Press Release

Directors UK and the Writers Guild of Great Britain asked the Creative Diversity Network (CDN) to produce a report exploring the diversity of writers and directors working in TV production.

Based on their own data, supplied directly from the broadcasters, CDN have today published this report: Writers, Directors and Producer Directors: A six-year overview of Diamond data 2016/17 to 2021/22. The report has further evidenced what we already knew - that women, people of colour and those with disabilities are significantly under-represented in senior television production creative and editorial roles compared to their proportion of the population.

Read the full statement from Directors UK in response:

“The data in the CDN deep dive report on Writers, Directors and PDs is dire. We are going backwards.

Broadcasters, all the evidence is here: individual and programme level initiatives and interventions alone do not change a systemic problem.

Your policies aren’t working – and ultimately only you and your production partners can give people jobs. You need clear and ambitious commissioning guidelines that ensure diversity amongst those who create and author our TV programmes.

Speaking on behalf of under-represented directors, we demand that you explain to us how your ED&I plans are making a long-term difference.

Here’s six years of your data, isn’t it time to find a solution to this problem?

You are responsible for this change. What are you going to do?”

Commenting on what needs to happen next, Directors UK CEO Andy Harrower adds:

“If broadcasters genuinely want to address this systemic issue, they have to have clearer commissioning targets, a willingness to hire under-represented talent and commit to a structure that supports career progression. Transparent data reporting is also key to holding the broadcasters to account.” 

For more information or further comment, please contact:

Charlie Coombes, Head of PR and Corporate Communications

+44 (0)20 7845 9707 | +44 (0)7723 183 606 | [email protected]