Deconstructing the Elephant

Report on the WIFT NSW Diversity Debate held at AFTRS on 16 September 2009

By Roanna Gonsalves

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, including the space within which this article is written and read.

Who is home? Who is away?

An Englishman recently told me that much of the UK’s ageing population are hooked on to the long-running Australian TV series Home and Away because it is full of white people, just like them. It makes them nostalgically imagine Australia as a pre-lapsarian monocultural UK. It is besides the point that this nostalgic imagining could be read by some as sweet post-colonial revenge. TV in the UK is multicultural.

At the recent debate entitled ‘Is diversity good for television’ hosted by WIFT NSW on the 16th of September 2009, Caterina De Nave, who is currently Executive Producer of Commissioned Content (Drama & Comedy) at SBS, seemed to confirm the reputation of this particular TV series.  She said that when Home and Away had a Thai character in one episode, the producers received thousands of complaints from people, she didn’t say from which part of the world, presumably protesting against this dilution of Anglo-Australian domination. “What are you afraid of?” she asked tongue-in-cheek as a New Zealander of Italian heritage herself, pointing out that most Australian television projected an image of a cautious, scared country.

That night, as I entered the darkened auditorium at AFTRS, I thought to myself that finally the wooden elephant in the room, that object that we have allowed diversity to become, would be examined, enjoyed, and played with. It’s tendency to repel would deconstructed, and then put back together in exciting ways, perhaps as poolside recliners we could have some fun on, or as frames on our walls holding our cherished images.  By hosting this debate, I thought WIFT put its money where its mouth is, and demonstrated its commitment to excellence in Australian media culture. It also seemed to tap into the current collective mood of media workers, judging by the interest and healthy attendance the debate generated. There were many positives to come out of this event. The very presence of the panel, all esteemed media professionals quite high up in the food chain, illustrated the power of this issue to generate meaningful discussion. Some of the ideas generated were interesting and workable, and I have taken them up in this article. The evening turned out to be quite entertaining, led by the affable Jane Roscoe. Admittedly it was always going to be hard to have a wide-ranging discussion in a couple of hours, and so there was almost nothing said about diversity in children’s television, no comments to a question about diversity in sport in the media, and total silence regarding diversity at the news desk, and diversity of media ownership, cross platform ownership and what that means for multicultural, globalised consumers of media product in Australia. These silences were lost opportunities to imagine and thereby to create a more diverse Australian media. For example, it would have been an interesting exercise at the debate, to visualize compelling television in the form of an Indigenous Australian grilling John Howard about the Northern Territory Intervention in 2007, or an Indian-Australian host of the ABC’s Lateline, or Channel Nine’s A Current Affair grilling the Victorian and NSW Premiers about the recent attacks on Indian students.

Making up is hard to do

But the first thing I noticed was the composition of the panel at this debate. It was quite an accurate representation, in terms of race and culture, not gender I have to stress  of the composition of power in Australian media. The flyer for this event couched the discussion in terms of race, culture, gender and age. Yes, there was Peter Abbott of Freehand Productions, who mid-way through the proceedings decided to stop apologising for his male point of view. The rest were Barbara Uecker who is Head of Programming and Acquisitions, Children’s TV, ABC, Caterina De Nave who is Executive Producer, Drama & Comedy at SBS, Kylie du Fresne who is partner & producer At Goalpost Pictures, all female executives from mainstream television, of Western European ancestry. There was no representation of alternative media, nor of the under 30 and over 65 demographic, nor of any Asian, South-Asian, African, Eastern European, Pacific Islander nor any other ancestry, nor of the gay/lesbian/transgender demographic, nor of people with special needs. Most notably, Indigenous representation was conspicuous by its absence. Penny Chapman who is head of Chapman Pictures, and also was Executive Producer of the film Blackfellas, and Darren Dale who is Co-Director of Blackfella Films had to pull out at the last minute. Their points of view, particularly that of Darren who is an Indigenous person, situated within and embodying the cultural spaces they occupy would have been very important to the ensuing discussion. It is a bit hard to have a meaningful discussion about diversity if diversity itself is unrepresented.

When silence is not golden

The issue of diversity in Australian media and society, or rather the lack of it, whether in terms of race, age, gender, ownership, has been the subject of academic research as well as the occasional column in the broadsheets. To name but a few, Sharon Verghis wrote ‘Beyond the Vanilla Universe’ about advertising courting the ‘rainbow dollar’ in the Sydney Morning Herald on March 26, 2001. More recently Ana Tiwary and Natalie Millar, both working in Australian film and television, wrote a strong article entitled The Diversity Dilemma, calling for more dialogue about diversity, published in Screen Hub on August 12, 2009. Tim Elliott, Erik Jensen and Ellie Harvey wrote a piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, on August 25 2009 called ‘Australian cricket ‘needs ethnic stars’. While the article attempted to air an important issue, I couldn’t help but note the speech marks around the words  ethnic stars, again objectifying and positioning ethnic stars as the other, different from the rest of Australian sporting stars, even if the speech marks were meant to indicate a quote. East West 101, that cop show on SBS that is so much more than a cop show, deserves all the AWGIES and Logies that are available. Yet it is still about a Muslim main character written, produced, and directed by non-Muslims. This is not to say that a community must only be represented by people from it. On the contrary I firmly believe in the universal right of any person to dip into the ocean of the sea of stories and speak in any voice they choose, of any people they choose. The makers of East West 101 deserve to be applauded and feted for daring to tell this story so compellingly and with such style. However, while the show deserves utmost praise for technical virtuosity on the part of its creators, and for powerful performances from the cast, it is still a show about Muslims ‘being looked at rather than looking back’ at themselves, to use a little out of context but not out of spirit, the words of Germaine Greer in her foreword to the 21st anniversary edition of The Female Eunuch. Given the history of Muslims in Australia, I wonder how Muslim writers, Muslim producers, and Muslim directors would tell their own cop story.
Not very easily, I have to say, with that wooden elephant currently in the room.
Sure, there are Muslim (and other ethnic) writers and directors in Australia. They would typically be first or second generation Australians, working on self-funded shoe-string budget projects while trying to pay the rent, educate the kids, learn the cultural and economic lingo, and defend their choice of occupation, if  unpaid after-hours filmmaking  can be called an occupation, to their aspirational communities, all usually without any family support. How would these people compete for the funding dollar against wave upon wave of experienced, august, white, film school educated, doyens of Australian media?

