The Disabled Producers Lab:
Dismantling the System, Building a Better Future
by Heather Neale Furneaux
Women in View is highlighting equity-focused organizations taking innovative steps to improve racial diversity and gender representation in Canada’s screen industry. These groups have adopted the kinds of structural-level change needed for real progress—changes we put forth in our Calls to Action (CTA) earlier this year. (You can review them here.)
The Disabled Producers Lab, supported through a partnership between Women in View (WIV) and the National Screen Institute, is the third initiative WIV would like to spotlight in its Changemaker Case Study series. The first of its kind in Canada, the program offers five Disabled producers marginalized by gender, an intensive opportunity to further develop their production skills and work towards creating a short film. It also offers industry specialists a hands-on opportunity to better understand how the system must change to amplify the important, equity-deserving voices of the Disabled community.
Launched in October 2024, the program consists of three parts: 1) group training sessions, 2) the development of a production binder and pitch for the participant’s short film, and 3) a final case study report to help develop industry best practices for being more inclusive. Industry experts present two virtual sessions a week over the course of twelve weeks on topics like pitching and packaging, distribution and marketing, and script to schedule planning including breaking a script for accessibility. Participants each receive a significant stipend to support their attendance and to recognize the time and contribution they make to the case study.
How it evolved
What’s especially unique about this initiative is that it’s bi-directional: trainers and producers come away equally informed and inspired with practical take aways to strengthen their work: producers with more powerful projects, and trainers better equipped to change the systems within their own spheres and beyond for better inclusion and accessibility. The program dismantles the learning process as a way of dismantling the system.
The idea for the program stemmed from a conversation between Disabled writer and artist Ophira Calof and Jan Miller from Women in View’s Board of Directors. WIV’s team was looking to create a new iteration of their Five in Focus program to uplift a new demographic. Having headed up the previous Five in Focus programs for WIV including for the Indigenous community with Co-Lead Tracey Deer, Five in Focus Atlantic, and Five in Focus Animation, Miller asked Calof, who’s also on WIV’s board:
Has any program like this ever been done for Disabled people?” Calof’s unequivocal answer set the initiative in motion. “Never.”
Calof brought on Disabled producer Michelle Asgarali as her Program Co-Lead, and Calof, Asgarali, and Miller got to work immediately.
After two years of research and design, (and yet another grant application turned down) a serendipitous conversation with the National Screen Institute’s former CEO Joy Loewen turned things around. Loewen’s infinite commitment to supporting equity-deserving voices shone through and she excitedly signed on the institute and her team to raise the finances and manage the venture. At this point, WIV stepped back and handed ownership of the new venture over to Calof and Asgarali, both leaders in the Disability community.
A New Model
The most interesting part of this initiative’s evolution was the myriad ways that the National Screen Institute enthusiastically pivoted to ensure the program would be truly accessible to all.
“The National Screen Institute is a progressive organization that has worked on inclusivity for a long time, and is constantly embracing change,” said Program Manager Amy Reitsma. “For us to dismantle these structures in a way that is fair and that works, patience is required. And clear education,” she said. “This takes more time, money, and preparation than one might think.”
Everything had to be reworked to suit people living with a wide range of needs and lived experiences. This meant introducing videos with closed captioning or live ASL interpreters, using plain language and other screen reader friendly documents, scheduling extended breaks during learning sessions, and building in flexible assignment deadlines. Everything from the way program trainers created and received applications, held meetings, distributed information, offered program content, and requested deliverables had to be adapted accordingly. Additionally, Miller pointed out,
“program content was curated specifically in consultation with the producer cohort to meet their learning priorities.”
“The high-level goal is to shift the paradigm around who is invited into the industry, how they’re invited in, and how we work overall,” said Reitsma.
The vision is universal accessibility in mentorship models and beyond.
“We’re on the verge of an era of being more tolerant and open minded about accepting and inviting different structures into our frameworks,” said Reitsma. “The grind and hustle culture we’ve all been conditioned to adopt isn’t healthy for anyone, nor is it sustainable. You start to see, when you’re working with people who are really in tune with what their bodies need and what their minds need, how this all leads to safer work environments and a better work life balance for everyone.”
