ITV Green Room expands to Manchester and Cardiff with call for 50 freelancers

The Film and TV Charity (FTVC) and ITV are looking for 50 freelancers to join the next round of the ITV Green Room, more than doubling the size of the first cohort.

The programme, which supports freelancers as they search for their next industry role, is also growing beyond its original London pilot to include Manchester and Cardiff.

The idea came from ITV’s Mental Health Advisory Group, made up of senior ITV leaders and mental health experts. Responding to the FTVC’s Looking Glass and other reports, the group wanted to give freelancers a source of connection and community between jobs.

Three locations

The new intake will be made up of experienced freelancers, who will again have access to office space, speakers and mentors. This time it will run in three places: White City in London, Cardiff with Boom Cymru, and with ITV Studios at Salford Quays in Manchester.

Applications are open now and close at midnight on Tuesday 24 November. The programme runs from 19 January to 23 March 2027.

Pilot results

The pilot was held in London earlier this year and brought together 21 freelancers to form a peer support network. Participants were paired with industry mentors from across ITV, commissioners among them.

Training and workshops included a session on AI with Dr Alex Connock, senior fellow at Oxford University, and CV clinics run with ITV Studios labels. Jo Clinton Davis looked at factual entertainment programming, while entertainment commissioner Joe Mace delivered a pitch brief.

Freelancers reported gaining connections, contacts and confidence, and loneliness fell by 33% overall, measured on the UCLA 3-Item Loneliness Scale. One participant said: “It’s a brilliant support group, a necessary, if not vital, programme in today’s climate.”

Marcus Ryder, chief executive of the Film and TV Charity, said: “ITV’s Green Room demonstrates the level of positive impact we can achieve when industry partners collaborate. Its success has led to ITV expanding it across the UK, creating a practical model of support that strengthens social connection and resilience across the screen workforce. I hope other broadcasters will emulate their efforts to support freelancers.”

Sarah Hunt, head of strategy and communications, social purpose at ITV, said: “ITV’s Mental Health Advisory Group is committed to addressing the challenges we face in the industry that impact people’s mental health. The initial pilot of the Green Room was a brilliant start, showing the importance of bringing people together and providing a space to work, access to decision-makers and insight into the industry to help boost people’s skills, confidence and networks. We’re thrilled to be going again – this time taking the support to Cardiff and Manchester too.”