Heirlooms and other inheritances

Also present at the debate, to inaugurate Round 3 of the WIFT NSW Media Mentorship for Women, was the NSW Member of the Legislative Assembly, Virginia Judge, who is among other things the minister assisting the Premier on the Arts. She spoke eloquently about the crucial role mentoring can play, and how she would have greatly benefited from a mentor herself, had she had the opportunity. Similarly, it is the mentoring of emerging artists by experienced ones that is crucial if we want to nurture the next generation of truly representative television makers in Australia. WIFT’s Media Mentorship for Women, directed by Ana Tiwary, is a precious step in the right direction that must be defended and supported not only by political decision-makers but also by mainstream media. It would be a start for each network to have a policy on diversity which would include mentoring and affirmative action in the form of quotas for ethnic minorities in content creation, presentation and casting. The public school my children go to will be interviewing candidates for the Principal’s position. The school recently sent a note home to all parents of non English speaking backgrounds (NESB) encouraging them to apply for the NESB spot reserved on the interview panel of 5. Even the NSW Department of Education sees value in the voice of ethnically diverse minorities. Affirmative action in media related industries would encourage minorities to work in the media, create content that reflects contemporary Australian society, and aspire to positions of power in the media, instead of maintaining the status quo and the stereotype, by flocking only to the technical professions like medicine and engineering.

Many Australian kids are hooked on to the ABC Kids show Playschool. It is a wonderful example of the ability of ethnically diverse presenters and programming to magnetise the viewer. So I was very surprised when pretty early on in the debate, Barbara Uecker of ABC Children’s TV said “There is a problem finding writers from diverse backgrounds with experience”. This was a chilling echo of what hundreds of highly qualified migrants hear every day, at job interviews (if they get that far), or most often over the phone. “You have no Australian experience”, routinely interpreted by new migrants as code for “we don’t want you because you are not one of us”. The discussion continued along similar lines. One striking comment from the panel was that if you belong to a particular community then you have to tell their story, and this leads to ghettoisation. I noticed how this statement, and others like it, were received, as if it were stating the accepted truth. I thought about the assumptions implicit in an argument such as this. According to the unstated logic of such statements, the largest ghetto currently present within television would be the ghetto of Anglo-Australian content producers, compelled to tell the story of the community they represent. Yet, somehow this is not perceived as a situation that causes alarm. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2006, more than 270 ancestries were separately identified by Australia’s population. If ghettos are spaces within which communities find safety and comfort, then perhaps we do need more ghettos in television, ghettos replicating themselves, ghettos evolving along the way into stories that speak for each of the 270 ancestries in this ancient country. In their article ‘White diasporas: media representations of September 11 and the unbearable whiteness of being in Australia’ , Goldie Osuri and Bobby Bannerjee say:
“Through conquest, in the attempt to proclaim ownership over geographical territory, citizenship, as well as cultural discourses of Australianness, settler nationalism produced a racialised Australian, promoting an Australian way of life; most importantly, settler nationalism attempted to name itself as native.” (Pg 159)
To paraphrase Goldie Osuri and Bobby Banerjee, if Australia is multicultural, acknowledging the priority of indigenous people, then our allegiances are multiple and diverse. Yet white diasporas imply allegiances to a particular culture, namely white British and white American. We don’t think of the dominant Australian culture as diasporic, yet historically it is, and going by the content on mainstream TV networks, we can certainly see that it is.

Voting with the wallet

Then there is the question of economic allegiances. If Australian taxpayers are multicultural, then taxpayer funded Australian television bears a responsibility towards them. It also makes marketing sense to court the rainbow dollar, as Sharon Verghis pointed out in her 2001 article. Advertising has realised this and now it is not uncommon to see representations, if stereotyped, of diversity in Australian life. There was a suggestion at the debate, of following some US practices, where every network has a Vice President of Diversity, and there is 1 minority writer per show, among other affirmative action policies. As Caterina said “It’s another restriction on unbridled power, a notion of society demanding that taxpayers money be spent in a certain way, I don’t have a problem with that.”

What we see is what we don’t get

At the debate, some MasterChef-style Mystery Box Challenge questions about the lack of diversity in casting provided a spark of deconstruction of the wooden elephant. The answer from Peter Abbott was “”You can’t cast people who don’t show up for auditions”. Caterina jumped in here and said “It depends on where you audition”. Peter said “Westfield Parramatta”. Checkmate! Unfortunately at this point Caterina politely conceded the point.  Peter agreed that Asians were underrepresented on TV, but attributed this to the assumption that Asians (as if we were monocultural) don’t want to be in showbiz. The last time I looked, Westfield Parramatta had more people of Indian and Lebanese ancestry than any other ancestry. Being Indian-Australian myself, I can vouch for the presence of numerous drama queens and kings, and I’m not being facetious here, of Indian heritage in Australia. There is a long history of the performing arts and performers in India, including a circa 1st century BCE treatise on dramatic art called the ‘Natyashastra’ by Bharata. I have little doubt that even if the spirit of this erudite treatise hasn’t trickled down into the 21st century Indian diaspora in Australia, then surely the hip-thrusting cult of Bollywood has. Living at the coalface it is hard to imagine a lack of ethnically diverse Big Brother wannabes turning up for auditions at Westfield Parramatta. More a case of white diasporas acting as gatekeepers rather than a lack of interest on the part of minority cultures. How else can the casting of MasterChef purely on merit as some panelists noted, and resulting in such refreshing ethnic diversity be explained?

