#INTERACTIVEMEDIAINDUSTRY

[glacesworld]

Is Employment Equity Lost in the 21st Century?

In the early 90’s there was a call to action in many of Toronto’s culturally diverse arts communities.  The main reason was a lack of access to cultural institutions.  People of colour weren’t being hired, weren’t being asked to sit on boards, weren’t being invited on to juries, and weren’t being encouraged to apply for acceptance at the Canadian Film Centre.  When it came to the provincial, and national arts councils (the Toronto Arts Council was the exception) artists of colour and first nations artists in particular, felt their culturally specific concepts were not being understood and hence not being valued and not being funded.  This was before interactive producing was a part of the creative landscape so attention was focused on traditional film and television unions.  People of colour were woefully under represented, and when it came to representation of women in the camera, grip and electric departments they were almost not present at all.

Many groups were formed in the Asian, South Asian, African Canadian and First Nations communities.  We came together, strategized and organized workshops and conferences together to understand what our specific experiences and issues were.  Then we met with the arts councils, the training institutions, and the unions.  Internships were set up and some unions began a concerted effort to encourage qualified people of colour to join.  I benefited from an internship with Marilyn Stonehouse, David Cronenberg’s Line Producer on his feature “Crash.”  It was a life changing experience because when I was through, I knew that I wanted to be a producer.

On the educational front I was the first coordinator of the Canadian Film Centre’s Summer Lab initiative.  The focus was to get talented and emerging filmmakers of colour and First Nations filmmakers from across Canada for an intensive series of workshops, lectures by visiting filmmakers and develop their feature scripts.  Mina Shum “Double Happiness”, Clement Virgo “Rude” and Stephen Williams “Soul Survivor” successfully developed their projects at the CFC and made their first features.  All to critical acclaim!

The Canada Council for the arts would eventually embrace cultural diversity which would see peer representation on their juries include artists of colour and first nations artists.  Their biggest stride however was the creation of the Equity Office.  It exists to this day and has grown.  The office maintains a strategic focus on “supporting Canadian artists of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American or mixed racial heritage, and their artistic practices.”  The office works closely with the Aboriginal Arts Office “to integrate the distinct history, experience and contributions of Aboriginal artists into a wider equity framework.”

As an interactive producer in the 21st century I hope to bring my unique history to the table when it comes to hiring a team as well as keeping an eye on content.  Today despite the fact that employment equity is a law in Canada (the Employment Equity Act, requires employers to engage in proactive employment practices to increase the representation of four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples, and visible minorities), it appears that we’ve left employment equity and cultural diversity behind in the workplace.  I think it’s a huge mistake as the demographics around us have changed.  If we can’t deliver content that’s entertaining as well as culturally aware, we are going to get left behind.  If Shonda Rhimes can create successful shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” with a talented and culturally diverse cast and creative team, I know we must strive to hit those benchmarks in the interactive media industry in Canada.

[gautam-malhotra]

Media Equal For All ?

In our everyday lives, we witness work roles and certain responsibilities, which are always performed by a particular gender. We have always seen certain roles and responsibilities being carried out by one particular gender either male or female. My opinion is that this situation has also arisen because of the cultural difference around the globe. For instance, In India it is very rare to see a woman operating a public transit vehicle. Seeing a woman driving a bus would be a shocking moment for the passengers and is a rare incident back home. However, In Canada, women have taken up several roles at workplaces and it is not shocking for people to see a woman undertaking male oriented job positions.

Today, women are taking up almost all roles at a workplace although there remain a few areas where only men are visualized appropriate for the job. The same goes for female dominated areas. During the IMMT718 session on equality in the workplace, we went through a few statistics, one of them revealed that a recent study identified that women represent only five percent of workers in programming roles and ten percent of workers in audio and design roles. Whereas, women represent 47% of workers in operations, IT and human resources occupations. I feel that this barrier has been created over the years and it is all about changing the mentality and the pattern that we are following. In the media sector, the ratio of male to female is getting balanced but at a very slow pace. When it comes to human resources and public relations, the amount of women in this area would be substantially higher but men have secured the high salary spots. In technical fields, men have a higher count than women and the ratio has been developed over the years as only men were visualized in technical roles. There are women who have set examples for others to climb up the ladder and secure male dominated positions. For example, Margaret Whitman, President, CEO, eBay and President, CEO, Hewlett-Packard. She has been the CEO of eBay for ten years and is the CEO of HP for over three years now.

Even when an individual is on a job search, there are instances where the job posting clearly states whether they want males or females for the position. This denies the opportunity to initiate change in the system. There is no equal opportunity to prove oneself at the job and demonstrate their skills.