Asgarali and Calof worked tirelessly to make sure they’d thought through and accounted for every detail. As a result of their hard work, the Disability Screen Office came on as a presenting partner of the program. Asgarali explained the immediate goal is to create a safe community for Disabled producers to feel supported, to learn from each other, and to glean insight from practices outside Canada that the program may adopt or adapt.
“There is a craving for Disability content these days—an interest in these kinds of stories, and a lack of knowledge about what we need to be able to tell them.”
Through this program Asgarali and Calof are setting out to make space for that knowledge and experience to emerge.
“You know, everybody thinks of Disability as a taboo subject,” said Asgarali, “a space they’ve got to be careful in. But it’s the only marginalized voice that every single person, if they live long enough, will be a part of. So, the feeling that we are separate would be something good to try and get rid of.”
The case study being prepared from this first cohort’s experience will be a significant step in that direction, sharing key findings from the field, and best practices for going forward.
Asgarali laughed. “Ophira and I joke that trying to make it in this industry as a Disabled storyteller can sometimes feel like trying to turn a power chair in a narrow hallway. You scrape by, leaving dents, until you’ve done it enough times to carve out the wall. We thought it was time to add to the number of dent-makers.”
Learn more about the Disabled Producers Lab here.
Racial Equity Media Collective Driving Canadian Policy
by Heather Neale Furneaux
Women in View is highlighting equity-focused organizations taking innovative steps to improve gender equity and inclusion in Canada’s screen industry. These groups have adopted the kinds of structural-level change needed for real progress—changes we put forth in our Calls to Action (CTA) earlier this year. (You can review them here.)
Making Sense of Where We’re At:
The Racial Equity Media Collective (REMC) is another outstanding example of an advocacy organization driving key structural change in Canada. Right from their 2021 beginnings, they’ve shown fierce dedication to establishing “clear, research-informed guidelines and targets” that help make sense of where the industry is at and where and how efforts should be focused.
When they published their first report in 2021, following the overwhelming tensions of 2020 (informally dubbed “the year of racial reckoning”), the goal was clear. To effect meaningful change, the industry needed more comprehensive data, and to carefully audit measuring practices. (CTA #6).
“The only way to move forward [is] to be clear about where we [are] in the present,” the report read. And that’s exactly what REMC has facilitated.
Early on, they discovered that what they were setting out to do wasn’t even possible with the data—or in some cases lack of data—available. Stats proved inconsistent and problematic in terms of equitable representation. And transparency and intersectionality were needed to accurately compare and analyze findings.
REMC’s Managing Director Julian Carrington cited Women in View (WIV) and the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) as being very inspirational in that respect.
“Both entities were early advocates for the importance of obtaining data in order to drive evidence-based change. And there’s no question the gender parity push was one of the first initiatives that saw data collection be [aggregated] like that,” he said. “Racial equity, unlike gender, has really been a more recent conversation. So, an early pillar of our advocacy work involved the meta-advocacy of having to advocate for data collection to be introduced to allow for accurate measurement of where we stand in terms of representation and participation.”
The national not-for-profit organization’s mission, as outlined on their website, is “to remove barriers to access and increase the production, export, and sustainability of BIPOC content and BIPOC-led production companies.” They’ve been vocal and effective on policy and legislation around a wide range of issues, one of the most recent of which involved confronting Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism within the CBC.
Collaboration and Community Consultation:
Carrington explained the organization’s approach to policy change has always been informed by community consultation and collaboration.
“I’m a staff of one, so ensuring we stay engaged with our peers in the advocacy space, and finding avenues as part of that process to advance equity—racial equity in particular—has been really important.”
Under the prior Executive Director, Lisa Valencia Svensson, REMC succeeded in having specific language incorporated into the online streaming act that ensured equitable participation of black and racialized communities.
“Having that language in legislation has been very impactful,” he said. “[It’s] allowed us to really underscore that this is not just something we’re urging you to do because we think it’s the right thing. It’s a legislative obligation.”
Now, the REMC can take that one step further, collaborating with individual organizations to navigate applying the mandates in meaningful, context-specific ways. (CTA #8) They held over 40 conversations just in the last year alone with funders, policymakers and producers, BIPOC sector organizations, and key players in the festival and industry event circuit, to help guide their work.
