The number of diverse writers working on Canadian television series has increased by 17 per cent since 2017, but the number of diverse writers in senior positions is still low, says the Writer’s Guild of Canada.
For its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Report released this month, the WGC looked at 88 live action and animation series produced last year, as well as 342 series produced from 2017 to 2021. The guild defines diverse writers as Indigenous, Black, people of colour, LGBTQ2S and people with disabilities.
The data show that 35 per cent of Canadian TV writers identified as diverse in 2021, an increase of 13 percentage points from the previous year’s report.
However, the WGC said, there is still a “glass ceiling” for diverse writers working in TV. In 2021, according to the report, 14.5 per cent of individuals in writers’ rooms were Black, but less than half received writing credits. The number of Indigenous writers and writers with disabilities in writers’ rooms, meanwhile, saw no improvement on previous reports.
Victoria Shen, the guild’s executive director, says the data suggest that “more diverse people are writing or working, but they are maybe working at a lower position.”
The WGC has introduced programs and mentoring schemes for its members based on data from previous reports. But Shen said the industry must do more to find a solution to the diversity gap. “We need … producers to be hiring and producing more diverse stories.”
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JP Larocque, a television writer and producer and WGC member, has noticed more BIPOC writers progress to senior positions, but said “we’re still hitting a definite ceiling.”
The pandemic only created more barriers, they added. For example, writers who were hired during that time dealt with virtual writers’ rooms, which meant a shortening of contracts and no time on set gaining experience.
“Money must be allocated to bring these writers to set, and contracts must be extended to allow for these experiences to happen,” they said. “And this has to be a conscious decision with an understanding of why BIPOC writers lack experience in these key areas.”
When it comes to Indigenous writers and writers with disabilities, even becoming part of a writers’ room is still a challenge because of systemic barriers, Larocque said. More effort must be made to include them, whether it’s “talking about inaccessible spaces where rooms are being held, or a conscious effort made by producers to reach out to Indigenous communities and engage writing talent and bring them into projects,” Larocque added.
For Marsha Greene, vice-president of the WGC and the co-creator and showrunner on the series The Porter for CBC, advancement to senior positions remains a significant issue for diverse writers.
“It’s significant and important to have diversity in rooms,” Green said, “but if that’s not happening at a senior level, or those writers are not getting as many scripts, I think we still have work to do.”