Blue Ant joins HireBIPOC initiative

Blue Ant Media is among more than a dozen organisations to have signed up to a new service designed to increase racial representation in Canada’s media industry.

Nathalie Younglai

The Canadian firms joins Bell Media, Corus Entertainment and Rogers Sports & Media in pledging to make the use of HireBIPOC a specific condition for the greenlighting of original productions.

Unveiled earlier this year, HireBIPOC is an industry-wide initiative to create meaningful change around hiring practices and to ensure a more inclusive workforce.

Since its launch last month, the HireBIPOC site has seen exponential growth in a matter of weeks, with over 3,500 members now registered, making it one of the largest rosters of black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) creatives and crew.

The HireBIPOC site has been designed and developed by the Bell Media digital team under the direction of Judy Lung on behalf of BIPOC TV & Film, which was founded in 2012 by writer/director Nathalie Younglai.

HireBIPOC will facilitate and increase BIPOC hiring in the country’s screen-based industries, whether Canadian or productions shot in Canada, in roles at all levels across all areas of the industry. This includes production above and below the line, behind the scenes, executives, communications and marketing, and on-air work.

Other companies to have recently joined in support of the landmark initiative include Pinewood Studios, TIFF and the Canadian Independent Screen Fund.

“Making systemic change is a group effort that needs to happen at all levels of the industry. We are encouraged by the commitment to HireBIPOC and we look forward to working with the growing list of industry and community partners to evolve hiring practices, training and increase job opportunities for members of the BIPOC community,” said Nathalie Younglai, founder of BIPOC TV & Film.