All In: Building an inclusive and accessible production industry

(7-minute read)

How would you feel if there were no pictures of you in the family album? Or if you were never included in family celebrations or never mentioned in shared family stories?

The feeling of not belonging or not being represented is a feeling no one should have to experience, whether it be within their home, their community or on our screens.

So why aren’t people with disabilities equitably represented on our screens? Why do they still face physical barriers in the workplace when 27 per cent^[1] of the Canadian population aged 15+ identify as having a disability?

And why are there significant gaps in the limited representation of people with disabilities that does exist on our screens?

A history of underrepresentation

A study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that only 2.2 per cent of all speaking characters were depicted with a disability across the 100 top U.S. films of 2023. The percentage of characters with a disability has also not meaningfully changed over time. 2023 (2.2%) was not much different than 2022 (1.9%) or 2015 (2.4%).^[2]

Further, a study by the Ruderman Family Foundation found an average of only 21.6 per cent^[3] of all characters with disabilities were portrayed authentically by an actor with the same disability across both television networks and streaming services in 2018. The shows surveyed measured U.S. and international shows, including both Canadian television series and U.S. series filmed in Canada.

People from disability communities have also expressed frustration over the complete lack of representation in the types of roles displayed on screen of people with disabilities. They want to see full, rich, complex characters but, too often, see only tokens and stereotypes – with an overrepresentation of people with disabilities portraying the ‘white dude,’ a superhero (e.g. Daredevil) or some other kind of high-performing character, or they are portrayed as a victim in a story about their disability as trauma.^[4]

Workplace barriers for people with disabilities within Canada’s screen-based industries also still exist today, especially for performers with disabilities, whether it be during auditions or on set.

The need for education

All of this clearly points to the need for education within the industry.

Canada’s Disability Screen Office (DSO) has an important role to play in providing this education. Formed in 2022, the DSO is playing a crucial part in helping to eliminate accessibility barriers and foster authentic and meaningful disability representation throughout Canada’s screen-based media sector.

Part of this education included a panel hosted by the DSO in 2023, where advocates discussed the importance of representation behind the camera and pointed out that federal laws designed to aid in the inclusion of disabled creators, specifically in the Canadian television industry, are ineffectual.

The need for regulation

One example from the panel was the Accessible Canada Act, which focuses on the prohibition of discrimination based on disability and applies to the federally regulated sector, including Canadian broadcasters. While the Act requires Canadian broadcasters to have accessibility plans, there are no specific provisions aimed at productions.^[5]

When it comes to federal production funding bodies, neither the Canada Media Fund (CMF) or Telefilm Canada require on-set accessibility standards and protocols as a condition of funding.

Nor are on-set accessibility requirements considered in determining eligibility to receive federal or provincial production tax credits/incentives.

The clear lack of any specific provisions or incentives for accessibility in production affects all film, television and digital media production sets in Canada.

Consequently, it falls on ACTRA, and other industry unions and guilds, to advocate for basic human rights in the workplace for their members with disabilities – who account for approximately 23 per cent^[6] of ACTRA’s membership – despite discrimination for people with disabilities being prohibited under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

With workplace discrimination against people with disabilities still prevalent both in audition workspaces and on set, accessibility proposals are key issues during bargaining with producer associations.

Despite language already existing in the Independent Production Agreement (IPA) requiring producers to provide clean, accessible and working toilets, ACTRA had to negotiate language in the last round of IPA bargaining in 2021 clarifying facilities had to be on set or a reasonable distance to set to ensure equitable access for all Performers. Producers were also reminded of their responsibility under the law to accommodate performers with disabilities, including taking reasonable steps to hold auditions in facilities that are accessible.

The sad fact is, ACTRA has had to fight for these basic human rights and encode these protections in our collective agreements. Everyone deserves dignity and respect. A performer with a physical disability should not have to be driven away from set to locate an accessible washroom. A performer with a physical disability should not have to show up to an audition only to learn the audition room is on the second floor and can only be accessed by stairs.

Authentic casting also remains a shared goal for ACTRA and the producer associations, particularly with respect to roles that require a performer to portray a person with a disability. Producers have agreed to liaise with ACTRA prior to casting a Performer who does not have a disability for a role that portrays a performer with a disability. Additionally, producers will take appropriate steps to ensure Performers with disabilities have a reasonable opportunity to audition for these roles, such as by including these facts in the casting breakdown.

“Accessibility is an interesting topic in [IPA] negotiations because it’s the one topic that will affect the broader scope of the entire membership,” says ACTRA Toronto Executive Councillor and 2024 IPA bargaining team member George Alevizos.

“As someone living with a disability, accessibility affects my daily life, and the employer should be more involved with making sure accessibility is in the forefront of their budget lines so that we all feel included in this industry. All members should care about disability and accommodations because disability is the one minority group that any member could become a part of at any point in their life or affected by it with a loved one or a co-worker. With our aging population in Canada, and with medical conditions becoming increasingly more complex for many individuals, know that we will be fighting hard for Accessibility in these negotiations. We’ve had decades of staying in the dark, and it’s time that we have a revolution in disability justice.”

Writers within Canada’s screen-based industries also face accessibility barriers. A 2024 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report published by the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) found that writers with disabilities see a significant increase in work opportunities when a single series in a production year focuses on characters with disabilities. It’s a continuing challenge for writers with disabilities to secure employment for content that is not disability related.^[7]

Looking forward

ACTRA Toronto’s commitment to creating a more accessible screen-based industry is outlined as a pillar of our 2024-2025 Operating Plan, which touches on many of the issues outlined in this article.

Our dedication remains steadfast, but we cannot do it alone. A more equitable screen industry should not have to be created exclusively through the act of collective bargaining – it requires an industry-wide commitment and willingness to foster change.