Up to the Challenge:
These great forward strides, however, are not without their challenges. The small non-profits representing traditionally underrepresented communities still find themselves up against major Hollywood studios, and other institutions who have maintained more traditional (i.e. non-progressive) internal cultures, or who don’t necessarily engage fully with the mandates at hand.
Carrington states, the CRTC, for example, issued a decision declaring online streamers must reinvest a portion of their annual Canadian revenue back into the Canadian funding system, a specific portion of which must go to one of three groups: the Black Screen Office, the Canadian Independent Fund for BIPOC Creators, and the Broadcasting Accessibility Fund. This was fantastic news except for the fact that they didn’t specify how contributions needed to be distributed.
“It’s entirely left to the discretion of the streamers at this point,” Carrington said. So, in any given year, one group could receive nothing at all, and no one can anticipate their annual budget. “Had the CRTC heeded its directive to engage with our communities in a meaningful, dedicated way, that’s the sort of thing that could have been raised,” he said. “Even with mandates in place, the actual follow-through from institutions isn’t always as robust… and giving substance to that language is a whole other step requiring consistent, dedicated action and resources.”
Looking Forward:
So, where do we go from here? Carrington said most recently, there’s been a push towards consolidating efforts in the racial equity advocacy space.
“We’re seeing a moment now where institutional actors would much prefer to be able to turn to, you know, one voice that represents a community. And even though that may not be how this all works, and there are many different perspectives and realities based on region, language, whatever it may be, having that one-stop-shop is very convenient.” He pointed to the Indigenous Screen Office as an example of an organization that’s built itself into an incredible community resource and funder with a unified voice.“The ISO and Indigenous advocates more broadly in the screen industry have been leaders here,” he said. “They’ve introduced the concept of authorial positionality, who you are in relation to that story you’re telling, the community you’re representing… and your ethical approach to the story.”
One of the most important factors in building a unified voice and a comprehensive data collection system, of course, is trust. And REMC is committed to ensuring groups who have been systematically excluded can feel safe building trust in this process. This happens through “effective communication and transparency,” as they explain in their most recent report outlining recommendations for implementing a much more comprehensive data collection system that acknowledges intersectionality and concerns about individuals feeling safe participating.
“Implementing this [harmonized] system and these targets will be the lion’s share of the work in creating systemic change in Canada’s screen sector, but we are optimistic that our industry is up to the challenge,” the report states.
Carrington and the REMC are very much committed to building that stronger, safer climate for all.
“The way forward here is to practice solidarity, intersectionality, and inevitably, in any advocacy cause, the broader a coalition you can build, the stronger it will be.”
To learn more about the Racial Equity Media Collective and its incredible advocacy work, please visit re-mc.org
Indigenous Screen Office Changing the Landscape
by Heather Neale Furneaux
Women in View is highlighting equity-focused organizations taking innovative steps to improve racial diversity and gender representation in Canada’s screen industry. These groups have adopted the kinds of structural-level change needed for real progress—changes we put forth in our Calls to Action (CTA) earlier this year. (You can review them here.)
Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office is the consummate example of an advocacy and funding body whose very mandate makes meaningful change not only possible, but unavoidable. (CTA #8). They’re all about assessing where ownership lies, who has power over storytelling, and how to ensure Indigenous creators maintain creative control of their own projects.
In the following case study, ISO CEO Kerry Swanson explains their approach and philosophy, and some of the ways they’ve triggered impactful, positive strides for the Indigenous screen-based storytelling community across Canada.
The ISO was formed in 2017 in response to a massive national need for championing Indigenous screen-based storytellers and their narrative sovereignty. For starters, they partnered with imagiNATIVE Film Festival to develop the On-screen Protocols and Pathways toolkit, a living resource outlining and insisting on the kinds of changes the industry needed: respect for everyone’s storytelling process, acknowledgement of creators’ personal histories and relationships to stories, and accountability to honouring these elements.
Determining consent and ownership of oral traditions and stories that are gifted to you is often challenging. For example, sometimes you are given permission to share the story, but the intellectual property rights still vest with the original keeper of the story, whether that is a family, a community or a nation. Do people have the right to tell you that story? Where are all the places that consent lies? Who controls or has the rights to the story and who has the authority to give you permission? Determining consent is both a process of acknowledging and respecting.
The document enforces the idea that equity is an ongoing practice one must consistently refer back to. (CTA #1).
