The local film and television industry is still overwhelmingly white and male, according to a new study by the Directors Guild of Canada.
A voluntary self-identification survey conducted among DGC members identified 82.8 percent of guild membership as white. Another 18.3% were identified as black, indigenous, or colored.
This is significantly underestimated when compared to 27% of Canada’s population, which considers themselves members of the BIPOC minority. And 2.5% of DGC members who responded to the self-identified census as African-Canadian are another major underestimate given that African-Canadians make up about 3.5% of the total population. ..
Census results also show that 46.5% of respondents are female and 53.4% are male. At the same time, DGC’s own membership records show that the entire guild has 42.4% females and 57.5% males.
The results suggest that women are more likely to self-aware as part of the census than men, which reduces the current underestimation within the DGC. The census has enabled DGC members to voluntarily identify a wide range of demographic indicators such as age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability status.
The census also included members of creative and logistical jobs such as director, design, location, accounting, production and editing. DGC President Warren P. Sonoda said the census results help the guild set a baseline for its membership composition to better reflect the Canadian story and audience diversity. I did.
“The census gives us a benchmark of accountability to tell us if our efforts towards inclusion are getting the job done,” he said in a statement. In his statement, RTThorne, chair of the DGCBIPOC Members Committee, said in his statement that as the Canadian industry shifts to the global market for original content, guilds look for a data-driven approach to ensure greater diversity. Said that.
“Aiming for more representatives within our guild will help meet demand and create more opportunities for our industry as a whole,” Thorn said.