Accessible Futures Summit – Supporting d/Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent Talent in the Screen Sector  

By Bethan Jones, Helen Davies and James Davies:

On 10 September 2024, the University of South Wales hosted its inaugural Accessible Futures Summit, supported by Media Cymru and Creative Wales. Data reveals that in 2021 the proportion of disabled people in Wales was 21.1%1 yet according to research carried out by Media Cymru, the number of disabled people working on or behind the screen is significantly lower.2 The same research showed that those with a long-term health condition or disability held only 4.5% of senior roles in the film and TV sector. The Summit was created to address this imbalance and featured panels, keynotes, masterclasses, networking opportunities and exhibitor stands, highlighting positive case studies and what needs to be done to ensure the screen sector in Wales is truly inclusive.  

The Summit was led by and featured d/Deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse (DDN) speakers, hosted by Jake Sawyers, a disabled Welsh actor and drag queen who performs as Venitia Blind. Jake opened with a thought-provoking musical performance inspired by his lived experience of sight impairment, highlighting how disabled people are often seen as ‘inspirational’ or ‘brave’. Referred to as ‘inspiration porn,’ a term created by the late disabled comedian Stella Young, this underscores society’s view that a person cannot live a normal life with a disability, and that “being able to live with an impairment means the individual is overcoming their ‘suffering’” 

Following the performance, a short film commissioned for the Summit was shown, sharing experiences from DDN talent. It explained the importance of patience, support and understanding, along with promoting the role of Creative Enablers, themes which would be repeated over the course of the day.  

Keynote ‘Life Actually’ 

The stage was then given to our three keynote speakers, prominent activists and creatives in the industry, Andria Doherty, Sara Beer, and Kaite O’Reilly. All three reflected on their recent experiences in the industry and offered suggestions on how we can create more equitable and accessible pathways for DDN talent.  

Andria gave an honest insight into what it means to be a disabled actor, stressing the importance of being seen rather than being the token ‘disabled actor’. Sara, Director of Change at Craidd, an initiative to improve access and inclusion across the theatre sector, stressed the need to nurture the wealth of talent already in Wales. Award-winning writer and dramaturg Kaite noted how we need to celebrate and share best practice and understand what DDN talent are up against.  

The keynotes highlighted that the inclusion of disabled actors must be considered early on in productions as to ensure access requirements are met, and open and honest discussions must take place if we are to work together to make better drama. 

Field of Dreams  

Our field of dreams panel was chaired by Joe Towns, an experienced sports producer including the coverage of the 2021 Paralympic Games. Joe was joined by Carys Owens, Managing Director Whisper Cymru; Liz Johnson, former Paralympic swimmer; Giles Long MBE, Commentator and former British Paralympic swimmer; Omer Hagomer Reporter, Researcher and BSc Sports Media student, and Para-Sprinter James Ledger.  

Fresh off the back of this year’s Paralympic Games coverage, one of the main topics covered by the panel was the accessibility of workplaces and spaces. Covid demonstrated how remote working can be utilised in the large-scale coverage of sporting events, and in fact, the necessary adjustments made now offer opportunities for addressing both access and sustainability.  

In addition to remote working, we heard about the commitment Whisper Cymru made towards creating an inclusive workspace that placed designing for accessibility at its core. Through combining the practical elements of a custom build space designed with inclusion in mind the panel discussed how we go about re-addressing the balance. 

Inclusion Accelerator Report   

The Summit saw the launch of Gritty Talent’s Inclusion Accelerator Report, the first-of-its-kind project, with 10 Welsh independent production companies to establish an inclusive and impact-driven approach to how talent is nurtured and developed, supported by Media Cymru.  

Presented by Gritty Talent’s newly appointed COO Reema Lorford, the findings revealed only 32% of respondents considered their workplace an inclusive environment, with fewer than 50% being asked about their access needs by their employer. While comments from respondents suggested that the film/TV industry should be promoted as a viable career from a grassroots level, there was a clear need for more to be done to encourage inclusivity and a need to see more diversity in senior, decision making roles.  

Desperately Seeking Screenwork  

The launch of the report laid the stage for the next panel, Desperately Seeking Screenwork, comprising of Heloise Beaton (TV Access Project), Caroline O’Neill (BBC and DDPTV), Laurence Clark (Triple C) and Rosie Higgins (Unquiet Media), chaired by Reema Lorford. The panel focused on how to find, recruit, and include on and off screen DDN talent in productions and storytelling.  

Caroline spoke about her experiences as a Deaf Assistant Commissioner at the BBC and stated that access and inclusion should be everybody’s responsibility. She noted the importance of allyship and how this translates into action, offering the example of another commissioner who has learnt BSL to have conversations with Caroline.   

The panel acknowledged that the cost, or perceived cost, associated with accessibility was a real problem and noted that more needs to be done to draw employers’ attention to the Access to Work scheme and the funding that is available. Laurence also raised the topic of access audits and questioned whether the industry should adopt a stick rather than carrot approach and refuse to work with companies and organisations who are not already engaged with accessibility.  

Castaway  

The final session before lunch was a provocation about DDN actors missing out on TV & Film roles in Wales despite high levels of local production activity.​ Taking part in this discussion were Adam Knopf, producer of Lost Boys and Fairies, and Meg Bradley, Talent Agent at VisABLE People, one of the leading agencies representing disabled actors, presenters and models in the creative industries.  

