The Creative Equity Roadmap is developed in partnership between Creative BC and Elevate Inclusion Strategies. This resource was developed as an industry-focused support to increase cultural competence and inclusive practices within the motion picture industry's businesses and systems. It complements the Creative Pathways project, which is focused to serve British Columbians seeking access to careers in the motion picture industry.

The Creative Equity Roadmap is intended to serve Justice, Equity, Decolonization, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDDI) work across the motion picture industry in B.C. It is:

    • a starting point, an invitation for collaboration and a contribution to the many important public materials being generated;

    • focused on supporting industry - the creative businesses, organizations and companies, recognizing that employers, labour organizations and industry associations have a particularly important role to play in changing systems;

    • intended as a practical approach, offering a high level framework for understanding the steps required as an organization for advancing the principles of Justice, Equity, Decolonization, Diversity and Inclusion;

    • offers a shared language and method centering on Commitments and People Practices by which B.C.'s motion picture industry may collectively consider and advance the principles of Justice, Equity, Decolonization, Diversity and Inclusion;

    • seeks to amplify the growing network of resources available in B.C. and Canada to support our collective work in this evolving field.

Home 5 CER Blog 5 TRANSform HOLLYWOOD A guide to creating trans-inclusive culture

TRANSform HOLLYWOOD A guide to creating trans-inclusive culture

Creative Equity Roadmap

We know that the best storytelling is diverse storytelling. Studios and production companies are bringing more people into the creative process, hearing their stories, and creating better films and TV shows because of it. It is time for transgender people to be included in this conversation. The unemployment rate of trans people is 3 times the national average – and 4 times for trans people of color. Thirty percent of trans people live in poverty – twice the national average. Perhaps most alarmingly, 40% of trans people report attempting suicide, compared to 4.6% of the general population. That’s a lot of negative information, but it helps explain why transgender people are pushing so hard to be heard.  

In the US, 80% of people say they don’t know a trans person in their family, workplace, or school. That’s where Hollywood comes in. Hollywood tells the stories that help people understand how to feel about themselves and how to feel about people around them who are different. As Roger Ebert said, film is an empathy machine. We know projects like Ellen, Will & Grace, Brokeback Mountain, Milk, and Moonlight helped break down stereotypes about gay and lesbian people, and the timeline for marriage equality would have been remarkably different without them.  

We are at an unprecedented cultural moment — a moment when Hollywood can use its power to improve the lives of trans people by changing America’s understanding about who trans people are. This is about more than diversity and inclusion. It’s about empowering trans people and sharing with us the tools and access that have been offered to you throughout your career. It’s about offering people who are different from you the confidence and the sense of belonging that inspires the very best art.  This guide, created by GLAAD and 5050by2020.com, is an invitation to begin co-creating this future by changing the way trans people are portrayed in media and culture. Empowering trans people to help culture makers tell authentic stories will improve how trans people are treated in the real world. Let’s work together to create a beautiful, diverse, and inclusive world in which trans people are fully accepted as equal human beings.  

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