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BONUS: Building a Workplace Where People Thrive

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For this episode, we took Workwise for Screen on the road to Belfast - bringing together people across production, HR, law and support services to ask how we can better support the workplace conditions across the UK screen industry. 

In this episode, Michelle Walsh, Head of Production at Stellify Media - an award-winning unscripted production company committed to telling human stories - shares candid insights on why the company's strong values around wellbeing and trust start with leadership. She also speaks honestly about the importance of integrating freelancers within their work practices and how she’s working towards creating fairer, more supportive workplaces for everyone.

The WorkWise for Screen podcast is supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery Funding. This episode covers:

  • How social connection and small gestures build stronger, happier communities
  • The importance of one-on-one check-ins and why skipping them isn't an option
  • Juggling tight deadlines while still leading with empathy

Episode Topics

Episode Topics

Introductions for this special episode recording live in Belfast, guest Michelle Walsh, Head of Production at Stellify Media, maximising efficiency from employees through building a happy, sociable workplace culture and by extending trust and flexibility to employees. (00:00 - 06:02)

The importance of regular, open communication in the workplace, strategies for making freelancers feel included and balancing wellbeing with the pressure of busy productions. (06:02 - 09:09)

How training and skills development can help people to stay motivated, and how WorkWise for Screen is an opportunity to share valuable expertise. The episode closes with conclusions from the hosts. (09:09 -  to end)

Episode Highlights

“I think the key thing for everything is just having those chats. That communication, you know, whether it's a team chat regularly every week, whatever way it works for you. But I think also most importantly, is the one-on-one chats. You know, those catch-ups? I mean, I am probably very guilty at times of, you know, I'll have in my diary X amount of catchups with my direct reports and when you get really busy, it's the one thing you go, “Actually -I don't really -I could deal with pushing that into tomorrow. Is that okay? Could we do it next week?”And it’s that moment that I go, ‘No, Michelle, you can't do that’. Because it's less important for me, but it's much more important for them. Because that's the time when they're getting your one-on-one attention. That might be the time that they say something's not quite working, or it might be the time that you sense something's not quite working. And I think for me anyway, that is the best advice in terms of what we can do to help people when it does get stressful.” Michelle Walsh -07:25

“You know and I know from experience, I spent most of my career as a single mum with two young kids. It's not a big sad story, but it's just simply, I benefited hugely from working with companies who had the trust in me to say, ‘It's okay for you to go at five o'clock. It's okayfor you to run out the door because one of them has thrown up over the teacher. That's okay because we trust you and we know that you'll probably end up working tonight to make up the hours.’ Or for me, I'm an early morning person. I like to work from sixin the morning, perhaps, you know, that's just the way I work. But I benefited hugely from that trust of an employer, and it made my life so much easier knowing I had that trust and flexibility to work within.” Michelle Walsh -03:26


"The ops team spend a lot of time thinking of ways to try and get us all to spend time together. It could be anything from once a month we do breakfast to communal breakfast. It's not like we go out to breakfast. It's cake and butties from the cafe down the street. So, you know, it's cheaply organised -to Christmas parties where we invite freelancers who've worked with us over the year back with us. We have a summer party. We all just go out and trash one of the boss's houses {laughs}. For some reason he allows us to do that, but it's open, we invite family, we invite pets, we invite ex-workers, and it's just a great opportunity to help people, I suppose, take them away from the daily ground of work and just everybody to get to know each other a little bit better.”Michelle Walsh -05:12

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