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SBS partners with national screen agencies to champion off-screen diversity
17 November 2016
SBS today announces the launch of the SBS Diversity Talent Escalator, a new national initiative focused on increasing the representation of Australia’s diverse communities within the television production sector.
Partnering with seven of Australia’s screen agencies, Film Victoria, Screen NSW, Screen Queensland, Screen Territory, Screenwest, South Australian Film Corporation and the Tasmanian Government through Screen Tasmania, the scheme aims to address the current lack of career development opportunities for emerging screen practitioners and freelancers from different backgrounds, providing clear pathways for progression at all levels.
SBS Managing Director, Michael Ebeid, says: “Diversity is at the core of SBS. Driven by our unique purpose, we’ve been promoting the benefits of diversity in all its forms for more than 40 years. This new industry initiative builds on our increasing commitment, collaborating with screen agencies and producers to deliver positive outcomes, whilst also contributing to the sector as a whole, and will ultimately influence the way we tell stories on screen.”
The co-funded initiative sees SBS and the screen agencies collaborate with program producers to secure flexible, on-the-job, paid learning and immersion opportunities that span across SBS’s commissioned content slate, from documentary and factual entertainment to food, comedy and drama.
The initiative aims to promote more diversity in all of its forms, and is designed to help provide more opportunities for practitioners to be able to step up to the next level and progress their careers in the sector.