The Hollywood Commission launched a new suite of tools for its Respect on Set initiative on Tuesday that are aimed at keeping independent and lower-budget productions just as safe as the major studio-backed productions.
The new tools include a new online hub for anti-harassment policies and support resources that implement IATSE’s low-budget agreement, which set industry-wide expectations for consistent practices to address harassment and abuse.
The new Safety on Set tools include:
- Sample codes of conduct
- Customizable policy templates
- Pre-production audit and implementation checklist
- Communication tools
- Training resources
- Practical guidance for fulfilling IATSE LBA responsibilities
These tools were developed in collaboration with INDIE, which is comprised of producers Jeanette Volturno, Monica Levinson, and Bart Rosenblat, to compile industry-standard best practices, templates and implementation resources all in one place.
Per surveys conducted by the Hollywood Commission, workers found that compared to their major-studio counterparts, workers on low-budget productions “experience more sexual coercion and assault, but have fewer tools and support to report or prevent these abuses.”
The Respect on Set tools are available at the official website.
“The efforts to provide safe and healthy workplaces free of abuse, sexual assault and harassment depend on our continued vigilance,” said IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb in a statement. “The Respect on Set resource provides a powerful new tool to further advance that goal.”
INDIE’s Jeanette Volturno, Monica Levinson and Bart Rosenblatt added, “This is the resource independent producers have been asking for. Like everyone in our industry, producers are committed to safe, effective, and creative sets – places where everyone can do their best work to tell the stories that entertain the world. Through our multi-year collaboration with the Hollywood Commission and IATSE, these tools help make that possible.”
Anita Hill, chair of the Hollywood Commission, said, “Independent and low-budget productions have often lacked the resources to provide their workers with the protections they deserve. This new toolkit makes it easier than ever to fulfill those obligations. Respect on Set—from pre to post—is the tool that producers have been asking for: their checklist of what to do, when to do it, and how to get it done.”
