Disabled Talent ‘Shut Out’ And ‘Invisible’ In TV Industry And Hollywood

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Jun 29, 2020,03:00am EDT|

Disabled Talent ‘Shut Out’ And ‘Invisible’ In TV Industry And Hollywood

Gus Alexiou
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Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
I write about accessibility, inclusion and social justice.

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Disabled actors, media professionals and expert contributors have always been grossly underrepresented in the film and TV industry.

Last week, in what the BBC is calling “the biggest financial investment to on-air inclusion in the industry,” the corporation announced that it is allocating £100 million to the production of “diverse and inclusive content.”

The all-round diversity investment, described as a “big leap” by Director-General Tony Hall, runs up to 2024 and is supplemented by a commitment to ensuring 20% of off-screen talent comes from under-represented groups.

According to the latest annual Diamond Report published by the Creative Diversity Network, widely recognized as the most authoritative diversity monitor across the U.K. TV industry, disabled people are actually the most under-represented group of all in television.

The report, backed by broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky, found that disabled people make up just 5.2% of the off-screen workforce and 7.8% on-screen.

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