Nutopia, Creative Access, National Geographic tackle senior-level diversity in TV
February 10, 2022
Production company Nutopia and Creative Access, the leading diversity social enterprise, are launching ‘Nutopia Partnerships,’ an ambitious new collaboration to address the under-representation of people from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds at senior levels in the TV industry.
As part of the new landmark programme, Nutopia is offering a unique opportunity, funded by National Geographic, for four experienced individuals to join the team on a multi-part multi year global adventure series.
Less than 10% of senior production roles in the UK TV industry are held by people from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds, according to the Creative Diversity Network. The Nutopia Partnerships initiative is the first programme of its kind specifically designed to tackle senior-level diversity in the industry and the first to be led by an independent production company. It is part of Nutopia’s ambitious new diversity and inclusion strategy spearheaded by CEO and Founder, Jane Root and supported by Creative Access, who work with over 450 employers across the creative industries to enable them to be more accessible, representative and inclusive through progressive recruitment, training and mentoring.
The Nutopia Partnerships will be an accelerator programme aimed at creating the next generation of creative leaders by offering a training opportunity to traditionally underrepresented groups.
From today candidates from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds, who have already taken on senior roles in TV and film. The positive action programme is designed for both the existing senior production team and the successful applicants to learn new skills and approaches. The successful candidates will receive insight and experience on the making of an episode from start to finish, under the guidance of senior leadership; deepen their leadership, financial and technical skills and have first-hand on location experience in the most challenging situations. They will bring new insights to our senior team, driving the next level of creative aspiration across Nutopia.
“While we are seeing progress being made to address diversity at entry-level in the TV industry, the lack of diversity at senior levels remains a serious and concerning issue and is a real barrier to the retention and progression of the new, more diverse junior talent coming in to the industry,” says Josie Dobrin, founder and CEO, Creative Access. “This new, industry-leading collaboration between Nutopia and Creative Access is designed to specifically target this issue. We are very proud to be working with Nutopia, as well as National Geographic to drive meaningful change in diversity at senior levels in the industry,”
“At Nutopia to achieve the next level of creative aspiration we need to invite people in and embed different voices and experiences in our core. We are proud to partner with National Geographic and Creative Access on the Nutopia Partnerships,” says Jane Root, founder and CEO, Nutopia. “Our aim is to create a lasting legacy within factual television across senior levels. There’s much work to be done, and we will continue to learn as we make progress through our most comprehensive initiative to date.”