As the demand for content has scaled up rapidly all over the globe, Ontario experienced staggering production levels in 2021, with our organization servicing 177 signatory productions. While facing our busiest year on record, we also experienced energizing growth to our Membership. A record-breaking 449 people joined our ranks through our Apprenticeship program, with 43 coming to us through the recently relaunched Post Production Apprentice stream. We encourage all our stakeholders to budget for and hire trainees in Picture Editing, Sound Editing, and Post Production Supervision streams to support necessary workforce development in the post production realm.
Creating opportunities for underrepresented communities to join our workforce continued as a central pillar of our workforce development mandate, and 2021 was rich in impactful partnerships. Just last month, we were delighted to launch the Warner Media x DGC Ontario Bursary for Underrepresented Communities, expanding on the barrier-reduction programs we have steadily developed in partnership with our friends at the City of Toronto’s xoTO Screen Industry Pathways Initiatives. You can read more about our evolving DGC Ontario Diversity Initiatives here.
We continued to witness a heartening rise in engagement levels among our Members this year, with initiatives such as the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and Sustainability Committee established by our Executive Board to provide guidance and advice on the socio-political issues facing our industry and world. We also expanded our Executive Board by two seats, splitting the Editing Caucus into Picture Editing, Sound Editing and Post Production Caucuses, with two new Board Members elected just this week. Congratulations to Matt Hannam and Nahid Islam, our inaugural reps in the newly created Picture Editing and Post Production Caucuses.
DGC Ontario was also pleased to announce the establishment of a certification program for Members volunteering to take on the role of DGC Reps for production. We have created a mandatory training roster for certification, and are providing a financial incentive for certified members taking on that role.
Finally, this year saw the launch of WIDER LENS, a platform that showcases our Membership’s incredible work to the world. Through our podcast, blog features and a curated industry newsletter, we’re delivering stories of creative collaboration and artistic inspiration straight to your inbox. So far, we’ve released four podcast episodes featuring the creative team behind The Handmaid’s Tale, the world-builders of Apple TV’s See, the co-creators of Mindy Kaling’s new favourite show Sort Of, and leading creative experts discussing the rapidly developing world of Virtual Production. If you haven’t already, you can listen to all four WIDER LENS podcast episodes here. Make sure to subscribe, so you don’t miss what we’ve got cooking for 2022!
Despite the difficulties presented by the second year of operating within a worldwide pandemic, I am immensely proud of all that we’ve accomplished in 2021 at DGC Ontario. I have no doubt that, regardless of what the next year brings, we will continue to make great strides in supporting our vastly talented 3000+ Members through thoughtful, inclusive, and visionary initiatives.
Have a safe and wonderful holiday, and cheers to a brighter year ahead for us all!
Happy New Year!
