s mission.
“This is why a single place of accountability where people can seek help, mediation, dispute resolution advice and other services is essential,” the letter states, adding that “bullying and harassment claims in the industry continue abound, [and] we believe it is a very necessary part of a range of interventions driving for much-needed change.”
Other famous signatories include Gemma Chan, Cara Delevingne, Rebecca Ferguson and Ruth Wilson. According to the BBC, the company has made a financial contribution to support CIISA, as have Sky, ITV, Channel 4 and Viacom.
In a separate statement issued earlier this year, actor Keira Knightly said “For anyone to fulfil their creative potential there cannot be fear or disrespect of any kind. We are entitled to work in safe, respectful spaces where dignity for all is upheld. I believe CIISA is an important step in helping to achieve this.”
Actor Ruth Wilson said she could not count the number of times in the last two decades she would have loved to have an objective outside body she could go to for advice and mediation — “[in order] to hold people accountable for their bad behaviour or bad practices that sometimes happens on our sets.”
“We need [CIISA], it will be invaluable. I know it will become the blueprint across the globe for creative industries throughout the world, because there is no such thing at the moment like CIISA.”
The letter comes just a week after a survey of creative workers in the UK found that 92 per cent of them have witnessed or experienced bullying or harassment in the workplace due to their sex or gender.
The survey, conducted by the UK trade union Bectu, found that one in five have experienced a serious sexual assault while at work. Eighty-three per cent of respondents said they felt that behaviours deemed toxic or inappropriate in public life are often tolerated in the creative sector, while more than two-thirds said they chose not to report an incident because they were worried it would negatively impact their career.
Meanwhile, more than 80 per cent of respondents said it is more difficult to report incidents of sexual harassment as a freelancer.
“It’s no secret that sexual harassment remains a scourge on the creative industries, [and that] the mental toll and wide-reaching impacts of workplace sexual harassment can be absolutely devastating,” Philippa Childs, Head of Bectu said.
Childs wants to see a “a radical step-change” and called on broadcasters, production companies, studios and streamers to financially support CIISA.
“While it’s been pleasing to see organisations from across the sector signal their support for CIISA, this needs to now be backed up by meeting [its] financial ask of no more than 0.1 per cent of organisations’ annual UK turnover,” she added. “This will be critical to ensure the authority moves from its development to operational phase.”