A production team was warned that one of the directors expected them to give “a good account of themselves” as the director equated the unassertive as incompetent. As a result of that warning, the production team was polite but firm with that director – when he demanded the unreasonable, they’d point out why what they demanded was impossible. The team was treated with respect as a result. Practicing what you will politely say when someone is unreasonable is critically important to any successful career, especially in film or TV. I would hope that now it would be the director who would be warned that this production does not tolerate unreasonable behaviour.

One of the most common grooming technics I came across in film and TV is perpetrators pressurising their potential target to apologise for something that was not their fault; if they apologise, the bullying begins. I even had a member apologise for her mobile going off in a workroom when it was an essential tool in their job. From their apology onwards, their life was hell. Their niceness was exploited on an hourly basis.

Grooming is sometimes laughable, especially if it doesn’t get the response they want. On the way to a tea bar with an executive producer – he said, “You know that I’m a bully, don’t you?” in an as bored tone as possible, the target responded, “Yeah, I know.” She turn to see him scuttling away.

#workplacebullying #harassment #bullying #bullyingawareness #bullyingprevention