Given recent protests and demonstrations speaking out in opposition to anti-Black racism and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, I know questions about what the Guild is doing on these issues are on many members’ minds. It’s crucial to engage our members to help shape the Guild’s actions and that starts with keeping members well-informed on the actions we’re already taking and those we’re considering for the future.

The Guild has long been committed to fundamental principles of equality and addressing racism, sexism and discrimination in any form. In recent years, DGC National and our District Councils have taken particular action to address the drastic underrepresentation of people of colour in our industry and, thus, amongst our membership.

Perhaps the most important task of DGC National, along with managing our members’ pensions and benefits plans, is our direct action in public policy advocacy. We have intervened in regulatory hearings and submissions to promote diversity within our sector, including over the last couple of years with the Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, the National Film Board, the CBC, private sector broadcasters and the Department of Canadian Heritage. Inclusion and diversity are part of nearly every board-based intervention we make and we follow up frequently to hold top decision-makers accountable on their promises.

Another critical role played by the Guild is research. The DGC has a long track record both conducting and supporting research on diversity and inclusion. Arming ourselves and our allies with the data we need to put sustained pressure on institutions is vital to effecting change and holding leadership to account. This part of our efforts may feel dry to some, but measuring impact of our efforts at inclusion is the key to ensuring results.

To speak of just two recent examples of this work, the Guild is currently funding a study commissioned by the Reelworld Film Festival on the employment characteristics of Canadian Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) within the screen-based production and post-production sector in Canada’s English-language market; we are also partnered with Black, Indigenous and People of Colour in TV and Film (BIPOC TV & Film), among others, to fund Women In View’s On Screen Report 2020 including research to highlight the employment of women of colour and Indigenous women as directors, writers and cinematographers.

DGC National is also a long-time supporter of the National Screen Institute in Winnipeg with our focus on mentorship, training and increased opportunities for Indigenous filmmakers. Along with financial support, DGC Director members travel to spend time working personally with these emerging filmmakers. In 2020, we renewed our latest commitment to the NSI for another three years.

Beyond these specific efforts, support for marginalized and historically underrepresented groups plays a significant day-to-day role in the broader work of DGC National as well. Our National Directors Division hosts master classes, screenings, ‘in conversation with’ events and conferences often showcasing the work of BIPOC DGC Directors, Production Designers, Editors and other key creatives. This concrete commitment to representation is an everyday consideration in our operations. The DGC is also an active member of the Canadian Labour Congress, the largest labour organization in Canada, bringing together dozens of national and international unions, provincial and territorial federations of labour and community-based labour councils to represent more than 3 million workers and plays an enormous role advocating for social justice, ending discrimination, gender equality and a more equitable society.

Of course, most sponsorships within the Guild occur at the District Council level and your District Councils have long been active on this file as well. Our largest District Councils are significant financial contributors to several of the most recognized inclusion-centred institutions in our industry. DGC Ontario provides financial support to multiple festivals that showcase and focus on diverse filmmakers: Regent Park Film Festival, ImagineNative Film Festival, Reel Asian Film Festival and the Reel World Film Festival. DGC BC sponsors both the Indigenous International Film Festival (IIFF) and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival as well as supporting the BC Minorities in Film & TV Society.

But our role does not end at monetary contributions – far from it. In fact, perhaps the Guild’s most vital role in racial inclusion is in mentorship, outreach and connecting underrepresented communities with learning and employment opportunities.

DGC National Directors Division has recently created two director-observer programs designed to offer on-set learning opportunities to members seeking to expand professionally into new forms of directing. The NDD has also created a 2-day episodic director course designed to give directors beginning their first series gigs the very best chance to succeed. Coupled with the Guild’s robust commitment to opening up new opportunities for underrepresented directors, these two programs aim to ensure their success in these challenging jobs.

DGC Ontario partners with POV 3rd Street on their PA program, offering graduates of the program altered criteria for eligibility to our GAP Apprenticeship (recognizing the 5-week PA Program as partial fulfillment of our 'days worked' eligibility criteria) and a greatly reduced Apprenticeship fee to those successful GAP applicants. DGC Ontario has also made significant donations to Reel Start and Sistema Toronto’s Production, Media and Leadership Program. Reel Start works with schools in underrepresented communities in Toronto to help students explore career possibilities in film & television through workshops, set visits, guest speakers and practical filmmaking experience. Sistema Toronto’s program engages at-risk youth from low income and marginalized communities (Parkdale, Jane & Finch and East Scarborough) teaching production skills and technology.

DGC BC was instrumental in launching the (MPCI) Motion Picture Community Initiative's Community Ambassador Program. DGC BC and MPCI partnered with Vancouver’s Embers on this project to employ residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to assist local filming liaisons when production is taking place in their community. Participants are all people who, for a variety of reasons, are experiencing barriers to employment. DGC BC Executive Director is also co-chair of the Equity & Inclusion Committee of BC’s Motion Picture Production Industry Association (MPPIA) dedicated to helping build an industry that offers equal access to marginalized peoples and better reflect the communities we live in.

