The TV Foundation launches unit to attract more working-class talent into industry
Gemma Bradshaw will head The Impact Unit
ETVF: Edinburgh TV Festival-owner The TV Foundation has launched an initiative inspired by tonight’s MacTaggart Lecture, delivered by playwright and dramatist James Graham, to bring more people from a working-class background into the UK TV industry.
Following over 18 months of preparatory work at The TV Foundation in this area, the charity has launched The Impact Unit to create a permanent function to, initially, focus on improving levels of representation of class and social mobility within the business.
It comes after a recent survey from the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre found only 8% of people working in UK television came from a working-class background. This contrasts with research that has shown between 46-49% of British people identify as working-class.
The Impact Unit will build on The TV Foundation’s existing career development programmes, working with talent who, for a variety of reasons, find barriers to progression.
Initially, working in the area of representation of class and social mobility, the unit will create a pan-sector working group in September that will be open for applications; contribute to developing measurements and monitoring, which speak to the specifics of the sector; and highlight the organisations in TV who are ‘class confident’ and establishing a set of expectations that employees can consider in career planning.
It will also recognise the Edinburgh TV Festival’s own role in dismantling barriers to networking and connections; introduce a Social Mobility Bursary for the TV Festival to start in 2025; and report on progress at the next TV Festival in 2025.
The unit will also develop its new stream of work to look at TV content with purpose; initially focusing on the climate crisis, working with industry leaders to find new ways to put more and better climate storytelling on our screens.
The Impact Unit will be led by Gemma Bradshaw in an expansion of her remit since joining the TV Foundation last year from One World Media.
Campbell Glennie, CEO for the TV Foundation and the Edinburgh TV Festival said: “The MacTaggart Lecture is unique in its power to effect change and influence conversations taking place in television. James Graham’s brilliant speech today joins the ranks of those most resonant of speakers who have been willing to reach inside themselves to make a difference.
“The launch of the Impact Unit is the culmination of months of work evaluating what the TV Foundation can be doing to address pressing issues head-on. We want to provide a collaborative umbrella to take forward all the intersectional issues around class and social mobility that we are exploring this week at the Festival and convene a passionate group of people to effect real change. Edinburgh is a brilliant marker for progress and we’re looking forward to supporting those who are also hungry for a fairer industry.”
