‘The impact of Covid-19 on the Film and TV industry: Building back better with a more inclusive workforce’, featuring Christine Healy, Harjeet Chhokar and Seetha Kumar, took place this week, delivered by the APPG on Media, in partnership with ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the screen industries.

The webinar, hosted by Andy Carter MP, covered the significant events of this year and how the industry has been affected by the devastating pandemic. The speakers discussed the challenges in tackling these shortages, as well as creating opportunities for people from a diverse set of backgrounds.

Highlights included Seetha’s take on the retention of diverse talent in the sector ("too many people slipping through the cracks"), Christine’s outlook on the future of the industry for freelancers (“A key challenge we're facing is retaining freelancers in the event of another lockdown”), and Harjeet’s personal experience of the lack of diversity in Film and TV ("I consider myself a survivor of the industry”).

If you would like a copy of the presentation from the webinar, or would like to discuss an element of the webinar with the Media APPG, please email hello@appgmedia.org.

The media sector finds itself in a critical, complex but exciting time, as the industry evolves at an increasingly fast and unprecedented pace, and must confront many challenges imposed by a modern, tech-driven society. The APPG Media Group, run by The Whitehouse Consultancy, will continue to collaborate the media sector to analyse pressing issues that affect the industry as the situation evolves.

The All-Party Parliamentary Media Group is a forum for discussion within Parliament on public policy as it affects the media sector. An impartial organisation, the Group meets regularly to provide a useful interface between Parliament, the industry, and other key stakeholders, making a valuable contribution to raising the quality of debate on media policy.