The show must go on – but at what cost? While ‘show business’ is often considered glamorous and exciting, reality reveals a darker picture. The entertainment industry presents with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression at a minimum five times higher than the national average, and suicide attempts at double the national average. In The Show Must Go On, former Home and Away actor and filmmaker, Ben Steel, bares all in an exploration of why this is the case.  

Emerging directly as a result of the The Show Must Go On is Screen Well, an industry-wide education program aiming to promote wellbeing in the Australian screen sector. As of 2022, Screen Well had delivered training to 154 screen workers to become Mental Health First Aiders, 13 customised webinars and keynotes and five industry panels. The new initiative provided three screen industry best practice guides and embarked on two major research projects including the Screen Directors Work/Life Balance Survey and Screen Research Audit.  

Three years into its impact campaign, The Show Must Go On continues to see significant uptake from key industry organisations including the Australian Directors Guild, Australian Cinematographers Society, Australian Writers Guild and Australian Screen Editors, to name a few.

It has successfully spearheaded critical sector training and education for the betterment of arts and entertainment workers alike. Excellent media attention and a National Wellness Roadshow also brought these issues to the fore, with the previously taboo subject of mental health in arts and entertainment now firmly on the agenda as a workplace health and safety concern. The Wellness Roadshow was found to increase awareness and improve accessibility to support, with 84% of survey respondents agreeing the Roadshow provided more insight into support resources and 73% reporting improved motivation to take action.