Spotlight is the UK's leading casting resource with deep knowledge and long-standing connections at the heart of the industry. Spotlight provides a platform for performers to market themselves professionally, and casting directors use their software to find talent for projects across television, film, theatre and more, with projects cast for companies like the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Netflix.
We interviewed Jamie Sheehan, Director of Customer Success at Spotlight, to learn more about the organisation’s wider approach to breaking down barriers to access. We also hone in specifically on an initiative designed to overhaul and expand Spotlight’s performer joining criteria to make it more inclusive to deaf, disabled or neurodivergent people, people of colour, as well as those from lower-income backgrounds.
What are your motivations for addressing diversity and inclusion within your organisation?
Spotlight is a company that sits in a unique position in the industry. It has been a stalwart for so long—almost 100 years—it has seen so many different changes but maybe not as many changes as it should have leading up to where we're at now. There's a commercial aspect as well as an ethical aspect but fundamentally, we want to be at the forefront rather than on the back foot of what should be happening in our industry.
A lot of the staff who work at the company have also come from the industry - they've worked as actors and, creators, and casting directors, so they understand the challenges presented in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion. We have a responsibility in how we open the gates for the casting process, and that leads to what is represented in media and film and on stage. One of our primary motivations is making sure groups are represented and that there is a diverse casting pool for casting directors casting talent.
Within that, what would you say are your main EDI goals? What are you aiming to achieve?
I think in the short term, more awareness and understanding for staff - making sure we have policies and training in place, which we've been working on a lot over the last few years. That's embedded in our recruitment, communication and company culture. As a starting point, it's important that employees understand and are aware of not only challenges but also the solutions to how we embrace EDI.
Medium to longer term, it's being able to have a system to monitor and report and review the outcomes of all of these things that we're doing both internally with staff and externally. Another long-term goal is to make sure we have diversity among our leadership team. We're making progress with our teams and our staffing and the things that we're doing but having that represented and presented among leadership I think is really important.
How are those motivations embedded in your wider company strategy and activities?
At Spotlight, we partner with a lot of not only industry bodies but also groups who represent underrepresented groups within the industry and within the casting process. How that's embedded is that we consult with them on any new initiatives we're doing and the features we're looking to launch to make sure we have the voices in the room and we have consulted appropriately. Having those partners and being able to have those consultations and conversations has been vital.
Some of the things we've been working on in line with that include launching an ethnicity or heritage feature on the platform. We consulted with many groups on that including Equity the union and they have specific subsets of groups, as do the Personal Managers Association (PMA) and the Casting Directors' Guild (CDG).
One concern that has come from industry feedback, for example, is how, traditionally, we have a section where performers can say what their appearance is. This has been quite limited and problematic in a lot of ways because what is an appearance, and does that represent who the person is? Should it represent who the person is? So, we've worked on a new feature of ethnicity or heritage where people can note more specifically and be more representative of their background, what they want to portray as, who they identify as, and what culture they come from. That was never part of the process before.
We've also recently launched a new feature where performers can put on their profile what their complexion shade is so it's ready for them before and during the casting process. We've partnered with MAC so that people can go into a MAC store and find out what their complexion shade is for free. It's part of trying to cut out issues and awkwardness that just shouldn't need to happen.
Can you tell us more about the specific EDI activity you'd like to share?
Spotlight is a platform for professional performers, casting directors and agents. In order to join, you need to meet a certain professional standard. The activity is an initiative we introduced in the last few years to overhaul and expand our performer joining criteria. Prior to this project, the criteria required people to have trained full-time professionally at a recognised accredited drama school or you needed to have four professional acting credits with caveats as to what those credits could be. The credits needed to be television, feature film or a contracted stage job where it was a speaking featured role. As you can imagine, this was quite a hurdle for a lot of people.
This project was about identifying what we could do to expand that criteria, and still maintain a professional standard within Spotlight and the expectations in the industry and from our customers. Also, to acknowledge the barriers that we are actually helping keep in place by having that criteria and reduce or remove barriers. We also felt that the criteria were maybe not as transparent and clear as they could be. Even that in itself is a barrier with people being confused and not understanding what is required of them, so we wanted to address all of those things.
