Anti-Black Racism

As a union of artists and story tellers, we believe storytelling is at its most powerful when it includes and connects people. We will continue to support, promote and celebrate the work of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) creators. We will continue to advocate, to listen and fight for justice equality, inclusion, and lasting change in our society.

Excerpted from ACTRA Toronto Statement on Racism and Discrimination

From Words to Actions – Update: June 2021

From Words to Actions

In June of 2020, The ACTRA Toronto Council and Diversity and Inclusion Committee worked together to develop an Anti-Black Racism work plan, committed to working within our union and across the industry to bring about real and lasting change.

On November 30, 2020, Jenn Paul was hired as ACTRA Toronto’s Industry Relations Specialist for Anti-Black Racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. View the press release here.

In the past seven months, Jenn has led and participated in several initiatives with the objective of creating a more equitable workplace for our diverse performers. Here is an update on the past year of progress as we continue to work towards lasting change:

Educate our Union

Completed:

  • Anti-Oppression training for council and senior staff was completed in 2020
  • The Respect on Set course was reviewed from an anti-oppression lens, and updated accordingly.
  • A “Guide for Acting Coaches & Educators working with Performers” was published, and the Association for Acting Coaches & Educators (AACE) was formed to encourage a respectful and harassment-free learning environment for teachers, coaches, students and clients.

In-Progress:

  • Organized by BIPOC TV & Film and working with other union DEI leads, to plan and discuss the potential of a joint industry-wide Anti-Oppression training initiative.
  • Additional training options are currently being explored, including By-Stander Intervention

Planned:

  • We will create and share accessible anti-racism resources throughout the year.
  • We will continue to encourage new members to take the Respect on Set and will encourage existing members to take the course as a refresher as well.

Improve resources and supports

Completed:

  • Reviewed existing ACTRA resources and identified gaps where there was room to improve supports for BIPOC members.
  • Re-branding of HAVEN to emphasize that the helpline can also be used to report incidents of racism and discrimination (Harassment, Anti-Racism, Violence Emergency Network)
  • D&I Committee newsletter: Created and implemented a monthly newsletter, distributed to 250+ committee members on a regular basis, with news regarding current and upcoming opportunities
  • Pronouns in staff signatures: Worked with IT to allow for personal pronouns to be optionally added to ACTRA Toronto staff’s auto-generated ACTRA email signatures.

In-Progress:

  • Currently working on consultations through the various ACTRA Toronto committees to consult on challenges performers face in the casting and audition process. The end result will be a guide of Best Practices that can be used by Casting Directors, Agents, Directors and Producers, as well as several suggestions for policy improvements that can be implemented in the next round of collective bargaining negotiations.

Planned:

  • We will create a webpage dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging resources, aimed to assist Producers who are engaging ACTRA performers.

Create and develop work opportunities

Completed:

  • ACTRA Toronto Diversity Showcase: Created diversityshowcase.ca to highlight diverse performers within the ACTRA Toronto membership, starting with a focus on Black Performers.
  • Demo Reel Initiative: Produced “A Different Lens”: a series of 7 short film scenes with 13 diverse performers from ACTRA Toronto’s D&I committee to be used in their Demo Reels, and held an online Watch Party and discussion in partnership with Access Reelworld
  • Held multiple workshops for BIPOC Performers in partnership with the Voice Committee, including “Diversity in Voice: Commercial VO & Vocal Health Workshop” and the “Diversity in Voice: Animation Workshop”
  • Held additional editions of “Working the Scene in Colour”, to connect BIPOC performers with writers and promote new talent through the live script reading event.
  • The outACTRAto committee held the first “Working the Scene in Rainbow”, inspired by “Working the Scene in Colour”.

In-Progress:

  • Additional Showcases for various communities to be highlighted on diversityshowcase.ca are currently in the planning stages, including the Latinx community, Asian community, Queer community, Performers living with disabilities, and more.
  • We will encourage diverse performers to update and upload their profile to diversity.ACTRAonline.ca.
  • Created an opportunity for Black performers to participate in an African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) workshop with renowned dialect coach, Amani Dorn, to provide ACTRA Toronto performers with the tools necessary to compete and be cast in parts where it might be required to sound as though they are from Atlanta, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago, or New York.  

