Editor's Note: This is the latest in a series of Deadline reports looking at the impact of the current upheaval in the media and entertainment industry on mental health.
Hollywood Advice: Breaking Into the Industry
With Covid and the ongoing downturn following Hollywood’s twin strikes last year, it’s a particularly challenging time to maintain the mental health of those working in production.
Sarah McCaffrey, a British therapist well-versed in the demands of life on set, notes that entertainment is an industry that offers its largely freelance workforce “little security and little control” to begin with. Add to that the turbulence of the past few years, and fears are heightened everywhere.
McCaffrey, founder of mental health company Solas Mind, which has worked on everything from Netflix's Heartstopper to the Hugh Jackman drama The Son and Apple TV+'s Slow Horses, says that as people look to the future, "they're worried about, 'What's the industry going to look like? Am I going to have a different job? Is this shrinkage going to last forever?'" While some are considering staying in the field, others are returning to work on set and facing a tough "adjustment," she says, "kind of remembering how stressful and difficult" their jobs can be.