Developing and creating media for a diverse audience can also be a challenging task. In the advertising world, in case of television commercials, products are advertised through males, females or people of particular ethnicity or culture. This is done to relate to specific audiences. This is the platform that is setting up the mentalities in people’s minds. Advertisers always portray things in such a way that relates to the audience. People fear change. Creating media content for a diverse audience in terms of religion can also be very challenging. An incident took place in India, where a renowned clothing brand advertised their new clothing line all over the country. Their banners, posters, television commercials all depicted a man having the upper body of a Hindu god who was wearing their new products. This way of displaying the products was ok to a few people but caused an outrage amongst the Hindu community, which led to protests and vandalism.

In my opinion, the process of hiring should be improved where in equal opportunities should be given to both men as well as women to display their skills and not just be chosen on the basis of gender in particular roles. Skill assessment tests are generally carried out for several positions. These tests should be key deciding factors instead of bringing in the gender criteria. Proving oneself through their work and setting up examples to change the mentality of others can be considered the best way to balance the ratio in terms of gender oriented job positions. Also trying to break the barriers stereotyping and negative attitudes can improve upon media creation for different diversities. Change is inevitable and has to be faced one day. However change should be initiated slowly and should not hurt sentiments or not target specific communities/genders/cultures/ religions in a bad way.

[svetalever-blog]

Know Before You Go

As we are at the beginning of our way through Interactive Media program, it’s important to have a plan on where we are heading and start think ahead about employment opportunities. Since most of the industry consists of  small organizations (including many entrepreneurs and freelancers), our employment opportunities are mostly divided between two types: work within organizations and being self-employed (freelancer or business owner).

Being an employee is probably the easiest way (at least at the beginning), because there is a lot of certainty and predictability. Basically you have more hierarchy and less freedom of ideas, but you also have opportunities to build specific skills and learn from others within the larger organization. 

Freelancer is somewhat in the middle. You have your independence but it is hard to plan your life ahead, because you’re never sure where your next meal is coming from.

Being a business owner is the hardest path:  you are responsible for a multiplicity of things (business registration, employees’ payroll, tax deductions, vacations and etc.), but if your business achieves results you feel true satisfaction and you have the potential of strong financial upside (along with significant financial risk!).

Internships are good way to gain valuable experience and get your foot in the door. Whether an internship is paid or unpaid there are many things that need to be considered in order to decide if an internship is worthwhile. The experience you gain can be a key to career success, so it’s very important that you are gaining relevant knowledge and skills, while establishing important connections in the field.

Dress-code plays a big role. The nature of professional dress is somewhat tied to the industry. The way you dress carries certain messages to those who meet you. The interactive industry is different from most businesses, so the way we dress is somewhat different from bank-style power suits. Here are some tips how to dress properly for the industry.

Business casual is the best choose; try to look funky and creative (but not sloppy); avoid very tight or see-through clothes. For example, men could wear dress-up jeans, a long sleeved collared shirt and clean new-style sneakers;  women could wear a casual dress with a blazer. 

Know where you go and daily review your goals in order to stay focus on them.

 "Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan."

[gautam-malhotra]

Choose your path. Its a tough way ahead.

There are always two options when an individual steps into an industry. Either enters the industry by getting employed by an established firm or being a business owner/freelancer. At the second session of IMMT718, we explored these two options and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the same. The session also threw light on the difference of being a business owner or a freelancer.

There were various pros and cons in either path one chooses. This discussion provided an in depth idea of the different criteria one has to consider before looking forward to take their path.

Firstly, an employee is usually bound by a contract or has to follow the company rules adhering to content privacy. I learnt that many of the firms make employees sign NDA's to prevent them from talking about trade secrets. However in terms of coverage, the employees are covered under Employment Standards Act and federally under General Labour Code. These are definitely some factors to consider while choosing a career path. On the other hand, an employer has the burden of deducting taxes while paying the employees. An employer is responsible for deducting Canada pension plan contributions, EL premiums, income tax and other taxes. An employee is free from the overheads.

Another important highlight of the session was the difference between being a freelancer and a business owner. A number of insights were shared and the professor shared information with regards to the registration and taxes that each role has to deal with. A freelancer does not have to register the company as it is under his/her legal name whereas a business owner has to be registered with Service Ontario. A freelancer does not need to collect or pay HST if he/she makes less than 30,000 annually whereas a business owner should register for HST. 

We also learnt the different factors to consider while determining the employment status. There are instances when people are confused about what role they are playing towards and organization and also individually in their freelance work. People get overloaded with work or sometimes the employer is taking advantage by introducing more work at different stages of the project. Employment status is determined when we evaluate a few facts like level of control payer has over worker’s activities, whether worker provides the tools and equipment, whether worker can subcontract the work or hire assistants, degree of financial risk the worker takes, degree of responsibility for investment and management the worker holds and the worker’s opportunity for profit. It also highly depends on contracts because the employer can sometimes take advantage if they are not bound by the contract and visa-versa. It is always better to have clauses in a written format for referring to in case of confusions or controversies.

