Channel 4 has revealed it received 800 CVs from Black, Asian and minority ethnic talent hoping to work across its 'Black to Front' takeover day of programming.
Diversity chief Babita Bahal told the Creative Cities Convention that some of these individuals are now being paired with indies to develop content for the initiative, which aims to put BAME content front-and-centre on all output over a 24-hour period in September.
Content is set to include a 10pm factual show that reflects Black British life, a comedy show and an 11pm topical live show, as well as editions of established show such as Countdown, Hollyoaks and Celebrity Gogglebox, plus a Mo Gilligan-fronted edition of The Big Breakfast.
C4 issued a call-out last month for people to fill roles on unscripted shows based in Wales, Manchester, Leeds and London, including executive producers, series producers, studio and self-shooting directors, assistant producers and researchers.
It said it particularly wanted to hear from Black talent, which it said was particularly under-represented.
Speaking at the convention, Bahal urged broadcasters to think above entry-level and beyond "the snobbery” that has pervaded the industry.
Her ITV counterpart Ade Rawcliffe said producers should think 'skills not credits' when looking at under-represented talent to ensure those who have previously been "excluded from opportunities" do not slip under the radar.
Bahal also lamented the "woefully low" representation of disability, adding:
“There is a massive job to do around disability and how we represent and integrate disabled people in a way that isn’t so on the nose."
Rawcliffe said ITV is looking into “how we can make disabled talent as big as Ant and Dec”.
