An industry reckoning has the Canadian entertainment sector striving for racial parity to ensure early gains in diversity and inclusion are meaningful and sustainable.
And Joan Jenkinson, the inaugural executive director of the Black Screen Office, is working to chip away at historical systemic racism to get more authentic, diverse stories told worldwide by Black Canadian creators.
“There have been many very public statements and commitments for the last several years. I think we’re at a point now where we need to look more closely at measurable changes — to what extent have these commitments been fulfilled? What impacts have these changes had and for whom?” Jenkinson asked in a sit-down with The Hollywood Reporter.
The BSO has done a raft of studies — from Being Seen: Directives for Creating Authentic and Inclusive Content to Being Counted: Canadian Race-Based Audience Survey and the upcoming Being Heard: Black Canadians Working Within the Canadian Screen Industries, to be released in September — to track how well Black creators are represented in the ranks of Canadian actors, producers, writers and directors.
During a wide-ranging interview, Jenkinson touched on how to get more Black Canadian creators into the industry’s inner circles, the importance of equity over diversity, and how to remove roadblocks to visibility and success for underrepresented filmmakers.
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