The Disability Screen Office (DSO) has launched the first-ever national survey on disability in the Canadian film and television industry.

The online survey, launched March 26, runs until June and is part of the DSO’s three-year initiative to examine the barriers people with disabilities face in the labour market of the Canadian screen sector.

The initiative, titled ‘Mapping Representation and Barriers to Participation by People with Disabilities in the Screen-Based Media and Broadcasting Sectors,’ which the DSO is in year two on, is supported by Accessibility Standards Canada’s Advancing Accessibility Standards Research Program and the Canada Media Fund (CMF)’s Sector Development Support program. The organization has partnered with the Montreal-based equity organization Coalition MÉDIA and research firm Nordicity on the study.

Shaw Rocket Fund, Ontario Creates, Creative BC, Bell Fund and PictureNL have also provided support for the survey.

The survey is intended for anyone with a disability in the Canadian film and television industry; people with disabilities interested in working in the industry; those in the industry who may not identify with having a disability but still experience barriers due to physical, mental or learning conditions; and those in the industry who can share their experiences working with people with disabilities.

DSO executive director Winnie Luk (pictured) tells Playback Daily of the need to quantify the information the office has been receiving since its inception, not only around people with disabilities in the industry but in how the industry “creates a lot of disability” via accidents on set or mental health strains from 18-hour days, for example.

“It’s almost like a chicken and egg type of scenario because we really don’t know how many folks in this industry identify as being disabled,” says Luk. “Sometimes I describe our work as starting from below zero, because we also have this added layer of complexity where a lot of folks don’t understand or even know how to identify as being disabled.”

The results will be used for a research report and a best practices guide for disability engagement in the industry, planned to be published in December. It will also inform a report at the end of the three-year initiative the DSO will be submitting to Accessibility Standards Canada.

The DSO is also at work on an Industry Resource Hub, which will launch in two phases. The first phase, expected near the end of Q2 this year, will feature a variety of accessibility and disability-related resources for professionals and new entrants. The details of the second phase have yet to be revealed.

Beyond that, the organization is keeping plenty busy with developing a screen festival accessibility program in collaboration with Telefilm Canada and using Vancouver International Film Festival, Banff World Media Festival, Reel Asian Film Festival and Reelworld Film Festival as case studies.

Within that program, the DSO is creating a framework for Telefilm and “hopefully funders beyond on what they should be looking for in projects and applications coming into them, in making sure that those projects are also prioritizing accessibility,” says Luk.

“There are two newly funded initiatives from the office. The first, “being launched shortly,” is a four-part video series on provincial and federal legislation regarding accessibility. The second, for which “we have the bulk of the funding already,” from CMF’s Changing Narratives program according to Luk, is the creation of a production accessibility role and associated curriculum for the wider Canadian industry.

“This role should be inserted at the very beginning of a project,” she says, “So they have the opportunity to actually influence budgets and locations and scheduling, and the ability to train the whole team on accessibility.”

For all of these programs and initiatives, Luk notes the DSO consults with disability advisory working groups to ensure the community is involved. The DSO is also in the midst of hiring a new program manager, which would make the office five members strong.

Despite having all of these balls in the air, Luk is not under any illusion that the office’s work will be complete in the timeline of their initiative. Naturally, the DSO’s work will continue well beyond that.

“We’re just beginning this work. We’re just creating the very baseline of education and resources,” she says. “So in three years time, I hope that we are that much more accessible, that the industry is rallying and supporting and investing in this work, not just in the DSO, but in their own organizations.”

Image courtesy of the Disability Screen Office