Case Study: Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (2019)
After consultation, the main points that Nim and Cat decided to communicate were:
understanding the LGBTQ+ acronym
understanding gender identities
how to be sensitive working with a gender diverse cast and crew
what to do if you misgender someone
understanding gender neutral toilets
Working with Cat, Nim then created a 24-page tool pack, which covered the above in sections and acted as a guide to ultimately support people in understanding how to offer kindness and support to the trans and gender-non-conforming folks they were working with.
We also created posters, which the production then put up in the studio and on set and location, to support the pack and re-enforce the learning.
As well as the toolkit and posters, Cat and the rest of the producer team spoke with every head of department to ensure they understood the pack and asked them to ensure their teams were engaging with the toolkit.
It was especially important that the Assistant Director (AD) team understood the toolkit as they were ultimately the people who were liaising with cast and supporting artists on a daily basis. As well as being briefed and reminded of gender-neutral language, the AD team also had pronouns included in their lists and paperwork.
The team also put in place gender neutral toilets wherever possible on set and location. This did not always go to plan due to traditional honey wagons arriving on site gendered, this resulted in the production having to replace the signs the facilities came with.
Overall the toolkit and signage provided clear guidance for the JAMIE team, and it opened a dialogue up on set around how best to support our colleagues who were non-binary or trans.
However the team did not always get it right and there were many lessons learnt, which we now feel the rest of the industry can learn from.
For example:
Due to time constraints and being midway through the shoot, comprehensive awareness training could not be provided for the team, something which we feel would have made a huge difference on set.
The resources implemented and put in place on Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, often had to be DIY - for instance, when having to create signage for toilets which had already arrived gendered. This is something which with the right planning and preparation could have been avoided and facilities and teams could have been aware and prepped prior to the shoot starting.
The main work done by the JAMIE team was also primarily done during the shoot period, however casting, crewing up, development and prep could all have utilised the tools and learning around supporting people with different gender identities.
The catalyst for the work on Everybody’s Talking About Jamie came from working with on-screen talent, however it’s just as important that our workplaces and sets are safe and welcoming for people working off-screen too. And ensuring trans and non-binary folk are included in our workforces behind the camera is hugely important.
In 2019, Cat was shooting the feature film Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, a story of a 16 year old boy who dreams of being a drag queen. Whilst the main character Jamie is not trans, the film did have a lot of gender diverse supporting artists in crowd scenes.
Towards the beginning of the 12-week shoot, Cat became increasingly aware of how little people knew about different gender identities and how they were therefore struggling when working with cast and contributors who were trans, non-binary or genderqueer.
A quick search on industry websites and Cat couldn’t find any resources or advice on how to make the set safe for those who were gender-non-conforming or any resources around educating crew on best practices. Cat reached out and found Nim, who came on board as a Gender Identity Consultant for the film.
Together, Nim and Cat discussed what had been happening on set and the best way to get quick and effective support to all crew. The film was in the midst of shooting and therefore time and resources were scarce, so the main aim was to effectively and quickly distribute information which was clear and practical to all crew and to ensure that all non-binary and trans contributors felt safe.
It is important to note, that no one was trying to hurt anyone else on set, and it very much was a case of people not being aware of different gender identities resulting in people not knowing, for example, what pronouns to use or not realising that they’d misgendered someone.