Can laughter make you cry?

Jane Roscoe pointed out that diversity seemed to be played out differently in comedy. Caterina replied that comedy is political, the best comedy comes from anger, and if you can make somebody laugh about a racial/social/cultural issue it somehow makes that issue more palatable. She added that you can say things in comedy you can’t easily say in drama. What Caterina said is certainly true, and can be seen in the surprising popularity of Isrealei TV’s Arab Work among Jewish audiences. It is a sit-com about an Arab family written by Isreali-Palestinian Sayed KashuaI, and aired in Israel. Yet the power of television can be harnessed to go further than merely desensitising people by giving them a cathartic burp of laughter, before they go back to the status quo. We need comedy in television to be the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down. But we also need television that grabs the audience not only by the collar but also by the pre-frontal cortex.
How do we get this if the elephant still stands, wooden and ignored?

Deconstructing the elephant

Kylie du Fresne said that when they auditioned for the TV series Lockie Leonard, although the main character was originally a white boy in Tim Winton’s work, an indigenous kid did the best audition and was cast in the lead role. No mention was made of his race, she claimed with satisfaction. While this noble effort must be and has been lauded, and recommendations have been made to promote such colour blind casting, it would be important to remember that we live in a world with a history of inequality and curtailment of freedoms. To refuse or be oblivious to the socio-cultural-economic minefield that that indigenous kid needed to cross before he could present himself to audition for the TV series and win the lead role, is to deny the historic, bloody, and continuing struggle of indigenous peoples globally and particularly here in Australia. To do this is to diminish our humanity.
It is not by this that we can represent ourselves and aim for freedom in all its avatars.
It is not by this that we can participate fully and freely as citizens of this golden soil girt by sea.
It is only by affirmative action, as has been done in the US that we can guarantee the representation of diversity by diverse people themselves. As Caterina said “You have to legislate or nothing will change.” Jane Roscoe must be commended for suggesting the reservation of training spots for people of diverse backgrounds, quotas at the production level. She is in a position of power at SBS to put her thoughts into action. It is up to organisations like WIFT, and individuals from ethnic minorties supported by their colleagues from the dominant culture to lobby for such change, to lobby Federal and State MPs for affirmative action, to lobby for quotas for ethnic minorities. This is the moment, with a black President Obama of the USA, with a Mandarin speaking white Australian Prime Minster Kevin Rudd who has a Chinese-Australian son-in-law, this is the moment for this change to be enshrined in legislation. To misquote Leonard Cohen’s Democracy, this need for change is
…coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin’
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away…

Moving on

For those at the debate and elsewhere who say “If we have quotas, they stay in their ethnic boxes, they never get out”, and “If we go on being tokenistic, put in people who are not good enough, it disgraces the community of that person”, and “There is no dignity in a woman being promoted because she’s a woman”, here’s a gentle reminder that it is passé to assume that diversity and merit can only ever be distinct. That argument has been had and won a long time ago. It is affirmative action that can address the imbalance of power and justice between the colonisers and the colonised, between East and West, between the ‘sophisticated’ and the ‘savage’. It is not reverse discrimination but compensatory justice. It is this affirmative action, especially on the part of the powerful Screen Actors Guild of America and their deals with major film producers to push for non-caricatured and accurate roles for African-Americans since 1946, and increasingly since the 1970s that has given us Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Salma Hayek and Lucy Liu, to name a few Hollywood actors of diverse ethnicities. It took decades, but it could be argued, that by the power of the media to influence the public, affirmative action in the American media has given us Barack Obama. And this is not considering his spectacular, orchestrated, globally televised presidential campaign.
Last week it took an American to point out to us that black face buffoonery is unacceptable on television. It is urgent that the historic imbalance of power be addressed by lobbying the government for affirmative action policies in the media, and the support of mentoring programs, and not left to market forces for the gap to get bigger between the haves and the have-nots. The responsibility lies not only with the legislations of politicians, but also with Australian media in general and the content creators of Australian television in particular. Television is not just a mirror of society but an engine, a processor of it. It is a vector through which the world absorbs the flow of power, of influence, of longed-for freedoms, of empowering change.
The diversity debate ended with the elephant in the room still standing, with diversity as an object still wooden and untouched. However it cannot be like this for long. It is on shaky ground. If the gushing viewer feedback on the internet is anything to go by, giving Jeremy Fernandez the opportunity to read the evening news has been a wonderfully timely move by ABC TV. Now is the moment for affirmative action in content creation, presentation and casting. As the tongue-in-cheek exchange between the two cops at the end of Series 1 Episode 6 of East West 101 goes:
Detective Zane Malik : So where to now bro?
Detective Sonny Koa: Uh, there’s only one way bro. Forward.
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Roanna Gonsalves is an Indian-Australian writer who has worked in film, TV, and journalism in India and Australia. She has received support from Varuna Writers Centre and a New Work Emerging Writers Grant from the Australia Council for the Arts to complete her first novel. Her short story based on the recent attacks on Indian students can be found here. She can be contacted at roannag@gmail.com.

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‘ On Aug 30, 2009, at a Sydney Opera House Talk, when asked for how long Australians must continue to publicly acknowledge the traditional owners of Australian land, author Thomas Keneally replied “Until justice is done”

” At the highest levels, the glass ceiling for women in Australian media has not yet cracked open.

”’Osuri, Goldie and Bannerjee, Bobby (2004), ‘White diasporas: media representations of September 11 and the unbearable whiteness of being in Australia’ , Social Semiotics, 14:2, 151-171

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Multiculturalism: on the screens, no more softly, softly

Screen Hub Article : Tuesday 11 August, 2009

We are all multicultural now, right? No, say Ana Tiwary and Natalie Millar, who are adding another forum to a discussion which is passing from generation to generation.

Nearly thirty years after the creation of SBS, the role of diversity in our screen media is becoming increasingly bizarre. On the ground, our society has become steadily more multicultural, as succeeding waves of migrants establish themselves, and their children move confidently into the wider world.

