ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

5 years, 5 months ago - Ian Allardyce

"Young Female, super talented shooter & editor needed... And have 'lived experience". That's all very well and good. But why are you discounting young, white women who have struggled with mental ill health, addiction or trauma? Surely that's the real point? The whole concept of BAME seems very regressive to me in 2020.

5 years, 5 months ago - John Lubran

There may also be issues concerning discrimination law. Unless there are one or more of the several statutory exemptions affecting the circumstances, that must be declared within the advert, a job advert must not discriminate in age, gender or ethnicity. and even to a more limited degree, disability. There are penalties, so be careful. That such legislation is typical blunt instrument of an incompetent and presumptuous parliament is another matter.

5 years, 5 months ago - Marlom Tander

Discrimination is allowed when IF you think it's essential for the job, the the extent that you are willing to face a court over it if challenged.

The most well known exception is the entertainers one. You can ignore all the women applying to play Romeo if, in your production, you want Romeo to be played by a guy.

Making that case for a behind the scenes position is harder, unless you can show WHY you need them to be BAME. If they will be creatively involved then that would be valid.

5 years, 5 months ago - David Hewitt

Maddie, please state the reasons you require a female for this. And why she must be BAME. You could easily explain the reasons I’m sure.

5 years, 5 months ago - Alistair Gillan

I'm sure there are more funding opportunities if there is a female BAME individual in the core production team ;-)

5 years, 5 months ago - Maddie Kitchen FRSA

The project is gender specific becuase of the sentivity of the material.. I am trying to balance my team to represent diversity. Im not ruling any other women out with lived expereince, please send me your CV. I am aware of discrimination law. Many thanks.

5 years, 5 months ago - John Lubran

I would suggest that anyone advertising for gender, age or ethnic specific crew ought to state plainly that the vacancy complies with statutory discrimination exemptions; not only is it a legal requirement but it also mitigates any perception of unfairness or improper socio-political stridency that can understandably cause concern.

5 years, 5 months ago - David Hewitt

If you fail to find a female, I have made films for women who have lost children to SIDS, made films for women charities that help women leave prostitution, films for London black youth clubs, and many films for charities relating to mental health, including female veterans and rape victims.

5 years, 5 months ago - Denyce Blackman

It's surprising to see that people are triggered by the idea of BAME women being prioritized in a mere whisper of a fraction of films currently been made. Many international film industries, including BFI actually have diversity standards to address the severe under-representation of both women and people of colour working in film, so maybe you could familiarise yourself with that.

5 years, 5 months ago - Nadaav Soudry

Denyce, the schemes I think you refer to sit in a different legal category. The Equalities Act makes an exception for training and development opportunities, which is valid in certain cases, and even that is disputed by some legal opinions. No such exception is in place for jobs and recruitment though. It sounds like this post is closer to jobs and recruitment.

5 years, 5 months ago - John Lubran

The only exceptions I can think of is where a gender issue might arise with regard to filming male or female subjects within a factual context where only very few circumstances might justify that discrimination. The blunt legislative instrument can not easily prevent an employer from discriminating in reality however, just in the advertising. In that respect the advertiser has to go through the motions of lawful propriety only; which might cause people with no hope of success to waste their time and resources applying for a position they'll never get. The advertiser ought word their invitation with a degree of worldly nuance, such as not asking specifically for a proscribed type but stating that applications from that proscribed type would be welcomed. It's not rocket science.

5 years, 5 months ago - Ian Allardyce

Denyce, without getting into a protractive discussion here... I'm well aware of all the BFI diversity standards and applaud them. Nobody is saying we shouldn't strive to eradictae under-representation in the broader film industry.

But what stood out from Maddie's initial post, was that she is looking to work with women who have experienced traumer in their lives. To me that seemed the most important point. And I felt that then distilling that down further to BAME gets on rocky ground. Surely someone from any ethnicity who has overcome those hurdles deserves the same oportunities?

5 years, 5 months ago - David Hewitt

This posting does not fall in line with the discrimination law. I appreciate that the original poster has responded, but to say that she is aware of the law. But judging by the posting, she does not. The job discriminates on not just one but three points: age, race and gender. I'm writing this to illustrate how job advertisers can avoid these mistakes even when intentions are good.
As a progressive filmmaker, I fully support under-representation in these areas, but job adverts have to be more careful.
You are not permitted to say you are looking for a young person because this discriminates against older candidates.
You are not permitted to say you are looking for a female unless you state the practical reason.
You are not permitted to say you are excluding a particular ethnicity.
To only hire someone who has lived experience of mental health is also dubious. Why not say that a candidate with lived experience would be beneficial?
The poster's reason for saying that she is looking for a female is to say it is 'sensitive material'. This implies that a male cannot work with sensitive material? Please, this is a sexist trope in itself. Equality comes in both directions. If it is female centred sensitivity then you could explain this. This is where it is law.

I am not against the agenda behind the poster's recruitment, but as progressives, people may look at us to see how we explain our decisions and to see the correct way to advertise for a job. I myself have filmed 'sensitive' material, in particular female rape victims, and victims of SIDS, and prostitutes trying to exit prostitution. We need to remove the sexist tropes in both directions. including inclusion of men in these areas. I have been forced to only hire females and males in the past, where gender is an issue in the filming environment. This was due to religious environment and single-sex hospital wards, so this was explained in the recruitment process.

When our intentions are good, please let's all observe the best ways to go about it so that others can follow.

https://www.monster.co.uk/advertise-a-job/hr-resources/hr-strategies/talent-acquisition/how-can-i-avoid-discrimination-in-job-adverts/

https://www.reed.co.uk/recruiter-advice/tips-for-avoiding-discrimination-in-job-adverts/

https://www.gov.uk/employer-preventing-discrimination/recruitment

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/unlawful-adverts-jeopardise-job-opportunities-says-commission

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/advertising_-_faq.pdf

5 years, 5 months ago - Jakub Adamcik

jeez let the girl be , here i thought sh*t flamethreads are a thing only on fb

5 years, 5 months ago - John Lubran

No this is not facebook. It's a much more narrowly focused mutual support community. Erroneous presumption is best nipped in the bud before it bites one on the but. Others might benefit from this. The issue is quite serious on several levels. There's a bigger conversation related to this that might be pursued than has been explored so far.