Psychological Safety on a Film Set? Set Awareness in Action

“I’ve been on a lot of film sets. A lot of them claim to care about awareness, ethics, and a safe space. This was the first time I felt it was truly meant.”

This was the biggest compliment we could have possibly gotten that day. But before I share with you who said it and why, let me ask you a question:

What do you think psychological safety is?
In organizations, we often talk about it, right?

You can say “I’m not sure” or “I made a mistake”. You’re not afraid to speak up, share new ideas or concerns. Conflict, when handled well, is considered healthy. All of this is supposed to improve our trust, collaboration, and ultimately our performance.

But apparently, it’s not as easy as it sounds!

I’ve facilitated quite a few team and leadership workshops over the years – and psychological safety is a recurring top hit.

However, I feel our understanding of this concept doesn't go far enough.

In my coaching approach, I’m talking about “go with your groove”. What’s that? You know how it feels to have an intuition, right? Imagine this but within a whole group.

I see “groove” as a shared pattern built on purpose and values that helps people connect well and work together. When acted upon, it means tuning in to what feels aligned for the team, group, community, organization at that exact moment – rather than forcing a predetermined plan.

Let me show you what this can look like in practice.

I’ve worked with Nordic Media House on the documentary “I Don’t Want to Be Just a Memory” – which premiered at Berlinale Forum Expanded 2024.  We’ve now started working on the follow-up movie.

As a psychological coach, I’m involved at the intersection of production and set awareness.

Set… awareness…? Let me explain.

We document the life of Berlin's queer community – created by the community itself, in front of and behind the camera.

Mental health struggles, chronic illness, and neurodivergence shape how most move through the world.

How do you manage this on set? You don’t!

Instead, you create a psychologically safe space where everyone can express themselves in their unique way, while getting their needs met, discussing and solving issues – all while the clock is ticking: you want a great end result.

I could write a list of all the things we do in order to create this space. A pre-participation survey for recorded workshops, ethical filmmaking guidelines, an awareness team, a physical quiet safe area to decompress, commonly shared signals to communicate needs and wishes, a contracted multi-step consent process, the list goes on.

But the list is not what this is.

It’s not a behavioral thing.
It’s not a structural thing.
It’s not a mindset thing.
It’s not a cultural thing.

It’s all of these things.

And I deeply believe we need this wherever people come together to work and create: honoring the unique perspectives people bring to the table, all while realizing our vision.

At the end of one of our three workshops and film days, one of the talents shared this with us – written from my memory:

“I’ve been on a lot of film sets. A lot of them claim to care about awareness, ethics, and a safe space. This was the first time I felt it was truly meant.”

And for now, that’s a wrap!

Photo L/R: Thank you, dear Céline (awareness coordinator), Dexter (set design), Sarnt (director), Klaus (producer), Callum (camera assistant). Missing on the photo: Madi (assistant director), Adrienne (sound), Nicky (camera assistant), Julián (camera – took the photo, who else!).