‘Diversity’ needs breaking down, argues ‘Dreaming Whilst Black’ exec producer

Dreaming Whilst Black

Dreaming Whilst Black exec producer Danny Joshi has said the industry needs to be more “specific” in its discussions around “diverse” programming and outlined how he protected the show’s creative freedom.

Joshi, MD at producer Big Deal Films, said the catch-all nature of ‘diverse programming’ was inadequate in reflecting the types of shows on offer and the range of people who made them.

“You can put a lot into that one word, ‘diverse’,” he said during a panel at MIA in Rome. “You can put what you want in there but what does it mean – more Indian stories, more black stories, more queer stories. We need to be specific.”

Joshi also highlighted the recent exodus of diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I) execs over recent months, which have seen Disney‘s Latondra Newton, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Karen Horne and Netflix’s Vernā Myers all depart.

“There is a lot to package into ‘diversity’ and then if you only have one person overseeing that area, when there are cuts going on, who is the first person going? The head of diversity.

“Oh well, we’re fucked. We need to re-evaluate that word, call it underrepresented.”

Self-financing

During a far-reaching panel exploring representation, Joshi also revealed how his company had self-financed the pilot for Showtime’s Dreaming Whilst Black (which started life on BBC Three) in order to retain creative control.

“When the BBC said they’d make a pilot we were offered deficit financing from a huge number of distributors but we thought we wouldn’t take the money.

“We instead took the risk and did it ourselves, our overdraft facility at this point was £3,000 ($4,000) so we were in no position to be doing it but I really believed in this show and didn’t want to be tied to a company who may think of our creative choices as risk. So we protected ourselves.”

Big Deal subsequently partnered with A24 for Showtime’s full season, but Joshi said the subsequent success was derived from taking risk.

“We had some amazing conversations with companies around the world and ended up with A24, but didn’t come without the risk we took in the beginning.”