‘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, takes place at 11am, Thursday 24 September. Register here.
A distinguished panel of experts will gather to discuss the effects of the pandemic on the world on the film and television industry and what this could mean for a longstanding concern for the UK’s screen industries with too little progress to date: diversity and inclusion.
‘The impact of Covid-19 on the Film and TV industry: Building back better with a more inclusive workforce’, is delivered by the APPG on Media, a forum for discussion representing all angles of the media sector as it is affected by public policy, in partnership with ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the screen industries.
The webinar will discuss how the seismic events of the last six months have affected the industry and the practical measures it is taking to tackle the barriers that have blocked progression of people from a wide variety of backgrounds until now. The pandemic, combined with the momentum of the social movements, has injected an urgency to the drive to effect real change. The challenge now is to tackle these shortages, while getting back into production safely to create opportunities for people from all backgrounds.
The webinar will feature the expertise of Christine Healy, Head of Production at independent television production company New Pictures, Harjeet Chhokar, Commissioning Editor at Channel 4, and Seetha Kumar, CEO of ScreenSkills. The Chair of the Media APPG, Andy Carter, with decades of experience working across the media sector, will host the discussion.
Andy Carter MP, Chair of the APPG Media Group, said: “I’m delighted to be hosting this webinar on a crucial topic for the media sector. The film and television industry, like so many others, has faced significant challenges over the last six months and I look forward to discussing a brighter future for everyone with our panel of experts.”
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, looks will continue to collaborate with and scrutinise the BBC and other media platforms in this new era to confront the industry’s challenges and ensure that the sector meets the needs and standards of British audiences into its future.
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