The UK film and television industry faces a crisis. As production contracts and opportunities dwindle, working-class talent, the demographic that makes up the largest audience for film and TV, is being systematically excluded from the industry that should represent them. A recent Focus panel brought together industry professionals to confront this urgent issue head-on.

The panelists – Victoria Maughn-Rowe (Executive Producer), Ricky Kelleher (BBC Executive Producer), Alua Oyinifi (Founder of The British BlackList), and Jemma Gander (Producer/Director at Two Step Films) – shared personal stories and hard truths about class barriers in an industry that claims to champion diversity.

The Hidden Costs of Being Working Class

Beyond the initial barriers to entry, the panelists revealed the ongoing financial pressures that make survival in the industry increasingly impossible for those without family wealth.

Victoria Maughn-Rowe highlighted a brutal reality: “The risk ends up on the indies and the freelancers… you’re potentially waiting weeks or months or in some of my experiences years to find out whether or not your work is going to be commissioned.”

Jemma Gander’s confession was particularly stark:

“I feel poorer than I’ve ever felt in my life… COVID wiped me out… I don’t have a pension. Trying to find the mortgage every month in the last year has been a real test. I flirted with the idea of what else would I do?”

This from a producer with a 22-year career. The message is clear: if established professionals are struggling, what hope is there for newcomers without financial safety nets?

Race, Class, and Compound Barriers

Alua Oyinifi brought crucial intersectional perspective to the discussion. As the founder of The British BlackList, she has spent over a decade showcasing Black creatives, yet the industry still claims it “can’t find” diverse talent.

“Race is obviously going to be the biggest barrier for me,” Oyinifi stated. She pointed out how the demonisation of “woke” and attacks on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives threaten to reverse even modest progress:

“If DEI goes, we’re gonna go back to that very narrow-minded view of what the Black existence is… drugs, crime, prostitution, all the things you think would have gone in the 80s are still with us today.”

The Industry’s Self-Destructive Spiral

The panellists made a compelling case that excluding working-class voices isn’t just unfair – it’s bad business. Working-class people constitute the largest demographic of TV watchers and film audiences in the UK, yet their stories are increasingly absent from screens.

Victoria Maughn-Rowe delivered perhaps the panel’s most urgent warning:

“If we do not sort out this working-class problem, we are going to lose the biggest license fee payers in the UK… If they do not make stories that talk to working-class people, they will not sustain their audience demographics, and then the industry will go under.”

She linked this directly to the rise of disinformation and fake news: when mainstream media fails to represent working-class audiences, they turn to “weird little online echo chambers” instead of trusted news sources.

Solutions: More Than Good Intentions

The panel offered concrete proposals for change, rejecting the idea that good intentions alone would solve systemic problems.

1. Hold Broadcasters Accountable

Victoria Maughn-Rowe called for basic accountability: “Broadcasters need to be held responsible for replying within a certain period of time, and if they’re asking for deliverables, that money actually reflects what’s being asked of them.”

2. Recognise Class as a Protected Characteristic

While not legally protected in the UK, the panel argued that class intersects with every other form of disadvantage. A working-class disabled person faces far greater barriers than a wealthy one who can afford accessible transport and accommodations.

3. Implement Quotas for State-Educated Talent

Ricky Kelleher proposed positive discrimination: “Companies of a particular size, a percentage of their workforce has to be state educated… There are a lot of people who don’t have degrees, but they still went to private school, and they can speak Latin.”

4. Create Alternative Support Systems

Ideas included specialised agencies for state-educated talent, curriculum changes in state schools to showcase media careers, and understanding that skills are transferable—”If you’re really organised, you could be a producer. If you’re good with your hands, you could be a plumber on set.”

The Cost of Inaction

An audience member’s comment crystallised the panel’s urgency: major institutions like the BBC, BFI, and Film London are “not rocking the boat” and have “actually weakened the industry” through decades of inaction.

The human cost is clear in Jemma Gander’s reflection: “Little me would not be here now. I wouldn’t be able to do that now, so I worry about the new entrants coming in.” When established professionals with decades of experience are considering leaving the industry, what message does that send to aspiring working-class talent?

A Call to Action

Despite the challenges, the panelists refused to surrender to despair. Their final messages mixed realism with determination:

• Jemma Gander: “I remain hopeful that eventually when this environment shifts, the small players might get more power.”

• Alua Oyinifi: “Surviving this current climate is a superpower. We have survived so much and we still find a way to figure it out.”

• Victoria Maughn-Rowe: “Hire Black. It’ll be better for your production.”

• Denise Parkinson (Variety) invoked the example of Michael Caine breaking class barriers for actors: “We need to just get that one Michael Caine in there to start pulling everybody up.”

The message is clear: working-class talent isn’t asking for charity – they’re demanding recognition that their perspectives, stories, and skills are essential to the industry’s survival. The question is whether those in power will listen before it’s too late.

As Victoria Maughn-Rowe warned, democracy itself may depend on it: “I’ve done a lot of films in Russia, and Ukraine, and Syria. I know how important the BBC is to democracy.” When the media fails to represent its largest audience, it doesn’t just lose viewers – it loses legitimacy.

The panel’s final plea was simple: We have to stay. We have to have a voice. Otherwise, the industry will return to “the posh lot making jokes in Latin”—and everyone, from audiences to democracy itself, will be poorer for it.

This article was compiled from the Focus panel discussion “Best in Class: How do we Protect Working-Class Talent in a Contracting Industry?” featuring Victoria Maughn-Rowe, Ricky Kelleher, Alua Oyinifi, Jemma Gander, and moderated by Denise Parkinson.