A new campaign – backed by A Christmas Carol and Press actor Charlotte Riley – is calling on the TV and film industry to tackle childcare problems and achieve greater equality.
The Keeping Families in Film campaign was launched in early April, via an open letter signed by many leading lights from TV and film, to stop vital talent being lost through parenthood. The signatories include Keira Knightley, Jodie Whittaker and Cillian Murphy, as well as broadcasting union Bectu and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.
Keeping Families in Film urges productions to become more family friendly, with the aim of every production including an amount in their budgets for childcare by 2024.
Riley and her business partner Mark Radcliffe, the founders of The WonderWorks – the first nursery set up to provide Ofsted-registered care to the children of people working on productions in the UK – are behind the campaign.
“People work so hard in the early years of their career to hone their skills and then, just as they are starting to get established, find that they can’t sustain a career in production once they become parents,” said Riley.
“It’s time to address the inequality in our industry – we need to keep families in film.”
The WonderWorks operates a mobile nursery facility, as well as a permanent site at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden.