One of the most exciting outcomes of this toolkit is how it has empowered Indigenous storytellers, filmmakers, and producers.
They were able to give it to industry professionals and potential collaborators, and have that education done on their behalf,” said Swanson. “It took a huge burden off their shoulders.” (CTA #2) Swanson added, “many of the major funding bodies have adapted it as a guide for how they assess Indigenous projects and how they look at the relationship if there’s a collaboration at play.” (CTA #6).
The Protocols encourage collaboration with close consideration paid to issues like ownership, control, and storytelling rights. They have become an industry standard to be upheld across the board.
In presenting the document to the industry at conferences and events, the ISO found the impact and response from industry professionals to be positive and inspiring; many had never seen a document like this before and found it transformative.
As Indigenous people, these are really sort of basic foundational principles of how to work with other humans and create environments that are respectful and productive and collaborative,” Swanson said. “So, it was really a sign of the need in the industry to actually look at the basic principles of good, respectful behaviour.”
Funding Advantages
Another area where the ISO has affected great change is in funding, where they’ve advocated for more flexibility in the nature of their funding structures. They support development of projects at higher levels of up to $20,000 and can fund individuals where other organizations are only able to help registered companies.
We support the development of [an individual’s] idea, so they don’t get pushed into giving away their rights or entering into a partnership because it’s the only way,” said Swanson.
They negotiated an agreement with Canadian Heritage enabling them to move money between programs and administration and maintain some flexibility in how they’d respond to needs as they arose. They have post-production funding, for example, which many funders do not have formal programs to support. They also have sector development funding available to support training and sector capacity building.
We have a lot of ways that we’ve designed our programs that are very specific to meeting the needs of the Indigenous production sector… We’re able to be innovative because we can respond to what people are telling us they need. And that is a key priority for us.”
The ISO now funds immersive, interactive, and digital content too, for example. It also launched a podcast program last year in response to the need.
The People
Of the team’s eleven staff, ten are women. They boast an all-Indigenous staff and board who have worked hard to implement strong hiring and retention strategies. And they focus on capacity building in the administrative sector as well, which is both instrumental for smooth production, and often forgotten in funding and support. The ISO’s pan-national team based in BC, Manitoba, Quebec, and Ontario, includes both French and English-speaking members, which has helped establish trust within the community because creators often get the chance to meet team members in the places and contexts where they live. It has also helped the ISO strengthen and maintain ties to nationwide partners who offer significant financial support, supplementing the federal government’s annual contribution of $13 million per year—an amount that just recently jumped to $26 million, thanks to an allocation from the CRTC through the Online Streaming Act, as part of its base contributions. Those partnerships are crucial to continued capacity building for a sector that has been sorely neglected and shut out from the industry for far too long.
The ISO contributed significant funds and creative labour to building a production studio in Nunavut, for example, that would never have come to fruition without the partnerships the ISO had forged. Their financial support of that project triggered investment from the federal and Nunavut governments, helping the studio become an important cornerstone space for community projects and training in the sector. It is the first of its kind in that region, serving as a symbol of the growing recognition of Indigenous screen-based storytellers in Canada.
The ISO recently announced another exciting outcome of their strong community ties this spring at the Banff World Media Festival. They’ve acquired administration of the Canada Media Fund’s Indigenous program, making their organization a major Canadian funding body and one of the largest Indigenous non-profits in the country with an expected annual budget of $37 million.
A reflection of the people they serve
What advice can the ISO offer other organizations wanting to make structural changes that impact equity and diversity for the better?
“What we’ve learned is that we are truly a reflection of the community we serve,” said Swanson, “and first and foremost, everything we do is in collaboration.It’s really empowering to represent the voices of such a culturally and creatively rich community, but it requires constant dialogue and checking in, being responsive and flexible. The other piece is remembering we cannot do this work alone,” said Swanson. “We approach partnerships with an open heart and a lot of enthusiasm, but also with a clear understanding that there are terms for how we engage and that our autonomy, self determination and sovereignty—our ability to control the core storytelling—are non-negotiable.”
“The ISO has proven itself to be a fantastic example of the emergence of new systems and institutions in Canada that recognize the distinct place of Indigenous peoples and our rights to self-governance and self-determination.”
Learn more about the Indigenous Screen Office here.