B E C O L L E C T I V E
Growing our screen sector while raising up equity, diversity, and inclusion in film & television industries
OBJECTIVES
- To build capacity among BIPOC youth and youth from other equity-seeking groups to participate in the film & television industry. - To establish tangible connections for entry-level practitioners to break down barriers to entry in a close-knit screen industry. - To build capacity in emerging filmmakers so as to fill critical workforce gaps in the local film industry. - To share learning gleaned from this initiative with key industry stakeholders who may wish to create similar projects to grow, strengthen and diversify our screen industries.
HOW IT STARTED
- Last year, our company undertook a nation-wide study called "Building Inclusive Networks in the Film & Television Industry" with Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund and other stakeholders.
- We identified major gaps in terms of access to social networks and professional development opportunities for entry-level BIPOC film and television practitioners, as well as considerable barriers to entry and career sustainability.
- The current aims to tackle some of the challenges identified in our research.
PROJECT SCOPE
Our project, “BE Collective”, a three-month initiative offering networking and on-set, hands-on professional development opportunities in connection with the filming of our pilot for a comedy series “Notes on Being Un-Popular”, seeks to:
- begin to fill the beforementioned gaps.
- create an archival of the process that could be used as a tool and
resource for other production companies seeking to enhance Equity,
Diversity and Inclusion in our film industry.
Trainees:
We will be offering 20 positions to BIPOC students and trainees from other equity-seeking groups to get this needed training and networking experience.
Documentation:
Documenting our learning and progress is a key deliverable of this project. Our archival deliverables will include a video documenting the professional development process of our trainees and a best practices document that will be published on our website and those of our stakeholders.
