The media and entertainment industries have been accused of having a tokenistic approach to casting, but what does it actually mean to be more representative and how can we do better to get it right?

A discussion hosted by award-winning journalist and Conduit Ambassador Afua Hirsch as we explore the key differences between representation and tokenism and respond to the all-important opening question- “Should the next James Bond be Black?”

Presented in collaboration with Visionary Arts UK and Google

Speakers:

Afua Hirsch is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and former barrister who is known for her work on social justice, black culture, history and identity. Afua has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years, as a Guardian correspondent and freelance contributor to publications including the New York Times, Time Magazine and Vogue. She presents and produces non scripted TV documentaries, including African Renaissance, a BBC series on African art, and Enslaved, a 6 part series about the transatlantic slave trade with Samuel L Jackson, and a podcast series for Audible. In 2018 she published Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging – winner of the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Prize – and in 2019 a children’s book Equal To Everything, about the UK Supreme Court. She was a judge on last year’s Booker Prize and  is currently the Wallis Annenberg Chair of Journalism at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Afua is the founder of Born in Me Productions, which creates scripted and non-scripted movies, TV and podcast.

Clint Dyer is the Deputy Artistic Director of The Royal National Theatre. This year, he will direct Get Up Stand Up on the West End. Most recently, he penned and directed the widely anticipated Death of England for the National Theatre starring Rafe Spall. Over the course of his extensive acting career, Clint has featured across film, television and theatre. He starred on stage in the National Theatre’s Oliver-winning production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by Dominic Cook, for which he won best actor in the I.A.R. Awards. Awards include Best Actor at the British Urban Film Awards, Screen Nation Film and Television Awards, Liege International Film Festival, and The Texas Black Film Festival for SUS.

Adjoa Andoh is one of Britain’s leading actors, having won global acclaim as Lady Danbury in the Netflix smash Bridgerton – a role that saw her nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress at the 2021 NAACP Image Awards. On the small screen in 2020, she was spellbinding as Dr Issacs in the psychological thriller Fractured, as well playing tough cop DI Nina Rosen in BBC1’s Silent Witness. The end of 2021 saw her star as Nenneke in the Netflix blockbuster fantasy drama, The Witcher. Her many other television appearances include regulars in Dr Who, Casualty and Law & Order UK. She made her Hollywood debut in 2009, starring alongside Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in Clint Eastwood’s biographical sports film Invictus. A renowned stage actor, Adjoa has been celebrated for lead roles at the National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. She is a proud patron of the Fairtrade Foundation and Tree Aid. And in 2019 she conceived, co-directed, and played Richard II at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, in the UK’s first all women-of-colourproduction.

Nova Reid is a thought leader, TED speaker, author and producer. Often described as a force to be reckoned with, Nova uses her professional background in mental wellbeing to encourage meaningful change from the inside out.  Through her impactful advocacy and powerful public speaking, writing and storytelling, she has become renowned as an agent of change, selected as one of Black Magic Network’s Top 100 Black British Women and receiving a Precious Award for Social Impact. Nova’s sought-after online academy which has consistently been described as life-changing – Becoming Anti-Racist with Nova Reid – is available at www.novareid.com and her best selling debut book, The Good Ally is out now.

Andrew Odong is the Creator Communities Lead at YouTube EMEA, responsible for implementing strategic initiatives to accelerate the representation of historically marginalised communities. In this role, he manages the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, which empowers hundreds of creators to celebrate Black joy and elevate authentic stories on the platform. Throughout his “non-traditional” career, Andrew has remained a staunch inclusion advocate, centering underrepresented voices throughout the fabric of his work. He was a Content Programmer for the BFI Flare 2018, Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ Film Festival collaborating on a series of events to enable discussion on the visibility of queer, trans, intersex people of colour in film. In 2019, he collaborated with the ShoutOut Network to produce Content Is Queen, the UK’s first women in podcasting festival. Prior to YouTube, Andrew led external partnerships at Meta (FKA Facebook), designed to build a strong pipeline of senior talent from underrepresented communities across key offices in EMEA. Outside his professional endeavours, Andrew is an avid GIF user with an unhealthy addiction to beanie hats who simply loves to see people thriving as their most authentic selves – without apology.

Hári Sewell is a writer and speaker in his specialist area of social justice, equality, race and culture in mental health. Hári is honorary Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Central Lancashire and Specialist Guest Lecturer at University of Bradford, Visiting Lecturer at Christ Church Canterbury University and is a Member of the Scientific Board of the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health. Hári is a member of the Council (Board of Trustees) at the British Association of Social Workers.

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