U.K. Film Exhibition Sector Has Ethnic, Economic and Geographical Inequalities, Survey Reveals

There are considerable ethnic, economic and geographical inequalities across the U.K. cinema exhibition workforce, a new survey has revealed.The survey was conducted by the Independent Cinema Office (Ico), the U.K.’s national body that supports independent cinemas through programming, training, consultancy and cultural distribution and the Bridge Group, a non-profit consultancy that uses research to promote social equality. The survey was conducted in April and had from 602 people including professionals, freelancers, volunteers and anyone who helps audiences access cinema.The survey reveals that the cinema exhibition sector does not reflect the ethnic diversity of the U.K., especially as a greater proportion of the respondents are from London and the Southeast and found that at all levels of the business, people who are Black, Asian or ethnically diverse are underrepresented. 89 of survey respondents were white.More than half the sector — 56 — come from a more privileged background, the survey found, ...