Ask any teacher about the changes in schools. Sit on public transport for a day. Look at the faces in any large workplace. Check the stamps on the passports of young travelers venturing beyond Australia. We live in a multicultural world.

But commercial television, and to a significant extent the ABC, still pretends Australia is a monoscopic, white bread society. SBS, starved under the Howard government, has not been rescued by the Labor Party, and grapples with acute financial distress.

This bland vision of Australia doesn’t reflect the audience. It avoids wonderful opportunities for story, tension and humour. It hides from the simple fact that some of our most dynamic drama on television comes from SBS, which is focused on intercultural stories. Think of East-West 101, The Circuit and Remote Area Nurse.

Most remarkable of all, Australian cinema at the moment is full of multicultural stories. Balibo, Cedar Boys, Samson & Delilah, Mao’s Last Dancer, The Combination, Stone Bros, Two Fists One Heart and even Australia itself all revolve around cultural identity.

Ana Tiwary and Natalie Millar have created an online forum about the current dilemmas of multiculturalism on screen. To participate in the discussion please click here, or here, via Facebook.

If you are in Sydney you are welcome to participate in the ‘Diversity Debate’ hosted by Women in Film and Television NSW at AFTRS on 16 September 2009.

Ana Tiwary is the founder/director of WIFT’s Media Mentorship for Women Program, and is a producer and director who has worked around the world, from Nat Geo to Bollywood. Natalie a Sydney based production manager, and is also undertaking an MA Research project in Indian film at AFTRS.

Together, they have researched and written this background document for the website.

The Diversity Dilemma

by Ana Tiwary and Natalie Millar

It’s strange that such a well-worn topic as diversity and multiculturalism on our screens should still be a sensitive issue that only the “brave” will tackle.  Yet we find ourselves here in 2009 still asking the same questions as has been asked time and again for the last couple of decades and finding we’re met with a mix of trepidation, frustration and occasional despair.  But we still have to question, have we arrived at a place in our screen and media culture where we represent diversity as a normal, everyday part of life and ethnic mixing, including indigenous Australians, as the norm rather than some kind of difference and ‘threat’ to a ‘mainstream’ Australian culture?

Diversity Dynamics in Society and on Screen

Diversity is a reality, it is dynamic and growing around the world as more people are migrating than ever before. Closing our eyes and living in denial will not make it go away. The sooner we accept diversity as a positive force rather than a problem, the sooner we will be able to recognize and use it’s potential. In a post 9/11 world the threat of violence arising from ethnic tensions, fear and suspicion caused by popular alienation is arguably greater than ever before, and the recent Indian student protests reminded us of what happens when minority voices are continually ignored. News about the involvement of four Australian citizens with Somali and Lebanese origins in the Melbourne terror plot, is the extreme to which social exclusion can take us. What has happened to the great idealism we felt 20 years ago as we envisioned a multicultural Australia, leaving our assimilationist and “White Australia Policy” days behind us?  It’s the sad truth that you may see more diversity on one train trip in Sydney than you would on a whole year of your commercial free-to-air TV screen. Why are we still stuck in this situation and what will it take for the mainstream media establishment to remedy it?  It would seem to make both social and financial sense to tap into the large part of our population being neglected by our small screen characterisations.  Cultural value and commercial success need not be mutually exclusive.

It’s a Black & White world

Australian culture is often painted in terms of either/or indigenous and white cultures. But what percentage of people living here at this moment actually falls neatly into these two categories?  Many of us have much more complicated ethnic and cultural identities than that. Can we accept the “Anglo Aussie” culture as but one face of our diverse identity?  We can absolutely embrace the core values that have come to define “Australian” such as fairness, equality, mateship, humour and a relaxed approach, while letting go of a stereotyped Aussie image. We think it’s about time we get real and represent ourselves as we really are.

Film director Helen Goritsas, who is working on a cross-cultural comedy ‘Alex & Eve’ believes that “It is important that we make Australian films about all Australians. I strongly believe it is crucial that we are able to express through our own cinema our own stories, stories that are at heart truly Australian and voice the concerns of our communities. Socio-political satire offers a wonderful vehicle through which to communicate difficult issues such as these.  It is a means by which we are able to hold up a mirror to ourselves and to our society and really look. In ‘Alex & Eve’ the stereotypes depicted serve to emphasize the central theme of the film, generational-frozen values. In a cheeky way these barriers are challenged and in so doing we hope to reduce the ignorance and misunderstandings that currently surround us about Greek, Lebanese as well as mainstream Australian culture.”

No drama in Drama

We can celebrate some diversity in the area of feature film with examples of Australian box-office success for films like Samson and Delilah and The Combination this year alone. With Cedar Boys currently on our screens and Mao’s Last Dancer to look forward to soon, comparatively cross-cultural stories seem to be fairing better than mainstream films. The popularity of these films is a clear sign that the Australian audience wants to see diverse representations and authentic stories. Will our mainstream TV networks take this as a hint and review their programming to reflect this evolving audience taste? And we thankfully still have SBS, but the low funding sends a clear message to the ethnic communities that the Government is not serious about social cohesion. If the SBS has to rely on advertising and ratings, it makes it more difficult for it to be committed to presenting diverse points of view and multiculturally aware stories. In the long run this will mean that SBS will loose its distinctive multicultural character. But what about the mainstream top-raters on TV?  Can we honestly say that we’re seeing healthy degrees of colour-blind casting and real-world diversity being reflected at us from our commercial free to air channels?  Or is it possible that we’re slipping deeper into a segregation of our popular TV audience down ethnic lines as we all too often fail to break out of stereotyped “Anglo-Aussie” character moulds?  Down at the local grocery store Greek cable TV plays in the background and our South Asian friends have switched off free-to-air in favour of expensive international satellite TV channels because they cannot relate to the mainstream fare. The Head of Programming at SBS, Dr. Jane Roscoe says “At SBS we are not driven by ratings, but guided by our Charter. The big challenge is really to represent the contemporary face of Australia in all it’s diversity. That means moving away from obvious stereotypes and recognising that there is more than one way to be ‘Italian’ or ‘Greek’ or Chinese’. The biggest challenge is in being able to serve all of these specific communities, whilst still be accessible and engaging to the broader audience.”

