Diversity front and centre at Edinburgh TV Festival as industry told to do better
Diversity and equality were at the heart of discussions last week, when TV titans rolled into Edinburgh for its annual festival.
Okay, so it was a virtual festival, but the flagship industry event tackled the issue head-on, centreing largely on disabled representation and black talent.
The timing could not have been better, with a new report revealing this week that disabled people who work in the British television industry are facing “consistent difficulties” when it comes to career progression, with 80% of those surveyed saying their disabilities have adversely affected their careers.
Jack Thorne gave this year’s MacTaggart Lecture. Pic: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Jack Thorne delivered this year’s headline MacTaggart Lecture at the event, slamming the TV industry saying it has “failed disabled people, utterly and totally.”
The prolific screen and play writer, who is known for projects such as His Dark Materials and Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, used the speech to launch a group named Underlying Health Condition, which will lobby the industry to be more accessible and a fund will be set up to pay for it.
Thorne, who was diagnosed with cholinergic urticaria (which makes sufferers allergic to their own body heat) also said that his disability is invisible, and “as a white man with all the privilege that entails… I have had opportunities that my disabled family have not”.
The push towards inclusion was underlined at the festival by the likes of streaming giant Netflix, which said that its policy of “show not tell” when it came to achieving its diversity goals was working, and that viewers can expect to see changes on screens in the next few years.
Vice president for original series Anne Mensah said that while the company is not “perfect”, it is “working towards it”.
The BBC also weighed in, with chief content controller Charlotte Moore agreeing with Thorne, saying of his speech: “I think it makes all of us say, ‘We know we’re changing but my God we’ve got to change faster’.”
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Hollywood firepower also became part of the conversation too, with Hamilton writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda saying the industry needs a “chorus of voices” and to attack the inequalities that exist.
“Some of it is really attacking that stuff systemically and supporting folks who are at the ground-floor level of this industry and making sure that a living wage exists, so that I can make a living doing the thing I love,” he said.
Racial inequality was also discussed at the festival – a year on from the Black Lives Matter movement and the conversation about having black voices more represented on (and off) screen.
Queer Eye star Tan France, who acted as the international editor of the festival, said the TV industry in the UK was “lightyears” behind the US, and that he feels tokenism has become commonplace in place of actual representation.
Tan France, (L) was the festival’s international editor. Pic: Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP
This was a view echoed by comedian London Hughes, who said that it shouldn’t take the death of an unarmed black man to get networks to employ black talent.
Hughes had previously criticised Channel 4 for its Black To Front initiative, which she described as “performative tokenism”, telling the conference: “The people in charge need to do more… I wish George Floyd didn’t have to die for Alison Hammond to get a slot on This Morning.
“She should have had it already.”
But these were the same conversations being had 12 months ago, and networks will now need to put their money where their mouths are and follow through on their promises of better commissioning policies and more inclusive hiring practices.
The past 12 months have been the gift that’s kept on giving when it comes to newly-coined words and phrases entering our lexicon.
But how well do you know the terminology that’s been all over socials in 2024? Can you sort your brats from your clean girls?
Test your knowledge with our quiz below and let us know how you do!
Entertainment
Dayle Haddon: Former Sports Illustrated model dies of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning
Dayle Haddon – the actor, activist and former Sports Illustrated model – has died from what authorities believe was carbon monoxide poisoning.
Authorities found the 76-year-old dead in a second-floor bedroom on Friday morning after emergency dispatchers were notified about a person unconscious at the house in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania.
A 76-year-old man, later identified as Walter J Blucas, of Erie, is in a critical condition.
Responders detected a high level of carbon monoxide in the property.
Investigators believe the leak was caused by “a faulty flue and exhaust pipe on a gas heating system”.
As a model, Haddon appeared on the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle and Esquire in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the 1973 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
She also appeared in about two dozen films from the 1970s to 1990s, including 1994’s Bullets Over Broadway, starring John Cusack.
Haddon (left) with Angela Merkel and Christine Lagarde (right) during a meeting of the Gender Equality Advisory Council. Pic: AP
Haddon left modelling after giving birth to her daughter, Ryan, in the mid-1970s, but then had to re-enter the workforce after her husband’s 1991 death.
This time, she found the modelling industry far less friendly: “They said to me, ‘At 38, you’re not viable’,” Haddon told The New York Times in 2003.
Read more on Sky News:
Olivia Hussey, star of 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, dies at 73
Working for an advertising agency, she began reaching out to cosmetic companies, telling them there was a growing market to sell beauty products to aging baby boomers.
She eventually landed a contract with Clairol, followed by Estee Lauder and then L’Oreal, for which she promoted the company’s anti-aging products for more than a decade.
She also hosted beauty segments for CBS’s The Early Show.
In 2008, Haddon founded WomenOne, an organisation aimed at advancing educational opportunities for girls and women in marginalised communities, including in Rwanda, Haiti and Jordan.
Read more on Sky News:
Andrew Garfield on baking cookies and his mum’s perfume
Disabled musicians demand greater inclusivity
Haddon’s daughter, Ryan, said in a social media post that her mother was “everyone’s greatest champion. An inspiration to many”.
“A pure heart. A rich inner life. Touching so many lives. A life well lived. Rest in Light, Mom,” she said.
Actress Olivia Hussey, best known for playing Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 production of Romeo and Juliet, has died aged 73.
She died peacefully at her home in California, surrounded by her loved ones on Friday, according to a post shared on her official Instagram account.
The message, posted with a sunset photo of Hussey in her youth, paid tribute to “a remarkable person whose warmth, wisdom, and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her”.
It went on: “Olivia lived a life full of passion, love, and dedication to the arts, spirituality, and kindness towards animals”.
Calling her a “truly special soul”, her family said while her “immense loss” was grieved, they would also “celebrate Olivia’s enduring impact on our lives and the industry”.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1951 to an Argentinian father and English mother, Hussey returned to London aged seven with her mother and studied at the Italia Conti Academy drama school.
Spotted by Italian director Zeffirelli in a stage show of The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie opposite Vanessa Redgrave, Hussey’s performance as Juliet aged just 15 made her a star and won her a Golden Globe.
Sixteen-year-old actor Leonard Whiting played her Romeo, with the pair going on to sue Paramount Pictures in 2022 for sexual abuse due to the Oscar-nominated movie’s nude scene.
(L-R) Franco Zeffirelli, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting in 1968. Pic: AP/Eustache Cardenas
The case was dismissed by a judge the following year.
Hussey would work with Zeffirelli again, playing the Virgin Mary in the 1977 TV miniseries Jesus Of Nazareth.
Appearances in horrors including Black Christmas and Psycho prequel Psycho IV: The Beginning established Hussey as a scream queen over the years.
Other notable appearances included Hercule Poirot movie Death On The Nile and Mother Teresa biography Madre Teresa.
Read more:
Andrew Garfield on baking cookies and his mum’s perfume
Disabled musicians demand greater inclusivity
Hussey was reunited with Whiting in the 2015 British film Social Suicide, which was loosely based on Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet.
Her daughter, actress India Eisley, played her on-screen daughter in the movie.
It was Hussey’s final screen role, according to IMDB.
Hussey leaves behind three children, Alex, Max, and India, her husband of 35 years David Glen Eisley, and grandson, Greyson.
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