£40k SIGN grant for screen industry diversity project

The phenomenon of social media influencers and how to diversify the screen media industries is the basis of a new project involving the University of Huddersfield.

The 12-month project, ‘Creator Labour: Screen Production Cultures and Transmedia Intersectionality in Yorkshire’, is backed by a grant of £40,000 from the Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN) and sees the institution collaborate with researchers at the University of Sheffield.

Led by the University of Huddersfield’s Dr Errol Salamon, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Communication, the project will look at diversity and inclusivity in the creation of content for social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube in the screen industry. It will also address how burgeoning influencers can get a foothold with and possibly even influence ‘legacy’ media organisations.

Of particular interest is how young content creators who are either based in Yorkshire or have moved away from the area can showcase their distinctive Yorkshire brand in what they create.

Tapping into Yorkshire’s social media talent

With large legacy media organisations, such as Channel 4 in Leeds and the BBC over the Pennines in Salford, moving large parts of their operations away from London, the project’s leaders hope to tap into how the region’s young social media influencers can grow their portfolios with large ‘traditional’ media organisations.

“The overarching aim of this project is looking at diversity and inclusivity in digital-based content creation,” says Dr Salamon. “We are looking at content creators who use digital platforms but also legacy media to create content over platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or Facebook Live. They are creating content across multiple platforms to build their own brand.

“Others might be from Yorkshire or working online elsewhere – even overseas – but their Yorkshire identity defines part of what their brand is.

“We will analyse the growing phenomenon of influencers, and the way that they use multi-platform media to share their content and build relationships with their fans.”

A long-standing problem for the film and TV industries in the UK has been its lack of diversity, despite strenuous efforts to address inequalities. Media outlets, like the BBC and C4, are investing more time and money into their social media output, but the lack of diversity of their content creators is still an issue.

Lack of diversity still a problem for screen industry

One hope for the project is that the diversity of Yorkshire’s social media creatives could help these media outlets, as well as add to their own portfolios.

“It’s also important for us to focus on diversity, because there has long been criticisms of a lack of diversity and inequality in screen-based media industries,” adds Dr Salamon.

“There has been a push from government to diversify in screen-based media, but there is still growing inequality. We will look at digital-based platforms of content creation as a possible avenue of diversifying in screen-based media industries.

“This starts from the creators themselves, who do not rely so much on legacy organisations. We will ask, how can people from historically marginalised groups take control of their own careers and diversify screen-based media industries, without having to break into a mainstream media organisation?”

Large media outlets can learn from influencers

One area where influencers can help legacy organisations is in their ability to quickly adapt to trends. Media outlets have been traditionally slow to adopt social media and then move with changes, but they undoubtedly have an advantage in the resources they can commit. Dr Salamon says that the project will look at where individuals and larger organisations can collaborate.

“We see this as an opportunity not only to look at content creation from individuals and their personal portfolios, but also for potential links they could make with legacy media organisations. BBC and Channel 4, for example, are on TikTok and are producing their own content, so there is a chance to build relationships between entrepreneurial content creators and legacy media. They could learn from the content creators as well on what to do with this newer technology.

“There is a lot that these organisations could learn from content creators, but because of their long-standing brands, they can also provide platforms for diverse voices to expand their individual brands.”

SIGN aims to empower people and support economic growth in the screen industries in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Dr Salamon’s co-investigators on the project are:

• Dr Ysabel Gerrard (University of Sheffield)
• Dr Sophie Bishop (University of Sheffield)
• Dr Rebecca Saunders (University of Huddersfield)
• Professor Catherine Johnson (University of Huddersfield)
• Professor Cornel Sandvoss (University of Huddersfield)