Conflict & Creativity

It’s a bit of an Australian myth that we shy away from conflict and avoid confrontation, and it is often all too much of a reality. But then isn’t enjoying difference and conflict resolution at the heart of the creative force that drives not just story, but growth, learning and social development?  There is no doubt that much can be gained both as creative professionals and as a society by choosing to engage with diversity in the stories we tell. In this way we can also develop a more real and inclusive picture of the everyday fabric of Australian life on our screens and contribute to the development of a more mature Australian culture and society that can embrace diversity and become richer for it.

Talking about how to deal with diversity in the scriptwriting stage script-coach Karel Segers says “Cultural stereotyping is not needed in stories as long as the writer signals the function of the character to the audience using the techniques of archetyping.” Karel adds “I feel that we have been preaching to the converted: films with an accurate representation of cultural diversity are rarely told in a way the mainstream audience understands them.”

Everyday Diversity

In everyday life Australia is made up of a very diverse mix and the majority of us accept this as a reality; a recent survey revealing 93% of Australians think we are in fact a multicultural society. In 2008 over a quarter of Australians were born overseas and more than one third have either one or both parents born outside the country. People from around 200 countries have made this country their home and over 200 languages are spoken here. However, compared to this mix in other sectors, employment in the audiovisual industries continues to have a much lower representation of this ethnic diversity. Melbourne based director Tony Ayres notes “we do see some of our diversity reflected in the mix of participants cast on reality TV shows, demonstrating that it’s not for a lack of talent or interest in participating in screen culture that we’re missing this diverse mix particularly in TV drama series.” One has to question - is something happening in the creative and commissioning processes that are ethnically selective or worse, actively exclusive? Believing we are a multicultural society is not enough in itself.  Belief in the value of it is something much more. Preeti Kannan, a media professional who recently migrated from UAE says “The truth is that multiculturalism exists here. However, it just exists. It hasn’t been integrated and included not just in the media but elsewhere too… Diversity is conspicuously inconspicuous in the Aussie media, politics, university faculties… just about everywhere.”

No Soft Solutions

An 11-year study into Racism in Australia by a collaboration of Australian universities found that 85 per cent of Australians acknowledge racial prejudice occurs in the nation with one in five claiming to be a victim of racist verbal abuse or related incidents. This should be reason enough for us to get serious about redefining what ‘Australian’ content means. We definitely need more Australian produced content but this needs to be inclusive of minority voices. It would seem that if we are to achieve a living, vital and diverse screen culture, we need some renewed policy intervention in the commercial sector.  We can again look at creating initiatives that encourage diverse participation in the mainstream industry. Community initiatives such as ICE (Information and Cultural Exchange) which operates in Western Sydney for example, are working closely with ethnic communities but how much of their work actually reaches the mainstream audience? Dr. Jane Roscoe says that “I think it’s also important that we identify new talent within various communities and where possible work with them to get their stories to air. The more diversity in our content producers, the more perspectives and points of view we’ll get in our television and online content. SBS is committed to screening stories that reflect the changing face of Australia, and part of this is nurturing creative talent that can do this.”  The other option is a top down approach.  Perhaps we need to consider measures that encourage commissioning in commercial networks and to consider diversity, and not just “leave it to SBS”.

Since majority rules, in any Democracy it is difficult for ethnic minorities to feel a sense of belonging to their adopted land let alone get their voices heard. Having said that Australia has the potential to turn this around and create an inclusive and rich society without having to give up its national identity. This is where the Australian screen industry can play a powerful positive role in bringing about change. Tony Ayres comments “I think that we need a comprehensive study of cultural diversity on our screens which factors in what has changed and what hasn’t, and government has to decide whether cultural diversity is genuinely important to Australian cultural identity, and therefore Australian culture… This may sound dogmatic, but it doesn’t have to be - it becomes one benchmark alongside many others… After being around this industry for the last twenty years and watching the same arguments about our screen content pop up year in, year out, I feel that the “softly, softly” approach won’t ever work.”

We think that a first step in this process is getting discussion re-opened around this topic amongst ourselves and to this end we’ve created a forum.  We’d love to hear your comments so please visit the Facebook group ‘Diversity in Australian Media’ and leave your comments :

http://www.facebook.com/group. php?gid=117260362838&ref=mf

If you do not have a Facebook profile you can join our online forum and participate in an open discussion here:

http://diversityforum. wordpress.com/

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BIOS:

Ana Tiwary is a filmmaker with a diverse background ranging from ‘Bollywood’ to ‘Nat Geo’ and has filmed across the globe from war-torn Liberia to Mumbai slums. Ana is the Founder/Director of the Media Mentorship for Women (MMW) Program and continues to work on projects that help tell untold stories.

Natalie Millar works as a production manager in Sydney and is also undertaking an MA Research project in Indian film at AFTRS.

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MMW FORUM @ SMPTE EXPO 09 | 10-11am | 24 July 2009

Event report by Nicole Hansson

“BRIDGING THE GAP”

WIFT NSW Media Mentorship for Women (MMW) presented a panel discussion titled: ‘Bridging the Gap - Empowering the Next Generation’

The forum moderator was Leisle Grant (Digi-media creative and i-mentoring moderator)

Forum speakers were Dr Jane Roscoe (Network Programmer, SBS), Lena Nahlous (Director Information and Cultural Exchange), David Opitz (Projects and Program Manager Metro Screen) and Tracey Lang (Course Manager, TTOC)

The essence of the forum reiterated the importance of mentorships within the industry for both emerging and mid – career professionals and the variety of ways these mentorships can take place.

Moderator Leisle Grant opened the forum with the general question about each speakers current mentorship opportunities.

