Producer calls for a kinder film and TV industry

The film and television industry needs to become kinder and more inclusive, the founder of a production company has said.

Luke Allen, who runs Ask, Seek, Knock in Telford, Shropshire, said cast and crew are often mistreated on set, but people were "afraid to raise those points for fear of being difficult".

He said change had to come from the top and he wanted to start a conversation about the issues.

He has been supported by his friend, Merryn Rae Peachey, who left the industry partly because of her experiences and she said she believed "bullying is quite rife in the industry still".

Allen said he knew of people working in "very, very tight, often illegal working hours" and felt it could feel like "a very inhumane way of treating people".

Because of the "glitz and glamour" of the industry, be said people were sometimes told they were lucky to be there.

Peachey said she worked in the industry for about 10 years.

"It was my childhood dream, I went to university to follow this," she said.

But she said she gave it up because she found it stressful and wanted more stability in her life.

The turning point came when she was diagnosed with autism and ADHD and she said: "I choose now not to have that stress."

She said she had seen a lot of experienced people leave the industry in recent years.

"This highlights that there is something systemically wrong and that people are not willing to put up with it any more," she said.

Allen said the focus of his own production company was to "ensure that everyone feels welcome and comfortable on our sets".

"If we have the power to make things nicer for people, I just don't understand why we aren't doing it," he said.

He believes conversations with cast and crew need to take place at the start of a production, to find out what people's needs were and they should not be made to feel afraid to ask.

Allen also believes production companies should not be afraid to hold their hands up when mistakes are made.

"I've been on so many productions that are terrified at the top from showing weakness, because I think its a fear that it kind of loses the authority," he said.

However, he said owning up to mistakes shows integrity and "that trickles down, everyone understands that you all want the best for each other".

Allen said he had not got all the answers, but felt it was good to talk about the issues openly.

"It is a small industry I want to make people want to work with me again," he said.

"The greatest sign that the stuff I'm doing is moving in the right direction is that people have wanted to come back."

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.