Planned:

  • Work with Post-Secondary Institutions and other industry partners to sustain and expand the A Different Lens: Demo Reel Initiative
  • Optimize and better populate the ACTRA Online Databases
  • Conversations have begun to execute a strategy to increase diversity across performer categories

Support and celebrate BIPOC creators and content

Completed:

  • We continue to highlight industry professionals and production companies who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion through the Sandi Ross Awards and ACTRA Spotlight. This year, we produced the first online Sandi Ross Awards, which has garnered over 500 views.
  • We will continue to develop and grow partnerships with community and cultural film festivals including ReelWorld, imagineNATIVE, ReelAsian and the Regent Park Film Festival.
  • outACTRAto had their first online Industry Social Mixer “The Rainbow Zoom” to celebrate Pride month with an inclusive and intersectional lens

Planned:

  • 2021 Sandi Ross Awards
  • Ongoing Partnerships with community and cultural Film Festivals
  • Ongoing highlighting of diverse performers and projects on social media

Advocate for a more fair and just industry and society

Completed:

In-Progress:

  • Leading a mapping exercise with leaders from across the industry through the Canadian Creative Industries Coalition to map DEI initiatives and priorities from throughout the industry, and how we may move forward towards common goals on a united front. The result will be a crowd-sourced database that lists what all the CCIC organizations are doing to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in our industry.
  • Working with ACTRA National on a follow-up to ACTRA Ontario’s 2017 Census with a nation-wide census of our membership, to help identify challenges and wage gaps, while tracking progress from our last census.
  • HMU Equity Initiative: raising awareness, educating industry partners, and creating a safe space for BIPOC Performers to report inequities in the hair and makeup department on-set and help provide the information required to optionally file a grievance through ACTRA.

From Words to Actions (2020)

 The ACTRA Toronto Council and Diversity and Inclusion Committee are working together to develop an Anti-Black Racism work plan. We are committed to working within our union and across the industry to bring about real and lasting change.

Actions currently underway in 2020:

  • Educate our Union
    • We will develop a course on anti-racism.
    • We will ensure the course is taken by our union leadership, made available to existing members, and added as required training for new ACTRA members.
    • We will continue to encourage members to take the Respect on Set and review the course from an anti-oppression lens.
  • Improve resources and supports
    • We will create a webpage dedicated to anti-Black racism which includes information on ACTRA’s initiatives and support service for BIPOC members
    • We will review existing ACTRA resources and identify gaps where we can improve supports for BIPOC members.
  • Create and develop work opportunities
    • We will work with Ontario Creates to promote our diverse membership. Diversity is our Strength.
    • We will encourage diverse performers to update and upload their profile to diversity.ACTRAonline.ca.
    • We will build on the work of Working the Scene in Colour by connecting Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) writers and BIPOC performers.
    • We will support initiatives of Diversity and Inclusion Committee which include:
      • Assisting BIPOC members to produce demo reels
      • Working with the Voice Committee to develop skills and access to voice over work for BIPOC performers.
  • Support and celebrate BIPOC creators and content
    • We will continue to highlight industry professionals and production companies who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion through the Sandi Ross Awards and ACTRA Spotlight.
    • We will continue to develop and grow partnerships with community and cultural film festivals including ReelWorld, imagineNATIVE, ReelAsian and the Regent Park Film Festival.
  • Advocate for a more fair and just industry and society
    • We will advocate with industry and government partners to increase work opportunities and representation of BIPOC performers
    • We will support industry initiatives which support BIPOC creators to bring their stories to our screens.
    • We will encourage and facilitate members on direct action, such as education, letter writing and donations.

How can I help as an ACTRA Member?

  • Actions you can take for Racial Justice – A Working Document is a list of resources and actions put together by Toronto member Alice Snaden.
  • Follow us on social media to get the latest updates. Show your support by participating in our events and amplifying our message — like, comment and share our posts.

Related ACTRA Documents

Our Focus on Diversity and Inclusion

(exerpted from ACTRA Toronto Operating Plan 2020-21)
 
Diversity is our strength. Inclusion is our goal. As the Ontario ACTRA census found, more than 50% of new ACTRA members are physically or culturally diverse. Work with industry partners to promote and celebrate diverse stories and talent is making a difference.

In 2020, ACTRA Toronto will:

  • Support the work of the Council, Advocates and Committees to promote diversity and inclusivity in the union and in the industry through:
    • Nell Shipman Awards
    • Ongoing support of CUES: Canadian Unions for Equality on Screen
    • Sandi Ross Awards
    • Support of BIPOC TV & FILM: Black Indigenous People of Colour activities and workshops
    • Spotlight on diversity and areas that are underrepresented in the membership and on our screens through on-line performer database
    • Continued outreach and partnerships with cultural and community film festivals
    • Participation in the Pride Parade and activities
    • Joint committee work to help in achieving the goal of inclusion
    • Challenging ageism by promoting work and work opportunities for “seasoned” performers
    • Co-ordination of activities and communication methods