Activity: ‘Fair Play on Screen’ is a capacity building program to increase understanding and confidence of the small to medium screen based companies around engaging effectively with cultural and racial diversity – including the persistence of systemic barriers in practices and building culturally safe practices. The program is focused on practical and actionable strategies to make change, from recruitment and leadership to programming and audience development. The focus of the program is on building capacities to work with culturally and linguistically diverse, migrant, POC and refugee communities who are underrepresented in the screen industry, and build knowledge and connections with these communities.

Outcome: Over 22 organisations/companies and more than 280 people participated in the sessions. Online delivery via Zoom allowed for greater participation, accessibility and engagement from across the country. This flexibility paid off, as people reported high levels of engagement and satisfaction with the program. In fact, the response to the program confirmed the need for Diversity Arts to develop ongoing training and education with the screen industry. In addition to live training, they will also be pursuing support to develop online training program modules that are tailored to the screen industry and can be self-paced. Participants reported that they had a greater understanding of systemic racism, ableism, equitable recruitment and retention practices, inclusive directing and programming, and concepts of cultural safety, and that they had gained practical strategies for how to address these issue in their work environments.