I have been bullied several times over the years, but the worst was when I worked as a runner on a production with a shooting producer director.
One day we were supposed to be filming with a contributor, but when we arrived at the location we realised it was closed. The director decided we should film the contributor on a grassy area cliff edge next to the location, even though it was raining heavily and the grass was slippy.
The director was stressed and shouting at me to bring her lens box across the grass to her. I was running and so I slipped and fell and cut my knee open. It was pouring with blood and the director was angry. I limped to a nearby cafe to seek medical help while the director continued the shoot. Luckily I met a first aider who helped me bandage it up. He told me I should go to A&E.
I called the director and production coordinator, but the production coordinator said I would have to get on a flight later that day as scheduled, because it would be too expensive to change the flight if I were to seek medical help. Needless to say I got on the flight with my leg pouring with blood and went to A&E later that night.
On the same production, there was another time where the same director was unhappy with what she had shot that day. That night she sat in my hotel bedroom until 2am reviewing the rushes, stopping me from sleeping. She kept saying because she was unhappy, she was going to delete it all and say I had lost it. Luckily, I managed to convince her not to do that.
There were also constant issues with the director showing up an hour and a half late and then telling the production manager that shoots had run behind because I kept driving in the wrong direction. I only found that out when the production manager and coordinator shouted at me about this publicly in a packed office. I was too shy to retaliate, but years later I regret that I hadn’t. I think health and safety should be extended to everyone, regardless of seniority. As a manager myself now I have learned to never criticise someone without first hearing their side of the story.