Diversity among TV writers is up but glass ceiling remains: Writers Guild of Canada

TORONTO – The Writers Guild of Canada says television writers’ rooms are getting more diverse, but there still seems to be a glass ceiling for marginalized groups.

The guild released its equity, diversity and inclusion report Monday, which says the percentage of diverse writers working in TV jumped to 35 per cent in 2021 from 18 per cent in 2017.

The guild defines diverse writers as those who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of colour, LGBTQ or disabled.

It says the jump between 2017 and 2021 is largely due to more writers who identify as people of colour and Black working in TV.

However, the guild says these writers are not necessarily getting high-level roles: in live action, the report says, diverse writers represented 48 per cent of those in writing rooms, but earned only 33 per cent of writing credits.

In animation, the report says diverse writers made up 30 per cent of the staff but held only 25 per cent of writing credits.

The guild says there are also some groups that did not see gains in writers’ rooms, including Indigenous people, who held 2.5 per cent of jobs in 2021 compared to 4.2 per cent in 2017.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2023.

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