Riders on the storm
Canadian film, TV industries explore the potential of inclusive contracts
Canadian film and TV TORONTO stars might not have the clout of Hollywood A-listers, but they can still play a role in forcing film and TV projects to be more diverse, say industry observers intrigued by the notion of “inclusion riders.”
Oscar-winning actress Frances McDormand used her acceptance speech Sunday to encourage fellow stars to negotiate a clause in their contracts that would demand equity on their sets.
The best actress winner for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was referring to the idea that actors could further gender and racial diversity simply by demanding it in their contracts.
It’s not something talent agent Pam Winter has ever seen in her career, but the longtime Toronto partner at the Gary Goddard Agency says there are stars big enough in Canada who could wield such unilateral influence.
“It’s definitely worth discussing,” says Winter, whose roster includes actors and filmmakers Sarah Polley, Stephen Amell and Scott Speedman.
The club is relatively small, she says. “It would have to be the leading players that would really be blazing the trail there,” Winter says.
Polley also hadn’t heard of the concept before McDormand raised it.
“I’m so grateful to her for introducing this information to so many people,” Polley said. “We can be pretty certain, at this point, that left to their own volition, most producers and studios are not going to insist on diversity or take any campaigning for diversity seriously enough as an ethical obligation.”
Polley called it “a brilliant way of ensuring that we stop systemically excluding people from our industry while using all manner of creative excuses for doing so.”
The challenge is that the star system isn’t as developed in Canada as it is in the United States, says actress and producer Jennifer Podemski.
And because so much production here depends on government funding, she sees the onus better placed on the public agencies that hold the purse strings.
“In the States, it’s celebrity-generated,” Podemski says.
“Here, it’s funding-generated and funding is tied to regulations put into place by government bodies. It should be mandated.”
She called out the CRTC, which regulates broadcasting and telecommunications in the country, and the Department of Canadian Heritage, which oversees Telefilm, the National Film Board of Canada and the CBC to be more aggressive.
“The industry at large in Canada should be responsible for being inclusive, especially when it comes to women and Indigenous peoples,” says the longtime actress, whose most recent credits include CTV’s Cardinal. “It’s just so whitewashed still, and patriarchal,” she says. “I am 100 per cent in support of that rider.”
Canada does have some unique equity measures. Private broadcasters must adhere to an “equitable portrayal code” developed by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, but its application is left to the individual licensee and the broadcaster involved deals with any complaints.
Meanwhile, Telefilm, the Canada Media Fund and the National Film Board have each announced or reaffirmed commitments to increasing balance and diversity in the projects they fund. The NFB in particular has an ambitious gender-equity plan to have half its projects directed by women by 2019, and parity in male-dominated positions including cinematography, editing and screenwriting by 2020.
It’s also working on a three-year plan to ensure 15 per cent of production spending goes to Indigenous-directed projects, while its involvement in the new Indigenous Screen Office is focused on developing a long-term strategy.
But the battle cry for actors to take on the diversity challenge is new.
Oscar-winning producer J. Miles Dale, who shared a best picture win Sunday with Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water, was wary of surrendering control of his hiring decisions.
“It’s tough to impose a hard-andfast rule on any creative process but I think the principle is important and valuable,” says Dale, encouraging diversity efforts to also focus on building a broad talent pool.