We had a proposal based on feedback we received and what the expansion of the criteria looked like. We wanted to consult as many groups as we could, both our industry partners and the subsets of those who represent their different groups, some marginalised, and then expand wider to organisations who actually represent either underrepresented performers or those involved in that space of inclusion. We met with Equity the union, PMA and CDG and worked closely with them, as well as a company called Triple C who represent performers who are deaf, disabled or neurodivergent. We also met with a number of drama schools and part-time schools to get their opinion on getting underrepresented students into the industry.
We introduced a recommendation that an industry professional, like an agent or a casting director, could recommend a performer to join. The recommendation route changed things quite dramatically. Often, an agent will see a performer performing, and recognise their talent. Previously, they weren't able to get that talent in Spotlight or into the industry, even though they wanted to represent them. We wanted to give the power back to the agents to say, 'This performer is ready for the industry regardless of their background or them not having a certain amount of experience'.
The other key thing that comes out of all of this is the financial barrier because you have to pay to join not just Spotlight but other similar casting platforms. So, we introduced a bursary scheme - we currently give out around 1,500 free subscriptions a year. We also have a 50% discount for disabled performers. That was already in place but the previous process meant they needed to provide a certain amount of documentation in order to get the discount. Now, any performer who identifies as deaf, disabled or neurodivergent can simply avail of that 50% discount.
What is the main problem this EDI activity is seeking to address?
It's the barrier for certain types of performers in certain groups getting into the industry or being able to get their first job. That's a barrier for not only the performers but also a barrier from the casting side because it also addresses the problem of the casting director not getting what they need in getting a representative casting or a talent pool to choose from. Our work allows us not only to reduce that barrier for performers but also gives that diverse talent pool to the casting directors as well.
It's also about the problem of types of performers not being represented in media in film, TV and on stage. Spotlight, as a company, has been part of the problem by having these higher-level criteria leading to barriers. So, we're reducing those and paving the way for more people to join the industry who haven't followed traditional routes - or haven't been able to follow traditional routes. This gives power back to the performers themselves and to actually access opportunities where they wouldn't have had opportunities otherwise.
How do you know this activity works for improving diversity and inclusion?
Qualitatively, through the feedback we've had from casting directors, agents and performers and our industry partners, which we have collated. With regards to the specific data, it's a little bit difficult to cover everything we've been trying to cover in terms of the target group and showing things have improved for those specific groups. For example, we can see if there's been an increase in people who have chosen to identify as deaf, disabled or neurodivergent who have applied, but they might not want to identify that or sometimes they don't want the discount. That can be challenging in terms of us identifying changes specifically.
We also look from the casting director's side and assess if they are getting what they need. We can see from the feedback we've received that has improved and we are seeing fewer castings happening elsewhere. We've also seen a reduction in rejected applications - previously, around 50% of applications were being rejected but now it's typically under 10%, which is a massive change. We've had really positive feedback from people who have previously been unable to join.
The take-up of the bursary scheme and the 50% discount is easy for us to identify and that's been something we can look at as a positive impact. I also think our industry partners are seeing a wider and more diverse pool of talent cast. Also, for agents, because they can now recommend clients to join, they are seeing a big difference in how they're able to represent talent. Those are the types of things we can quantify because that is a completely new version of the criteria.
What do you perceive the risks are of not addressing diversity and inclusion both for Spotlight and your wider sector?
Internally, I think the risk is that staff feel uncomfortable, unsafe and un-listened to. From the business perspective, we want to retain staff, and we want to make sure that our staff are in a good, happy working environment. Another risk is some of our product features and projects becoming outdated, irrelevant or not being able to be used by our customers. Then, the risk of losing those customers for that reason.
As a company where we sit within the industry, we have such an opportunity to influence what happens next. If we don't consider what that means in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion, the big risks are really just not being part of the solutions and then the status quo is kept and there is no genuine representation. I think that's probably the biggest risk when you think about the industry as a whole.
What advice or key learning would you share with other organisations considering similar initiatives?
The key thing that I keep coming back to is to consult as many relevant industry bodies as you can, especially those who represent underrepresented communities. That has been pivotal not only with this initiative but quite a few others within the work we've done. Without that, it's incredibly challenging, especially if you don't have those representatives within your company.
I would also say try not to be afraid of change while still leaning into reviewing the business risks and commercial elements. They don't have to be two different things. There's a positive impact on the commercial side when you look at initiatives to improve things.
Learn more about how Spotlight is reducing access barriers for diverse and underrepresented talent in the creative sector at www.spotlight.com.
Explore other case studies today at diversity.wearecreative.uk/case-studies.
