Camera Ready

Creating true diversity in Canadian TV and film

-  Stacy Lee Kong

FROM THE OUTSIDE, it looked like Amanda Lo was living her dream. She had worked in Canada's film and TV industry for almost a decade, sometimes even leading her own independent projects. But she wasn't where she really wanted to be: the writers' room of a popular show, where she could tell big stories about queer Chinese women like herself. "I felt like there was no space for me," she says. "I was very close to giving up on a career in writing."

Then, in fall 2021, she made a breakthrough with the help of BIPOC TV & Film, a national organization on a  mission to increase diversity in the Canadian TV and film industry. The group provides training, support, and access to networks, and also advocates for fair hiring practices and equitable work policies. In Lo's case, its four-month screenwriting program helped her to develop new skills and finally put pen to paper in a writers' room. Today, she has worked on both CTV's Transplant and an upcoming show called The Spencer Sisters.