UNI Global Union’s media and entertainment sector, UNI MEI, has welcomed a new campaign by the European Commission which highlights the importance of equality and diversity across the film and news media workforce and, in particular, in off screen/technical roles.
The awareness campaign, called ‘CharactHer‘, was launched on 9 July 2021 at the Cannes Film Festival in France. It aims to foster gender diversity and inclusion in the film and news media industries and will run until the end of the year.
Implemented in the context of the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan adopted in December 2020 by the European Commission to support the recovery and transformation of the media industry, the campaign “will contribute to empower all the European talents, both in front and behind the camera, with a particular focus on women”.
It will feature 12 interview videos featuring inspiring women, with a spotlight on lesser-known positions in the industry.
The videos will be complemented with further communication material to be disseminated on social media, and with a toolkit that will be distributed in mid/high schools across Europe, as well as in film schools and educational organisations.
The CharactHer campaign runs in partnership with Collectif 50/50, an organisation advocating for gender parity in the audiovisual sector in France.
UNI MEI has been at the forefront of promoting gender equality and diversity in the film and media industry, advocating for the adoption and regular evaluation of progress towards gender targets, the correction of pay gaps between women and men, the support to women careers through family-friendly policies, and more.
