Barriers to Diversity in Film – A Research Review – Aug 07

• If the film sector increased the diversity of its workforce, a
variety of perspectives would not only provide a wider range of
‘culturally British’ films and attract new audiences, but also
select a workforce from the widest range of talent available.
• The industry receives funding from government through tax
relief and a share of the Lottery.
• The UK population is changing rapidly and, in terms of the
workforce, there will be fewer white, able-bodied men in the
next decades.
• The law provides protection against discrimination in the
workplace, covering women, minority ethnic and disabled
people, gay men, lesbians and different age groups. This has
implications for all employers, while service providers such as
cinemas must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to provide access
for disabled people.
• A new inclusive equalities agenda aims to bring together recent
progressive European and UK anti-discrimination and equality
legislation under the umbrella of a restructured single equality
body. This is an attempt to deal with the issues of multiple
identities, that is the intersection of gender and race, disability
and age, and so on.
• The UK Film Council developed a diversity strategy in 2003.
Implementation of diversity strategies is poor across several
sectors in the UK. It appears as if organisations need to see clear
reasons why they are participating in the implementation of
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