Rolling with It: The HR Consultant’s Guide to Surviving the Entertainment Industry
Written by @Tacita Small
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
Let’s face it - being an HR consultant in the world of film, television and theatre isn’t quite like working in a ‘traditional’ business. You’re not dealing with neat org charts, standardised policies, or quarterly planning cycles. Instead, it’s hurry up and wait, last-minute contracts, four different types of contracts, chaotic rehearsal schedules, prep countdown and creative personalities who may never worked with a production HR Consultant.
And yet… this is what makes the work so good.
Supporting productions and creative teams across these industries means stepping into fast-moving environments where nothing is ever quite the same twice. It’s part HR, part fixer, part coach, part cultural translator. It’s also deeply personal because the stakes are always high, the deadlines are always tight, the budget is always stretched, and the people care a lot.
You’re often the only one
A lot of the time, you’re the sole HR voice in the room. That’s a huge strength, but it can be heavy too. You’re there to spot, analyse and mitigate risks, manage expectations, keep things fair and legal… all while being “non-corporate” enough to be trusted by creatives. You’re translating compliance into something human. And that’s no small feat.
You need to build trust - fast
You’re often dropped into a live production with very little warm-up. There’s no luxury of weeks to embed or “get to know the culture.” You need to read the room quickly, build trust on the fly, and find that sweet spot between being helpful and holding boundaries. The consultants who do this well? They’re part of the team in a matter of hours, not months.
Photo by ian dooley on Unsplash
You do a lot more than people realise
Sure, there are contracts and policies. But there’s also:
Sitting quietly with a crew member who’s burnt out
Coaching a director through a tough team dynamic
Reworking a comms plan minutes before a cast-wide announcement
Navigating a clash between departments without it becoming a full-blown drama
It’s this behind-the-scenes stuff that makes the biggest difference. But it’s also what makes the job feel invisible sometimes.
You’re a translator and a bridge
One of the most underrated skills in this role? Translation. Between creative departments and operations. Between ambition and reality. Between the brief and what’s actually possible. Good HR in this space is never just about box-ticking; it’s about helping people move through the messy, brilliant reality of making live and recorded performance happen. Often with no roadmap, no script, and no time to waste.
You work across a huge range
The role of an HR consultant in this space has incredible range. One moment you’re knee-deep in inductions and onboarding; the next, you’re coaching a HoD or building a strategic roadmap with senior leadership. It’s operational, emotional, strategic, and sometimes deeply personal - all in one day. You might be working on multiple productions back-to-back, each with completely different needs, personalities and pressures. The intensity and variety are part of the appeal, but they also demand serious adaptability.
You’re building credibility as you go
Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: not everyone is thrilled to see HR walk onto set or into a rehearsal room. Many people in the industry have had little exposure to proactive, human-centred HR support; and even fewer have experienced HR that feels relevant to how they work. That means part of your role is changing perceptions, by showing what modern HR can actually offer when done well. You earn trust by listening, keeping things real, and helping people feel supported without ever sounding like a corporate robot.
We’re (re)opening the doors to our community group for HR consultants and people professionals working in film, TV and theatre.
We first launched it last May - and after a bit of a pause, we’re bringing it back with fresh energy, new faces, and hopefully some familiar ones too. The name? HR, People & Culture – Film, TV & Theatre. (Yes, we’re still open to something snappier…)
If you’d like to connect with others doing similar work, share stories, swap resources, and not feel like you’re the only one juggling chaos on set - click here to join the group. We’re also planning an in-person meet-up soon.
Keep an eye out for Blogs 2, 3 and 4 in this mini-series; we’ll be diving into what creative clients really need from HR, and why compliance alone just doesn’t cut it.