At SBS, Jane Roscoe identified formal cadetships such as those in journalism with news and  current affairs as well as those in their legal department. Informal internships occur when someone is attached to specific programs and departments. Indigenous mentorships are encouraged for Indigenous Creatives that may be either early and mid career.

Lena Nahlous’ organisation is based in Western Sydney. “An incredibly culturally diverse area that needs opportunity and support to allow emerging and developing artists to tell their stories. There is a lack of infrastructure and people need access to equipment, skills and training”. The focus is on digital media and screen based work. Formal accreditation through partnerships with TAFE were mentioned. Such as Multicultural mentorships involving how to mange an Arts project.

Metro Screen’s David Opitz believes in “Acess and Equity”. Mentoring programs are for emerging film makers whereby people can get training, mentoring, equipment, cash resources and exhibition opportunities. The second tier is for Indigenous people (mid career level) to have the opportunity to create larger, well developed films. In a nutshell, “technical and creative support and encouragement”

Tracey Lang joined TTOC 18 months ago when she noticed a major shortage of technical operators and wanted to bridge the gap. The two areas of focus provided are the Grade One Certificate which provides the opportunity to be guided by a mentor and “gain that invaluable hands on experience”. The second area is for existing professionals wanting to up skill or cross skill within the industry.

Moderator Leisle Grant put the question to the speakers had they been mentored at some stage of their career and what experiences were gained?

Dr Jane Roscoe when briefly mentioning her academic background, noted that mentoring is built into this system where as in broadcasting it’s not necessarily so. She believes that of key importance is to “find people who find your passion and interest” and “building connections” Networking and building a group of people you can draw upon.
“Don’t think short term, think long term, every connection is important.” The mentors that she mentioned in supporting her asked the right questions and helped her to gather the right set of skills. David also reiterated for him the importance of “developing relationships with like minded people”.

Tracy Lang made the very interesting point that she could identify three mentors who had helped shape her journey but they would most likely not even be aware of this. “They empowered her and gave her responsibility”.

Lena Nahlous highlighted the importance of listening, talking to people, doing research, being sensitive and observing. She was struck by the impact of mentor programs in her work giving the example of new arrivals. African journalists from Sierra Leone had smuggled out footage but it was all video tapes on analogue. They were given support in changing it to digital and produced a documentary. One of these journalists has now ended up working in the industry as a result.

David Opitz added “it’s always about listening”. He discussed the importance of feedback and evaluation within the mentorship. “The industry is changing so be open-minded”. Look out for developing trends and where possible take it to another level. Eg Don’t just make a short film and leave it there”

Briefly, opportunities for possible training ground for young people coming into the industry were discussed; Reality TV and long running Soaps were named as possible avenues for people to learn the basics.

A brief Q and A followed giving the audience the opportunity ask questions of the speakers to expand on what had been discussed.

Jane Roscoe summarised the belief of all the panellists by “Helping the next generation find their place in the industry.”

The forum was energised with both practical information and excellent insights. It successfully validated the importance of mentorship programs, both formal and informal to not only empower the next generation but to make connections with this one.

WIFT: momentum on mentorship

by: Tina Kaufman

Screen Hub
Friday 16 January, 2009

The second round of the WIFT Media Mentorship for Women Program is now underway, and three new mentorship areas have been introduced: Media Law, Interactive Media and Location Management. Tina Kaufman has the details.

The program, which was launched at the WOW Film Festival in October last year, saw thirty-eight mentors come on board for round 1 in a number of different specialities.

When she launched the program at WOW, Tania Chambers, Chief Executive of NSWFTO, said that everybody she has spoken to `who has either had the opportunity to be mentored by somebody, or who has been involved in mentoring, talks about the fact that it is a two way experience; that the people who are there as mentors get invigorated, inspired and enthused and actually get to see the world in a slightly different way.’

She added that she hoped the program would continue to expand and extend beyond the initial two rounds, and was very proud that the NSW FTO was a sponsor.

In fact it was a remark made by Tania Chambers at WOW in 2007, when she commented that WIFT should consider reviving its mentorship program, that initiated the process. Ana Tiwary, WOW technical director, who had only arrived in Australia earlier that year and had joined WIFT because she’d been a member of WIFT in Washington DC, was activated by that comment. She had felt that a mentor would have been a help in her first months in Australia, and went to the WIFT board, suggesting the program (which WIFT had last run seven years earlier) be revived.

Although the program had been successful in the past, the board was not willing to commit immediately, but they did encourage her to do more research. She spent three months looking at other mentorship programs, past and present, local and overseas, and talking to people who’d been through such programs as either mentor or mentee. (Can someone think of a better word? Mentee is awful!)

When she went back to WIFT with a detailed proposal, it was the surprise promise of an immediate sponsorship of $500 to kick-start the program from an enthusiast at the meeting that clinched WIFT’s agreement. NSWFTO soon came on board, while the City of Sydney promised free venue hire for events and functions. A number of other sponsors have since been found, but the program would welcome more – at this stage much of the work is done by enthusiastic volunteers.

Responses flooded in after a call went out for expressions of interest from mentors, mentees, sponsors and volunteers. `I’ve been waiting for this for years!’ was a frequent comment, while there were a number of women who’d actually joined WIFT because of its mentorship program, only to find it had been discontinued. Ana Tiwary had expected applications from women in regional areas, and from women with few contacts, but she was surprised to find many from women working in more mainstream areas who still felt the need for a mentor.

With help from a team of web designers from Israel who are now in Australia, a targeted website was attached to the WIFT website - `it’s warm, friendly, youthful and creative,’ says Ana Tiwary – and a call for applicants was sent out in July. The matching process took place in August and September, and the first round matches were announced at WOW in October, followed by a Work/Life Balance discussion and a networking session as the first official events.

While the program has attracted mentors from many different areas of the industry, from scriptwriting and cinematography to sound design and editing, 22 of the applicants were actually teamed up with people they had named as preferred mentors, who enthusiastically joined up when approached.