Our Quebec District Council has extensive partnerships in training and outreach. DGC Quebec partners with L’inis – a Quebec non-profit providing training in cinema, television interactive media – to support training for emerging filmmakers. DGC Quebec is also engaged in outreach with numerous post-secondary institutions including McGill University, Concordia, UQAM and L’inis both to introduce the film industry to students studying in other disciplines (eg. introduction arts students to production design) and inviting students to attend Guild industry events.

DGC Manitoba plays an invaluable role both helping to administer and providing on the ground resources in support of the DGC’s partnership with the NSI in addition to their own independent commitment to inclusion-focused training and outreach. The Manitoba District Council recently sponsored a four-day Digital Media Production & Training for Post course exclusively for indigenous women offered in partnership with the Indigenous Programming component at Creative Manitoba. The Manitoba District Council worked in concurrence with the DGC National Directors Division to sponsor the premiere screening of I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight, a romantic comedy with a focus on Winnipeg’s Filipino community. At the time of the pandemic shutdown, DGC Manitoba was in dialogue to hold an Indigenous Director Masterclass at the Indigenous Film Summit, a project we hope to continue with when the festival is rescheduled.

Likewise, DGC Alberta is active not only through outreach in educational institutions, but also in community organizations and active recruitment. In the last year, through the Guild’s current incentive programs, the District Council has brought in four new Indigenous Director members including three Indigenous women. DGC Alberta has a close relationship with the Alberta Immigrants Society – both in presentations introducing the industry itself to new Canadians, but also serving as a direct conduit for their members to access individual consultation on how to enter the industry.

The Atlantic Regional Council contributes financial support to Screen Nova Scotia, the provincial industry association, including programs to encouraging underrepresented communities to consider the film & television industry as a career option. This includes initiating a film & television industry Intern Program, in cooperation with the Halifax Black Film Festival, creating opportunities for African Nova Scotians to work on professional productions.

DGC BC has also broken ground on new and innovative ways to help employers hire more diverse and inclusive crews through their “Just Watch Us” promotional campaign. Identifying a lack of inclusion within our industry, British Columbia District Council applied to the BC Human Rights Tribunal for permission to establish an official diversity program. This allows DGC BC  to share diversity information from those Director members who chose to self-identify through their search portal, directors.ca allowing, in turn, employers that have a recognized diversity program to find the right fit for projects that require a specific voice or vision.

In addition to these efforts, those of us at the Guild have been inspired by the weight of this moment to consider how we can do more. At DGC National, specifically, we believe we can have the greatest impact toward social and economic equality for marginalized peoples through supporting and partnering with groups in our sector. Not only can the Guild bring added expertise, influence and clout to this cause when we are engaging in our own field, where the DGC is an established core institution, but our industry offers a unique double impact: The chance to provide direct economic opportunities to people in marginalized communities and to increase the presence of those communities in a craft that can, itself, be an awesome tool of social change.

DGC National is currently looking into groups such as BIPOC TV & Film, Black Women Film! Canada, Black Business and Professional Association and several festivals focused on highlighting the works of people of colour and marginalized communities as we research how members’ resources might best be deployed to have the greatest possible impact. If you know of any additional groups along these lines, we would be glad to hear further recommendations.

In addition to partnering with such organizations, the DGC is also renewing its focus on mentoring – and in establishing formal mentorship programs making volunteer DGC members available for consultation with students considering a career in film. We have heard many times from members that one of the primary barriers to entering our sector lies in simply understanding it as fully and as early as possible.

We have heard from our members that BIPOC voices will be seen and heard when the Canadian government agencies, unions, production companies, broadcasters and distributors have more senior BIPOC decision makers in positions of power. The DGC will advocate more forcefully for the hiring of BIPOC decision makers in these powerful positions and will continue to bring more BIPOC professionals into its own senior ranks.

We have heard from our members that our National and District Council Executive Boards should be more diverse. We agree. We will double down on encouraging BIPOC members to run for these Board positions and we will continue to encourage our members to vote in greater numbers in all our elections across the country.

We have heard from our members that our industry should have more BIPOPC department heads. We agree. Although it is crucial to remember that the DGC is not a producer and does not hire film professionals, we will double down on training, advancing and militating for the hiring of more BIPOC department heads.

We have heard from our members that our informal consultative process with members of all backgrounds should be bolstered by the creation of a committee or committees composed of BIPOC members. We will act on this advice shortly.

We have heard from our members that our efforts to defeat systemic racism in our industry should extend to all Guild categories. We agree and will double down on offering solutions in every department we represent.

We have also heard from our members that the events we are experiencing this month are a call not only to renewed awareness, but for sustained action. We agree. Unions fight for fairness and change. It is our core mission. We are constantly looking for ways to do this more forcefully and more effectively. Events like the immense upheavals of the last several weeks offer the DGC a precious opportunity to review our institutional culture, our existing action plans, and to devise new plans to defeat systemic racism which we can sustain and intensify over years.

I’d like to thank all our members who’ve shown an interest in engaging on this issue. Your voice, and all our members’ voices, are essential to this Guild.

Tim Southam
President, DGC National