How D!fference and Talent Trust Helped OTO Film Make Productions Better for Talent and Crews

Poland has a long history of filmmaking across film, TV, and commercial spheres. Though the industry is well established, the conversation around talent and crews’ well-being is an ongoing one. D!fference, the first Polish casting agency dedicated to multi-ethnic talent - part of the OTO Film Family, is committed to the continuous improvement of on-set working conditions. Victoria Okonkwo, D!fference’s CEO, says that “while basic working conditions for actors and crew in Poland are well-established, there are still areas for improvement.”

She singles out four key areas that she believes need attention. The first is scheduling issues to ensure that actors are informed well in advance about planned shoot days to allow for better planning. The second is preparation before the talent arrives on set, which encompasses clear instructions for them to follow to minimise any miscommunication during the shoot. The third is better overall communication between production, agencies, and talent prior to shoots. And the fourth, and final, is contract transparency which involves unifying contract records to increase clarity and consistency across projects.

Victoria says that D!fference and OTO Film are “dedicated to creating a progressive working culture for all talent. Our focus is on building strong relationships and providing a safe space for everyone involved. This helps to create healthy connections and a positive work environment.”

To help achieve these objectives, D!fference took the opportunity to enter into collaboration with Talent Trust two years ago. Talent Trust is an organisation that’s dedicated to elevating industry standards and fostering excellence in the creative sector to promote inclusivity, prevent issues proactively, and create an environment where creativity can thrive. Founder Elizabeth Peyton-Jones says that Talent Trust first started out as an advocacy organisation before pivoting to what it does today. “Advocacy is amazing and it does bring awareness to a situation. But in order for people to really change, especially these days, data is absolutely essential.”

A sense of urgency had to be created which is what Talent Trust did by fusing it with data and showing stakeholders the benefits of Talent Trust’s services. “At Talent Trust, we’re making stakeholders and shareholders really understand better what they're actually doing for social impact and we do it in two ways. One is by creating a business need around it. If you pick up this data, this will help with mitigating legal risk, it will help with insurance. And two, by helping companies better display the efforts they’re making for social impact. Even if it’s done as a tick-boxing exercise, the workforce will automatically feel better, there will be trust, and there's going to be an element through which people will be held to account.” Crucially, Talent Trust’s service isn’t about restricting creatives, ideas, or production. Instead, it’s about the safeguards that allow creativity to flourish while ensuring that everyone is happy and looked after in the process. 

Talent Trust uses a proprietary ‘Eyes on Production’ survey designed to measure key areas of a workplace, explains data and research manager, Jessica Boyle. “It includes things like being prepared and feeling supported. We measure this through qualitative and quantitative questions,” she adds. The responses are then collated into a report where the data is expertly interpreted. “We storytell the data, analyse it deeply, and find correlations or causations between multiple choice questions and the type of role someone has, the type of department they’re in, or how many years experience they have on in this space, and take into account what each client is also looking for,” Jessica explains. 

She continues: “For Victoria and OTO Film, they want to have a prepared set, supported crew and talent, and that everyone feels like they're working together. So we take that into account and we personalise how we share data, according to that client and what is most important to them.” The survey is for both talent and crew and they’re all completely anonymous to give people the space to report their experiences as honestly as possible. The results of the survey are then shared along with suggested recommendations on what can be done to improve the safety and comfort of talent and crew. 

By using Talent Trust’s service, Victoria has helped to implement several positive changes on set. “We’re engaging in proactive problem mitigation, building a healthier working environment, creating a supportive culture, building trust, and receiving a lot of positive feedback in the process.” 

The improvement is also reflected in the data collected. “OTO Film demonstrated remarkable improvement in their production workplace, particularly in preparation, as shown by the 2022 and 2023 survey results. Anonymous data revealed that the 2022 preparation score was lower, mainly because key charters and workplace guidelines were ready for review only one or two business days before production’s start. In 2023, after consulting with Talent Trust on findings and areas for improvement, OTO Film enhanced their preparation process, achieving a notably higher score of 4.3 out of 5 maximum score. This improvement resulted from making the key charters and workplace guidelines available in call sheets, discussing them in pre-production meetings, and ensuring their accessibility on set. The overall workplace score increased from 4.4 to 4.5, while overall satisfaction rose from 69% to 71%. These positive changes, along with a higher response rate (42% in 2023 compared to 36% in 2022), highlight OTO Film's commitment to creating a well-prepared and satisfying production environment for their talent and crew,” Victoria explains. 

This is a project in development for OTO Film’s productions as the partnership between D!fference and Talent Trust will be an ongoing one to continue measuring on set experiences and creating positive changes. “There is more work to be done to raise social awareness. Consistent and unanimous implementation of ‘Eyes On Production’ survey will, in my view, steadily enhance workforce culture and positively affect social awareness. D!fference is proud to run this pilot project in Poland and we aim to spread the word and continue using the excellent tools provided by Talent Trust to upgrade local onset culture,” Victoria concludes.