The rest of the 38 applicants to be matched up in the first round were teamed with mentors who had come forward independently. Industry professionals including Piet De Vries, Robert Humphries, Jessica Douglas-Henry, Susan MacKinnon, Guy Gross, John Edwards, Tom Zubrycki, and Laura Sivis, together with overseas mentors US-based Laurie Scheer, UK based Anna Reeves and Anjum Rajibali from India, came on board for Mentorship Round 1.

Ana Tiwary says, `the most vital part of our program is our mentors, and we are extremely grateful to them for contributing their time and sharing their wisdom with the next generation of women filmmakers.’

Agreement forms between mentors and their protégés set out how many times they meet and how many days they spend together. The mentorships are normally six months, but for some very busy mentors they can be restricted to four. `Once it’s set up, we let them work out the details,’ says Ana Tiwary, `and there is a mid-term evaluation and then a final evaluation – and, hopefully, a certificate.’

The program is just about to hold its first evaluations, but they have already had some feedback – and are asking for more. `We’ve already learned a lot, and we’ve made some improvements, but I’m surprised and pleased at how well it’s going,’ she says.

Deadline for Round 2 is 6 February; guidelines and the application form can be downloaded from the website where there is also much information about the program and about those already taking part.

The program will establish mentor relationships between industry professionals and women who are seeking to further their careers in key technical areas such as Cinematography, Editing, Sound Design, Music Composition, Directing, Script Writing, Animation, Location Management, Media Law, Interactive Media and other areas in which women are consistently under represented.

All applicants will be invited to attend free workshops and forums and will have free access to the online forum i-Mentoring, as well as to podcasts of events. This is proving very useful for the number of applicants from regional NSW who do feel isolated. They can pose questions they have on a range of issues, including careers advice and technical concerns, and mentors are being encouraged to participate in this process.

Applicants will be welcome at the program’s upcoming events, including a talk on media law by Sonia Borella and Cathy Hoyle at Holding Redlich (6-8pm, 21 January), scriptwriting workshop with Karel Segers at the Rex Centre in February, and the cinematography workshop with Piet de Vries at Getting Creative in March.

Tina Kaufman
Tina Kaufman is a freelance writer on film and media issues who was editor of ‘FilmNews’ for seventeen years. She is now an Honorary Life Member of both the Sydney Film Festival and the Film Critics Circle of Australia.

news@screenhub.com.au
http://www.screenhub.com.au

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Ten Tips for Memorable Musical Collaborations

by Annette Golden

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As Film/TV composers, we constantly finesse our skills and studios to meet any number of diverging musical demands- probably the most rewarding aspect of composing in a collaborative world is that your creative talents and ideas keep growing with each new project.

Achieving the best musical outcome for any production is obviously about great communication with the director and other core team members, especially editors and sound designers.  Early involvement is perhaps the most important single element in building the basis for this communication. But how do you get that early involvement, when more often than not, the assumption is that you only need to “add your bit” after most of the key creative decisions have been made.

If you take a few initiatives, you might help in changing this assumption. Here’s a few practical ideas that have come from short film collaborations with fellow AFTRS Grad Dip students this year. While they are directed mainly to composers, there’s plenty here for directors, producers and other core team members as well.

1. Ask for a copy of the script - even drafts in early stages will provide the general story, characters and emotional tone and mood of the work.  You may even get ideas for a sound palette immediately, or, if not, it will at least encourage you listen to and gather ideas from other sources. It may also suggest blends of instruments or synthetic sounds sources, that will help kick off discussions with the director and producer regarding budget for musicians, licenses etc.

2. Ask the director/sound designer/editor for any sound references that resonate for them - this can be ideas from their favourite movies, bands, YouTube clips, other projects that relate to the mood, emotions, characters, storyline.

3. Collect other references from the cinematographer, designers, such as stills, costume and set designs.  Often, the director will have this together as a package, so don’t get left out of discussions involving these resources.

4. Get together with the director, producer, rest of the crew for a script read-though and discussion of the production schedule- this is not just a great excuse for a wine and pasta night!!  Throwing ideas around can identify areas where music cues will take centre stage, and others where silence is golden! And you can all laugh at each others really bad acting!

More importantly, composers and sound designers can identify areas where they will work closely together. Encourage everyone to bring their reference examples, such as sound textures, stills and designs with  rhythms, emotions, moods, colours and characters that resonate.

5. At any stage send the director/producer/sound designer/editor your sketches as they evolve - this could be as simple as emailing short ideas and motifs on MP3, with a brief explanation regarding the context, meaning and why you think they’ll work. Even before any film has been shot, you can prepare a montage of themes and rhythms.  This is really useful for the director and cine, who may incorporate these ideas into further script edits and shot lists.

6. Visit the set/attend a shoot - Sometimes the actors, and overall look and feel of the set and locations/atmos will encourage all sorts of creative associations and ideas that can suggest instruments, timbres and rhythms.

7. Yes, the looming spectre of temp music… can make you shudder, but how about getting in first with your own original music or other existing score that works for you. Then have another discussion with the director and editor about what can/can’t be achieved and where other musical resources, such as musicians, will fit into this.

8. If you get that recording day, make sure you invite the director, sound designer and other interested team members – and enjoy the work in progress.

9. Take the opportunity to explain why you think the music works - but also be open to suggestions from the director and sound designer.  Often, the challenge may be more about finding a common language to express ideas- talking in terms of mood and emotion as well as pace, rhythm and feel- eg, do you want more of a contemporary rather than classical feel, or a combination of these ideas.  Are you thinking about certain instruments, rhythms  and sound references?  Referring to specific examples of music can really keep the conversation on track!

10. Let the director/team know you want to be part of the post-sound mix - This way, there’ll be no surprises later on, and you will have the opportunity to give your point of view in regard to any issues that come up within the mix for your music.

