The meeting place for the international production community is London this December. Free registration is now open for the eighth edition of FOCUS. PSN has supported and participated in this unique gathering of screen professionals from film, TV, advertising, animation, and games since its inception. We look forward to reconnecting with industry colleagues and discovering fresh insights and inspiration in the 60+ sessions featuring more than 150 speakers. See you there!

As business partners of The Location Managers Guild International, we wish to applaud organizers of 9th Annual Awards for recognition of Indigenous Peoples throughout the August 28 ceremony you can watch here. The LMGI celebrated the event just a couple weeks after the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and amidst raised awareness this time of year with US Indigenous People’s Day in October and Native American Heritage Month in November.

Opening remarks from LMGI President John Rakich began by recognizing the original inhabitants of Los Angeles, where the event was held. The LMGI Trailblazer Award went to Joanelle Romero for her impact as founder and CEO of Red Nation Television Network and Red Nation International Film Festival. Martin Scorsese received LMGI’s Eva Monley Award for his above and beyond support of the work of location professionals. Scorsese joined the event remotely due to post-production of his feature film, Killers of the Flower Moon, based on Oklahoma murders in the Osage Nation committed after oil was discovered in the 1920’s on tribal land.

More indigenous stories are reaching a global audience thanks to TV series like Reservation Dogs and the recently released feature film The Drover’s Wife, The Legend of Molly Johnson. Aboriginal stage and film actor, Leah Purcell, wrote, directed, and starred in this revisionist drama executive produced by PSN Australia‘s own Andrew Wareham, and lensed by his brother, cinematographer Mark Wareham.

Industry-shaping trends identified in the World Economic Forum’s Power of the Media Initiative are getting traction across the globe. The Hollywood-based Television Academy will hold an industry-wide summit in December 2022 to “work towards a more inclusive and equitable industry, increasing the visibility, equity and power for those marginalized and underrepresented,” according to the Academy.

Authors of a 2021 study released earlier this year that underlined the need for the event told industry media that “television has the power to shape the way we see the world, others, and ourselves, and we believe that sharing the experiences of Academy members is a critical step towards impactful change.”

Awareness is on the rise worldwide. The Paramount initiative Reflecting Me: Global Representation On Screen surveyed 15,000 people aged 13-49 in 15 countries. More than half feel that certain groups and identities need to be more accurately represented on screen. Looking only at people who currently feel poorly represented, there is a perception that on balance on-screen representation has grown worse in the last 5 years. But there is also hope in an overall perception by nearly half of those surveyed that representation on screen will improve with time.

An entertainment industry-wide report released this year with support of Prime Video and the Producers Guild of India turned its attention to the reduced representation of women on and off camera. It revealed that only 10% of HODs are women. Inside that industry average is the fact that female HOD representation in streaming is five times higher than in theatrical format.