Read on Twitter
1// Can’t focus til I get this off my chest. Buckle up. Since moving back to Canada (summer 2017) my main goal's been to diversify writing rooms here. They’ve been far too white for far too long (especially in comedy) and I accept no excuses.
2// We can do better moving forward. Now that I’ve been back 3 years I’ve seen enough to talk intelligently on the topic so let me break down what I think the problems are and what I think we can do about it.
3// First, I acknowledge my privilege. I’m a black cis male working in an industry that is very difficult to make a living at. #Grateful 
Even though I do a lot of reaching out to other POC in the industry and I’m active with @BIPOCtvandfilm, I know I can do more.
Even though I do a lot of reaching out to other POC in the industry and I’m active with @BIPOCtvandfilm, I know I can do more.
4// I have to figure out more ways to turn my good will into jobs. I've heard I’m the only black showrunner in Canadian comedy. That needs to change. My plan to hire diverse writers and turn them into showrunners is in progress. It'll take time, but I’m putting in the work.
5// Broadcasters! @CBC @City_tv @BellMediaPR @CorusPR I’ve personally met ~20 execs, maybe 2 of them POC. How can we expect fair representation on our screens if most of the gatekeepers are white? There are smart POC within those organizations that can help make decisions.
6// The people at the top of those nets should “take chances” on our shows. Don’t just develop them, give them a series commitment. The funny thing is that you’ll benefit from it the most. The list of shows and films that prove #diversitymatters is ridic long at this point.
7// ProdCos. I've easily met 50 execs here who bring our shows to the nets. I think 3 of them were POC. Three. Bottom line, we need more ProdCos owned and run by POC. And those run by our white allies, hire more POC. They’ll learn the biz and start their own co.
8// Writing Rooms! I think dramas do better at hiring diverse rooms, honestly. Comedy needs work. Hilarious POC in stand-up and sketch can't make the jump to half-hours for some reason. POC are often brought in on a short-term basis, but rarely given full-time room jobs.
9// I could talk POC writers room politics for hours, but for now let’s agree that if every Canadian comedy posted a pic of full-time writers it would be very white. Showrunners, we have to be more creative finding material. Lots of great POC who aren’t repped.
10// Agencies! More POC are repped than ever before. Great, but just a start. I recently reached out for submissions. I received over 70. Many POC, thankfully. The one place I felt was lacking was in the area of black cis or transgender males.
11// Out of 70 scripts, the agents gave me ZERO from a black cis or transgender males. I read several writers from that group, but I had to get them on my own from other sources. Again, this is another system that isn’t there yet.
12// The @WGCtweet! My guild does a little, but not enough. We can organize our showrunners. It'll strengthen us in many ways. One of which is seeing how much power we have to diversify our rooms. We need more POC within our ranks.
13// From top to bottom, this industry simply needs to find ways to bring POC in, not keep them out.
If you read this and feel like you’re being called out then it’s probably because you are. Don’t get mad, though. Get better.
If you read this and feel like you’re being called out then it’s probably because you are. Don’t get mad, though. Get better.
