The discussion "Series content: Leading the way to diversity and inclusion" was held on Sunday, November 5 at MOMus - Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, as part of the Agora Talks of the 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The goal of the discussion was to highlight the best practices of representation and inclusion in the series and the way these series can be ensured throughout the creative process, from the conception of the idea to the materialisation of the production and its distribution to the audience.
The speakers were Peter Carlton Producer, CEO Warp Films (UK), Caroline von Kühn Executive Director - Oxbelly (USA), Konstantinos Sousoulas Chief Content Officer, Mega TV (GR) and Yiannis Donos (Original Content Manager & Head of Acquisition, ANT1+ (GR). The panel was moderated by Zac Ntim Deadline journalist (UK).
Angeliki Vergou, head of the Agora, prefaced the discussion, welcomed the audience and introduced the speakers. Yiannis Donos was the first to speak: "Four of our recent productions focus on diversity and inclusion. In the past, some topics were taboo on Greek television and we could not include such series in the TV programme, we had to choose the safe path. A few years ago, a colleague suggested to me a 10-episode series different from the rest; a gay man would be starring. It was George Kapoutzidis' Serres and it was exactly what we were looking for."
Peter Carlton spoke about the need not to treat diversity and inclusion as something marginal, but as something ordinary: "In Great Britain, the audiovisual productions field is full of people coming from a specific academic and social background. Anyone from a different background must work twice as hard to become a part of this world," he said. Speaking about This is England, one of the films he worked on, he said: "It's a film on England’s skinheads that conveys social messages, though it doesn't make reference exclusively or directly to such topics, but touches on identity issues. It attracted audiences not because it touches on social issues, but because it is interesting. My intention is not to underestimate the importance of these social messages, but I believe that no one watches a film or a series exclusively because of one particular topic (social class, social identity, racial discrimination). We don't have to condense the whole structure of a character around their minority characteristics, but we have to somehow bring them to the forefront."
Konstantinos Sousoulas then talked about Maestro in Blue and Milky Way and the risk behind funding new and more out-of-the-box pilot series: "When we decide to include such series in our programme, we do not focus solely on promoting diversity, but we do it because we really like the script. After all, our research shows that it is wiser for commercial reasons to approach and produce these kinds of series, as their target audience has increased. Ultimately, it all comes down to how good a script is," he said. He commented that in television there was always discussion and disagreement between two opposing sides and the job of producers is to listen and build bridges.
He also talked about how certain series of a protagonist with mobility difficulties are much more expensive to produce than others. In this regard, Peter Carlton commented that there is no such thing as "normal production costs", though there is only just one cost that is considered normal: "Let's not fall into the trap of thinking that inclusive stories are more expensive," he said.
Caroline von Kühn spoke about the work in United States to diversify writers rooms over the years from what used to be historically all white male writers. "It began as talks about who is not in the 'room', and now has evolved into who has power and agency in the room itself. It's about the way you're invited to enter the room and how much power you really have when you walk into it or if your role is that of a puppet." She said that when rooms first began to be diversified, writers of color from any community were asked to represent all non-white characters, which was equally problematic, citing the example of an Asian woman being asked to write the character of a Black man since she was the only writer of color in the room. "There was an oversimplified view of identity, which continues to improve and deepen each year in the industry " she noted. She added that it is great to see the change in the demographic of the audiences in the US also affecting the composition of the writing teams and stories being told, resulting in a shift in power dynamics and greater, diverse work being made and seen.
"You mentioned that the story should reflect the real world. Our starting-off can be summed up to the following: Those who write the story should provide a solid representation of the real world," Peter Carlton agreed, pointing out that it's not a simple process of quota commitments: "We look at our lists of screenwriters because we want to make sure we share the same opportunities with everyone," he said. He also touched on the interaction between writers and audiences: "Think you're at a social event. You have to check if people are bored, if they are scrolling on their phones or if they are bothered. Try to find something each member of the audience can identify with." Konstantinos Sousoulas agreed and stressed the importance of demographic data and how they are used in the decision-making process in television: "We have two new game-changing factors, as minorities keep gaining ground, and secondly everyone can live stream, creating room for new human stories," he concluded.
"The trick behind hit series is to make something that people wouldn’t know they probably wished for, not the sequel to the same thing they watched last year. Nobody knew they wanted to watch Stranger Things or the Wire or Breaking Bad before they were released," Peter Carlton said. He concluded by saying that the most important channel of communication is the one between the data and the statistical info and the creators of content. This is the only way to have a television product that meets the audience’s demands and desires. Finally, Zac Ntim, the moderator.