Overall, personally being a fresh entrant to the media world I would chose to be employed. Initially I could learn about the structure and working of a media firm and gain some useful insights about successfully running a media firm. Also I do not need to worry about the overheads and a vacation will be a real vacation for me unlike the business owners or freelancers who need to keep a track of what is going on with their projects.

Internships was another topic discussed and I feel its best way of gaining hands on experience in the industry but again one has to be aware about the intern rights and avoid being exploited at the workplace. We also discussed dressing styles for the interactive media industry. As Professor Sofia said that one cannot be dressed as if he/she works at a bank. We have to blend in the 'funk' factor with the professional look, being careful of not going overboard with the funky aspect.

Everyone has a choice to make regarding their path of work in the media world or other professions.The bottom-line is that no matter what path you choose, there is always going to be a tough way ahead. 

[glacesworld]

What Not To Wear

So you’ve got a job interview and you focus on getting the same resume that you sent into them printed.  You check out their website again to find out what they’ve been up to and googled background information on the producers.  Just when you think you’ve got it going on you realize that you don’t know what to wear, or better yet, you don’t know what Not to wear.  It’s something that I struggle with because since my return to Toronto from Vancouver, I can’t seem to get it right.  With the exception of one or two interviews or information meetings I thought what I chose to wear was an epic FAIL.

Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when our instructor cued up the next Power Point image “PROFESSIONAL DRESSING-WOMEN”.  I think I did a double take.  I always had discussions with my former roommate who came from business about what I’d wear on interviews.  She was my fashion police, guiding me as I prepped.  A couple of times my gut told me casual was best than that business suit that I keep meaning to buy.  Flats were better than 2 inch heals.   Thankfully, after Week 2’s class I feel confident about what not to wear in the future.  We reviewed the don’ts first…no low cut tops, nothing tight or see through, no power suits (I really liked that one), and no casual jeans.  What was on the approved list?  Business casual - a blazer, a pair of cool dark wash jeans, a nice top and a 1-inch pump.

PROFESSIONAL DRESSING FOR MEN also began with don’ts and funny enough the list was almost identical.  No super tight or see through clothing, no power suits (unless you look like you want to work in a bank).  Again, men shouldn’t wear casual jeans as business casual is best.  Men should wear dress jeans, a long sleeved collared shirt and a blazer.  And yes, even cool sneakers are acceptable for men.

In my last workplace casual dressing was completely acceptable.  If the broadcaster came for a visit or any kind of business meeting, or a major production meeting occurred, everyone tended to dress up a notch.  If I was thinking at the time of my failed attempts, I should have remembered how I was dressed for the job that I landed….a nice pair of jeans, a shirt, a blazer and flats.  I’m not saying that what I wore got me the job it was more than that.  I think I fitted in with their company culture and in that instance dress does matter. 

[gautam-malhotra]

"The First Interaction - Me and Media"

My first interaction with the Interactive Media Industry was through an informative session by Professor Sofia Stefou, Web Strategist/Producer and Actor · Toronto, Ontario. Sofia, the instructor for IMMT718(Interactive Media Industry) provided us with useful insights, statistics and facts about the current media world. 

The session provided me with a set of important facts regarding the skills one requires to be involved in the core as well as in the supporting sectors of the media industry. As a student at a postgraduate program in Project Management, For the past 8 months I learnt closely how project management office and other management departments contribute to different type of industries. However this session gave me qualitative as well as quantitative comparisons of the technical skills, creative skills and the business/administrative skills required for this industry.

The overview of the media industry presented by the professor provided us with the list of business types that come under the media sector, the platforms these businesses use and also their target customers and several distribution channels used by them. This information is very useful when it comes to aspiring students wanting to enter the media sector and also for individuals who are looking to change or expand their work into other business types or platforms.

Some interesting statistics from the session were the comparison of different provinces in terms of their contribution towards the media industry, the ratio of foreign controlled to Canadian controlled media sector and the amount of market share of different platforms used. I also learnt about how the gross revenue of the media industry is majorly controlled by very large companies in-spite of the fact that they are least in number. There were also statistics based on ownership type i.e. private corporations, public corporations, private-partnership or private-sole proprietorship. The private corporations take away 65% of the total market share in the media world.

The reason for choosing Interactive media is the fact that this field has various dimensions to it and an individual could be playing multiple roles on an interactive project. At the end of the first week at the IMM program, I learnt the multiple roles an interactive media firm could be consisting. The industry is formed by roles like developers, designers, managers, content writers, video producers, editors, strategists and the list just goes on. There are so many ways in which one can contribute, its just a matter of applying the right set of skills at the right time.

I am keen on getting more insights on trans-media as that is creating the buzz currently. The art of storytelling or conveying messages through multiple platforms and devices is of interest to me.

Visual communication can make concepts very easy to understand for the user and when these messages are conveyed at the right time and through the right platforms, they lead to successful projects.

Its a new beginning as I blend my managerial skills with the tools and techniques of the media industry. I guess I have found my new love!!!!