SDIN’s The Everyone Project begins tracking screen industry diversity.
Media organisations around the country have begun implementing the first stage of The Everyone Project, a significant new initiative to help Australian screen industry companies and organisations track, boost and foster diversity in their screen productions.
Australia’s diversity is one of its great strengths, with rich multicultural, disability and LGBTQIA+ communities, so reflecting those communities and their stories on our screens is important. The Everyone Project will establish the diversity across Australia’s screen sector, both in front of and behind the cameras, and provide understanding of what a diverse workforce looks like to those driving productions in Australia.
Managed by the SDIN and Screen Industry Innovation (Sii), The Everyone Project is an easy-to-use web app that invites people to self-identify on a set of characteristics around the diversity of the talent and crews working in their current projects.
SDIN is a network of broadcasters, screen funding agencies, business associations, guilds and industry-aligned education and training organisations who have committed to working together towards an inclusive and diverse screen industry. The list of SDIN members is here.
Members are now inviting staff, contractors and crew members and cast to participate in a voluntary and confidential survey of on-screen and off-screen contributors to productions funded by SDIN members. The initiative will benchmark the production industry for diversity against the broader population and over time.
The platform also acts as a tool for organisations to better understand the diversity of their workforce, membership, crews and cast and to measure the impact of their efforts to make this more diverse and inclusive.
The platform aims to be easy and engaging whilst prioritising personal privacy, security, respectfulness and inclusion.
SDIN members subscribe to the platform and then invite the audio-visual productions they fund, both in-house and external to their organisation, to register a production on the platform. The platform has been designed to make the process of registering a project as simple as possible. For most productions, this should only take a few minutes. Significant input from industry has shaped the design.
The Project is committed to consent and privacy and the platform has applied best practice privacy by design principles from conception and has opted in to be bound by the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act (Cth).
SDIN’s newly appointed Co-Chairs Benjamin Law and Jo Dillon said: “For a long time, the Australian screen industries have agreed fostering diversity – behind and in front of the camera – is paramount. However, we can only improve something by measuring it first. We urge and encourage all of our members and those who work on their projects to get on board with The Everyone Project. This is a landmark opportunity for our industry to truly engage with the question of diversity and ensure their workforces are representative of the broader Australian community.”
A number of SDIN members have been implementing and embedding diversity initiatives into their organisations. One example of this is TalentCamp, a nationwide skills development program for creatives from diverse backgrounds, designed to provide opportunities for emerging storytellers to create new content and be employment ready for the screen sector.
Other organisations implementing and embedding diversity initiatives include Digital Originals (Screen Australia and SBS), RIDE (Screen QLD and SBS), Diversity Talent Escalator (SBS and various screen funding agencies), Targeted Diversity Attachments, Film Lab: New Voices and Centralised (South Australian Film Corporation), Screen Diversity Showcase (MEAA in partnership with ADG/ AWG – funded by Screen Australia), Screenability (Screen NSW), Developing the Developer (Screen Australia), Regional Storyteller Scholarship (ABC) and The MediaRING Fellowship (MediaRING, Screen QLD), Screen Development Internships (Film Victoria).
ABOUT THE EVERYONE PROJECT
The Everyone Project has been developed by Sii, a benefit corporation established by long time screen industry executives Adam Smith and Alex Hannell, with the support of the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), an Australian Commonwealth government statutory authority.
Backgrounder and Frequently Asked Questions
Why is this initiative so important and what does it hope to achieve?
The Everyone Project will help Australian screen industry companies and organisations track and boost diversity in their screen productions. SDIN members are committed to an industry that is diverse and inclusive, however they have previously not had the tools to measure if their objectives are being met.
Has this ever been done before?
Yes. UK broadcasters began collecting similar data for their industry in 2016. The underlying approach is the same but the technology is very different. This is the first open access platform. The UK version integrates with an existing proprietary program delivery system used by those broadcasters. See: https://creativediversitynetwork.com/diamond/
How is it being collected? Do producers list their cast and crew’s details?
Through general industry engagement, and direct producer communication, production contributors are made aware of the project and its purpose and how they as individuals will be asked to contribute.
Best efforts will be made by SDIN members to ensure their in-house producers and independent producers commissioned to then register their productions on the system and upload their cast and crew details (name, role and email address – with their consent).
The platform contacts any individual who is not already registered on the platform and encourages them to participate in the voluntary survey. For most people, completing the survey should only take about two minutes.
What data is being collected?
From production companies, the platform collects information about the type of production (title, format, genre, funders etc.) and name, role and email address (or mobile number) of all on screen contributors and crew.
From contributors, the platform seeks to collect demographic data on: age, gender, sex, sexuality, cultural background, disability, carer status, geography and socio-economic status.
See privacy and security safeguards described below.
What data can be accessed? (e.g. can a broadcaster access data from their commissioned shows even if they were made by a production company?)
Platform subscribers will be able to access reports on productions they have funded, both in-house and produced by independent producers, with benchmarking against whole of industry reports and the broader Australian population. Data will be aggregated to ensure de-identification and preserve individual’s privacy. The protocols around the publication of these reports is to be agreed by SDIN.
How will the data be stored?
The data will be encrypted and stored on Australian servers maintained by a cloud service which has been previously certified at the highest level by the Australian Signals Directorate (https://www.cyber.gov.au/irap/cloud-services).
What safeguards are in place for privacy and security?
The platform has been designed to achieve the highest possible levels of privacy and security consistent with the platform purpose and available budget. The operation of the platform is governed by the Australian Privacy Act. Highly regarded independent experts CQR and SallingerPrivacy were engaged to provide security and privacy design and assurance services.
Privacy and security are core principals of the platform’s design and operation and is a commitment made by the platform to each individual contributor.
Who owns the data?
Contributors retain ‘ownership’ in the demographic data that they contribute to the platform. The platform aggregates that data and its use of that data is restricted through its agreements with Contributors and Subscribers and as detailed in its Privacy Policy. The Subscribers own the reports they generate from that data.
As part of completing the survey, contributors are asked to provide the platform with limited consents to use their personal information as follows:
“You can view, alter and delete your answers at any time. We’ll save your name and apply your answers to other productions you contribute to so we don’t need to ask you again. We won’t disclose the personal information you provide to anyone (including your employer) or use it for any purpose you haven’t agreed to.
We will only use your personal information to:
- create reports and analysis on industry demographics (without identifying you)
- seek further consents or information from you
- maintain and improve our service
- remind you we have this information”
Further information and answers to frequently asked questions can be found here.
