The Producers Guild of America has taken a belated step toward preventing sexual harassment and assault on film sets by implementing new guidelines that address workplace culture.
The “Anti-Sexual Harassment Guidelines”—released on Friday (the PGA Awards take place tomorrow)—are the result of the guild’s recently formed post-Weinstein task force. Under the guidelines, productions are encouraged to “comply with federal and state laws regarding harassment” and to enroll in anti-sexual harassment training for cast and crew before shooting.
The PGA also provides an outline for how to report sexual harassment, which includes having point persons in the event of an incident—“two individuals, ideally of different genders, that cast/crew members can approach if they are subject to or witness harassment.” The guidelines, which they somehow did not have before and PGA presidents Gary Lucchesi and Lori McCreary describe as “best practices for our members,” states:
“Effective training should not be simply focused on avoiding legal liability, but must be part of a culture of respect that starts at the top. Such training takes different forms and styles; make certain that the training you utilize is tailored to your specific production and its needs.”
Lucchesi further told Variety, “Producers really do set the tone on sets. I do think that if something wrong happened now, many of our members would step in.”