The charitable arm of the Edinburgh TV Festival, The TV Foundation, has announced the 24 industry figures who will be part of the class and social equality working group.

The group is part of the newly formed Impact Unit, inspired by recent MacTaggart Lectures including this year’s keynote from playwright and dramatist, James Graham.

The working group is the first step in an initiative to help the TV industry coordinate and strengthen its approach to class and social equality and address socio-economic diversity within the industry.

The 24 TV professionals, selected from almost 130 submissions, include a range of voices, from freelancers to CEOs, and producers to writers. Observers from The Sutton Trust and the British Screen Forum will also be joining the main working group. In addition, a separate sub-group of education, training and industry bodies will collaborate with the Impact Unit to share ideas.

“Amongst the first tasks to be addressed will be to contribute towards raising the visibility of people from working class backgrounds already in the industry; understanding the current landscape and its effects on recruitment from different socio-economic groups; and what a Class Confident organisation in TV looks like.”

The Impact Unit will be led by Gemma Bradshaw, Impact Director, in an expansion of her remit since joining the TV Foundation last year from One World Media.

Bradshaw said: “The overwhelming response to the announcement of the working group showed how James Graham’s MacTaggart touched people. Finally, they felt seen, and it gave them space to be open about their working-class background and how it impacts their careers. There is definitely a momentum building, recognising that supporting working class people getting into, and crucially moving up in, the industry is not only the right thing to do, it’s what audiences want; to have more authentic stories on screen.

“This is not a small task, but the working group are ready to show it can be possible to have a career in the industry and to find ways to make it achievable not only for those from working class backgrounds, but for everyone.”

Members of the working group are:

  • Alison Ramsay Freelance Director & Development Exec
  • Amber Haque Freelance Presenter & Documentary Maker
  • Bradley Down BBC Drama Commissioning Executive
  • Ceri Aston Creative Director, MultiStory Media (part of ITV Studios)
  • Chanise Evans BBC Presenter, Senior Advisor
  • David Leach Head of Unscripted / Development Exec, Climate Spring
  • David Macpherson Freelance Writer
  • Emma Morris Executive Editor of Morning Live and The One Show, BBC Studios
  • Gama Gbio Freelance Development Producer
  • Gina Lyons Founder – Gobby Girl Productions
  • Hannah Livingston Freelance Shooting Producer / Director
  • Jackie Myburgh Apple TV+ Head of Production, UK & Europe
  • Jon Green Creative Director, Unscripted Formats, Fulwell 73
  • Karl Warner EVP UK Entertainment and Digital Development, BBC Studios
  • Lisa Gifford Freelance Screenwriter
  • Lucie Duxbury Head of Programmes, The Garden
  • Luke Seraphin Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Sky Original Programming
  • Mark Wynter Director of Client Partnerships UK, Picture Shop
  • Neila Butt Creative Equity Lead, Channel 4
  • Nicola Crowther Head of Audience Engagement / Co-chair of BBC RAISED
  • Patrick Holland Chair and CEO, Banijay UK
  • Sabrina Parmar Assistant Commissioner, Sky
  • Tammie Meera Ash Freelance Assistant Producer
  • Tessa Matchett Head of Group Communications, ITV Studios

Jon Creamer

Share this story

Share Televisual stories within your social media posts.
Be inclusive: Televisual.com is open access without the need to register.
Anyone and everyone can access this post with minimum fuss.