Joan Jenkinson Courtesy of Helen Tansey, Sundari Photography Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment The Canadian media industry has talked big in recent years about boosting Black representation and funded Joan Jenkinson and her Black Screen Office to help dismantle anti-Black racism in the country's screen industries. But Jenkinson, CEO of the BSO, now wants to see symbolism and promises replaced by collaborative and sustained policy steps by the Canadian film and television industry to secure real gains towards black equity. "It's not about statements, it's about measurable progress," Jenkinson said ahead of the BSO unveiling an Anti-Black Racism Policy Framework later today at The Hollywood Reporter's Access Canada Summit in Toronto. The BSO and funding agencies have banded together to create a to-do checklist for the industry to practically tackle anti-Black racism in front and behind the camera and elsewhere in the cultural sector. Related Stories Business Rachel Zoe Signs With CAA (Exclusive) Movies David Mackenzie and Aaron Taylor-Johnson on How 'Fuze' Is "Unrepentantly" Entertaining Jenkinson recalls in 2021 when the BSO was launched amid an industry reckoning over a lack of diversity and inclusion, and "everybody wanted to talk to me and were throwing money at me." But she recounts one meeting with a funding agency exec that heartily agreed with all of the BSO initiatives to boost Black representation. "At one point, I thought, wait a minute. I asked how does this fit into your organization? How are you going to sell this to your boss? What are your yeses based on?" Jenkinson continued. The exec had no clear answer. "That's when it hit me. Strategies may be made, action plans may happen. Funding can be thrown at me. But unless it has a foundation, this is just going to be a trend or just be thrown off an agenda because something else comes along," she argues, with the result Black talent continues to be excluded and their careers derailed. The BSO-led report, two years in the making, goes beyond the domestic film and TV industry to include music, publishing, the performing arts and theater as they sit within the country's cultural industries. The report asks cultural organizations to specifically define anti-Black racism, and not "just copy what's already out there." The report also urges Canadian media to go beyond Black History Month to showcase homegrown Black talent and stories year-round, and to set goals on hiring and promoting black talent in organizations. Jenkinson accepts it's poor timing to put new obligation on arts organizations and content funding bodies in Canada during a period of wrenching industry disruption. But she counters: "Equity isn't a burden-it's a growth strategy. When Black talent thrives, audiences grow, programming gets stronger, and the whole sector is more competitive." In a Canadian industry where for years doors were mostly closed to Black talent, and financing that came through when doors opened was meagre, the BSO report urges Black content creators be properly financed to build sustainable careers and businesses. "Support the development of parallel Black platforms - broadcaster, YouTube channel, theater company - by black creative entrepreneurs to bypass traditional barriers and foster success on the community's terms and within the community's values," the report states. In addition, there's a call for Black professionals to get seats in boardrooms, on festival juries and senior leadership teams, to inspire emerging Black talent to pursue their own ambitions and careers in the cultural industries. The Framework stresses that, without policy actions, strategic plans risk moving in different directions, lose coherence or fall away. "Policy is the grounding that makes actions sustainable," the report argues. The report sets out 25 adaptable policy strategies to tackle hiring, leadership, authorship, accountability, and representation for Black creators. "It is a flexible guide for organizations ready to move from statements of intent to institutional change," the BSO report adds, rejecting one framework should apply to all organizations. "Each of those entities are different, each of those communities are different," Jenkinson adds. Across Canada's arts and culture sector, the report points to stark equity gaps. Black professionals hold only 2 percent of cultural board seats, despite making up 4.3 percent of the population. In music, 98 percent of Black artists have never applied for financial grants, and nearly 9 in 10 who did were denied, the report states. In Canadian screen industries, less than 3 percent of Black creators occupy top roles such as showrunner or executive producer. "Pay gaps, isolation, and discrimination remain common across sectors," the report claims. Jenkinson rejects