For Adam, one of the biggest challenges is finding the depth of talent in Wales across all demographics. Meg highlighted that VisABLE People have seen an increased demand for casting disabled roles but argued that the best way to improve representation on screen would be to cast disabled talent in non-disabled roles.  

The topic of professional headshots was also raised with reference to the PROFILE scheme, a digital database of DDN talent. A similar initiative in Wales could help disabled talent attract the attention of casting directors. There is also an onus on disabled talent already established in the industry to play a part by spotlighting people that they know, resharing people’s profiles on social media and informing producers about new talent.  

A New Hope  

The penultimate panel of the day focused on the revolutionary projects and innovative work practices taking place in Wales.  ​Chaired by S4C’s Leader of Diversity, Sustainability and Social Purposes, Ryan Chappell, the panel was designed to show how content creation and accessibility can go hand in hand, and we heard from a range of people putting this into practice.  

Rhys Miles Thomas (Glass Shot) and Director & VFX Producer Paul Burke discussed their project testing accessible working practices anchored around Virtual Production with scenes from ‘We Dream of Nothing’. Steve Swindon, Creative Director / Founder of TAPE, presented his work with Final Draft to deliver an easy write screenwriting template that would empower neurodiverse writers in formatting their scripts.  

Actor, Writer and Bafta Cymru winner Mared Jarman spoke openly about her visual impairment and her successful career, including the forthcoming second series of How This Blind Girl, and Cai Morgan Head of Boom Social shared his experiences of delivering accessible media productions for Hansh on S4C and BBC through their efforts to support inclusive content creation by contributors.  

The panel highlighted how innovative work is being done in Wales to deliver accessible, high quality and entertaining productions. 

Doctor Who  

The Summit ended with a panel chaired by Jake Sawyers discussing how Doctor Who is approaching accessibility on set and on screen. Jake was joined by Jess Gardner, founder of Divergence Pictures and co-producer of series 15 alongside Phil Sims, the series’ Production Designer.  

Both Phil and Jess noted how accessibility needs to be a consideration from the outset to ensure access requirements aren’t just an afterthought, echoing the Summit’s keynote speakers. Accessibility and inclusivity are key components of the series and Jess, echoing the points made in the Castaway panel, described working with casting agencies to find DDN talent. Producers on Doctor Who are not given character breakdowns, which allows them to be open to the wealth of talent available and choosing the best person for the role, a practice that could be adopted by other productions to ensure DDN representation on screen. Accessibility is emphasised by showrunner Russel T. Davies, who oversaw the creation of a redesigned TARDIS that enables wheelchair users to easily access the time machine for the 2023 Christmas special. While inclusivity was the main driving force behind the new TARDIS designs, Phil noted how there were many other practical benefits, including easier mobility of camera and production equipment which benefits all crew.   

When it comes to set building, making things accessible does not necessarily have to cost more money; the most important thing is time.  Having the scripts early allows time to think about who is sitting where and why, what they need to perform well and how the set can be built to facilitate that. Adding more time into the casting process and training on set are also simple ways in which accessibility can be foregrounded in the sector. 

Similarly, when information is being gathered through pre-filming recces by locations teams, a simple but effective practice would be to circulate this information so cast and crew with access requirements know what to expect. 

However, it is not just in film and TV production that changes can be made, Jess noted how there’s a responsibility on the sector to offer feedback to partners like hotels, transport firms and caterers around access. The Doctor Who production team began talking about access requirements with hotels six months before shooting to ensure that accessibility requirements were not just an afterthought. A practice that could be continued by others in the sector. 

Next steps 

Several themes were highlighted during the Summit as areas of concern or needing further exploration.  

Cost was one factor which was frequently brought up as sources of funding are not clearly highlighted or understood. 

Further training was also something many delegates felt was needed and Media Cymru has already started to run inclusivity training with Heloise Beaton, as well as carrying out discussions with BBC Studios. Knowing where to find DDN talent was an area of keen interest, and more work is required on how to do this and what Welsh organisations can do should be continued. 

A number of connections were made at the Summit which we hope will lead to fruitful collaborations. Delegates were keen to attend future events, and the suggestion of a Wales-wide network was brokered.In the months following the event USW has launched new training which has prompted employers to reflect on and improve their accessibility practices and policies, building on what they learned and witnessed at the summit. Along with USW and Media Cymru colleagues, it’s refreshing to see the level of commitment to understanding the level of challenge for the sector and making a firm commitment to making it more inclusive for all. We’ll be posting future training opportunities and developments via Media Cymru, so do sign up for updates and we hope to see you at future events!  

Links: 

• Summit Website
• DDN showcase film 
• Media Cymru Workforce Survey 
• Inclusion Accelerator Report

Bethan Jones is a Media Cymru Research Fellow at the University of South Wales (and a Research Associate at Cardiff University’s JOMEC). Bethan is an expert in fandom, screen tourism, and digital dislike as well as editor of the journal Popular Communication journal. Bethan has also published a new book on The X-Files. 

Helen Davies divides her time between her role as Media Cymru Research Fellow based at the University of South Wales, and R&D Project Manager with the production company Triongl. She has a PhD in Sociolinguistics and Media Studies from Aberystwyth University and has worked on several collaborative R&D projects between industry and academia.   

James Davies is a Media Cymru Research Fellow at the University of South Wales. He spent the decade between 2005-15 working as a professional musician, extensively touring the UK, as well as Europe and the rest of the world.  His PhD research focused on entry-level experiences in UK television, and the impact of the process of negotiating entry routes on new entrants.