I’ve put most of these ideas into practice, and have found that they really help not only in developing your creative approach but also in building relationships with the rest of the crew.  Nothing helps good communication and problem resolution more than a bit of “history” together. If you have any other thoughts and experiences on building dynamic director/composer relationships, it would be great to hear them.  I would also like to thank the AFTRS staff and students who have contributed their insights and experience to this list!!

Annette Golden - Bio

Annette Golden is a composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist currently completing a Graduate Diploma in Screen Music at the Australian Film, Television & Radio School (AFTRS).

At the beginning of 2008, Annette returned to her first love music, following a successful 10-year career in corporate law. During (and more often in spite of) her career in law, Annette maintained her enthusiasm and commitment for music by composing, performing and arranging for small ensembles, as well as playing and recording on the violin for various indie bands.  Annette also maintained her passion for musicology and world music gleaned from her earlier B.Mus. studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Annette is now furthering her composing and music production skills, and is very keen to work with other artists and media forms including Film, TV, Theatre and Dance.  You can listen to examples of her work at www.artofobserving.com and http://musicakg.blogspot.com/ as well as www.myspace.com/annettekgolden

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State of the Industry
Is Gender an issue?

Is gender an issue? On the surface things look so much better. There are now more women working in the media industries and there is a far greater range of representations of women on screen. There are women in top positions in Networks, funding bodies and production houses.  On the surface it looks as if numbers are up, that things are looking good, so, can we relax our stance on the gender issue?

Media discussions of women in the public eye still seemed to be framed by rather conservative discourses. Why do we care if the PM’s wife has lost a few pounds? Should we judge a reality TV contestant by how she looks? Can we only offer audiences one version of womanhood on TV?

Perhaps this would be different if we had more women working in the key creative roles. It’s not only about the numbers of women on the industry, but what sort of access we have. Look at the credits for TV drama (if they haven’t been squeezed!) and try to find a female amongst them. Only 24% of Directors are female. How many female DOP’s do we have currently working in the industry? Very few, 6% of DOPs are women.  The numbers are low and are dropping. In 1996 26% of Editors were women, by 2006 it had dropped to 23%. It’s the same story across the industry – Female Sound Technicians have dropped during that time from 15% to 10%, and so on.  The statistics are even worse in areas such as Sport, Gaming, Animation and Music. The reality is that is now harder than ever to be a woman in the Film and Television industries.

The fact that the director or DOP is female won’t necessarily mean that we will change the way women are represented, that’s perhaps assigning a burden of responsibility to large for individual to bear. But, surely, that’s one way in which we can do something to change perspectives and broaden debate.

Women In Film and Television (WIFT) NSW is an organisation that is dedicated to helping women gain access to those technical and creative roles. Through our Mentorship Program for Women we are matching women with experienced and influential men and women who can help change these patterns.  Our association with SMPTE is helping women get valuable skills and support in technical areas in a fast changing landscape. Through the WOW film festival we can showcase the wonderful work women are making, and our Café Connections sessions give ample opportunities for networking. But, we all need to do more.

We need to think about practical solutions. While it is not about forcing people to employ women, maybe we need to revisit a quota system for training? How can the industry guilds work more effectively together to help women gain better access?  It is about creating an industry where women have equal access to training and opportunities. It’s about providing space for other voices and perspectives. WIFT NSW is helping women make connections and broaden their networks within the industry. It is about the numbers, but it is also about how to get women into the areas in which they are seriously underrepresented. It is about gender, but as  importantly, it’s about creating an industry that is vibrant, diverse and sustainable, and giving more women the opportunity to participate in that. Let’s face it, men and women working together to create a stronger and more dynamic industry – it’s a win-win for us all.

Dr Jane Roscoe
President
WIFT NSW

Global TV Trends – A snapshot from MIP TV

Talk by Jane Roscoe

Numbers were down at April’s gathering of the international television industry, but you couldn’t tell from our schedules. It was still a week of back-to-back meetings, pitching, buying and selling. There was evidence of the impact the GFC – some companies were absent this time round (Warner Brothers, for example), and some companies brought teams half their usual size (MTV, ITV/Granada). Development slates seemed to be suffering with some of the major distributors holding back on bigger projects and waiting for the LA screenings to launch new pilots. Of course, we can’t blame this all on the GFC, drama in the States is still suffering the after effects of the Writers Strike.  Broadcasters such as Channel Four and the BBC talked about having less on the development slate, but being more focused in terms of what was being commissioned. There was a greater emphasis on domestic stories that would connect with their core audiences, and would work for the Broadcasters schedules. With revenue down across the board there seemed to be fewer opportunities for ‘risk taking’.

Collective wisdom tells us that when times are tough, TV is a winner. People stay home more, and need to be entertained. Yet, a recent study conducted in the UK suggested that during this recent economic downturn people are not turning to their TVs for comfort. But, at MIP, it seemed that it wasn’t all bad news.

Positive feel-good television was still scoring points at MIP.  The ‘fish out of water’ formats swapped families, cultures and power structures to give a fresh look to everything from finding a partner to understanding your finances.

Nostalgia ran high with many dramas focusing on the ‘good old days’, and anything to do with money was hot. Of course in the current context we want to be both informed about the GFC, what it is, how we got here, and what we do about it, and  at the same time, we want to escape into ‘yesteryear’ when times were not so tough. There was plenty to satisfy both.

The recent boom in eco-programmes, and the slow food movement have also prompted more formats exploring ways to ‘grow your own’, and understand where your food comes from. There were also many documentaries exploring the economics of our food and clothing, the journey from factory to shop.

Reality formats are still big news, from the Idols and ‘So You Think You Can dance, and Masterchef, to spin offs such as Britain’s Missing Model which puts disability on the catwalk.

There is no denying that times are tough, but there are real opportunities too. European broadcasters are looking for international partners, and we are all trying to find new ways to fund our content. It’s a good time to make new alliances and to look towards new territories for partners.

With MIPCOM just around the corner it will be interesting to see how the mood has shifted when we descend on Cannes in October.

Jane Roscoe