ITV £80m Diversity Commissioning Fund
March 17, 2022
ITV has announced plans to reserve £80 million (€72.1m) of its content commissioning budget over the next three years to drive change towards racial equity and disability equity. Of this amount, at least £20 million will be reserved for content made by Black, Asian and minority ethnic-led and disabled-led production companies.
ITV has also created a new £500k development fund to develop ideas that will qualify for the Diversity Commissioning Fund.
To qualify for the fund, productions must meet either the first criteria, or two of the remaining criteria:
- Diverse company ownership or leadership – senior individuals in company ownership or leadership roles (including through co-production partnerships) involved in shaping creative or operational strategy within the production company (e.g. Managing Director, Creative Director) must be Black, Asian or minority ethnic and/or disabled.
- Diverse creative leadership – at least two individuals in senior creative decision-making roles off-screen involved in shaping and making the programme (e.g. writer, producer, director) must be Black, Asian or minority ethnic and/or disabled.
- Diverse stories and portrayal on-screen – subject matter and stories are from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic and/or disabled perspective, and/or starring Black, Asian or minority ethnic or disabled actors in lead roles.
- Diverse salary spend – at least 20 per cent of total salary spend off-screen on the production must be on Black, Asian or minority ethnic and/or disabled creatives.
ITV CEO, Carolyn McCall, commented: “Today’s announcement builds on ITV’s Diversity Acceleration Plan. We want to keep up the momentum and drive more progress at ITV and across the industry, so that our audiences can see their broad range of experiences and perspectives reflected in our content.”
Ade Rawcliffe, ITV’s Group Director of Diversity and Inclusion, explained the new initiative, added: “ITV is committed to creating content by, with, and for everyone, connecting and reflecting modern audiences. We want more people of colour and disabled people to be able to tell their stories and get opportunities in senior production roles. With this reserve fund, we’re working to speed up progress in a sustainable way, and play our part to change the structure of the industry.”