Where are the working class in the British film industry? Data from the British Film Institute

A range of research, including analyses of quantitative data, has demonstrated the existence of inequalities for women and people of colour in the screen sector’s workforce. There has been less data collection in relation to class inequalities, and therefore less analysis of this aspect of the workforce. This paper considers this historic absence of data relating to class and considers a new source of data. Analysis of applicants to the British Film Institute’s Film Fund provides new insight into class inequalities and how they intersect with other demographic categories. This analysis demonstrates the classed patterns of application and success in relation to funding for screen industries in the UK, with the dominance of those from middle class origins throughout each stage of funding. Intersectional analysis of these inequalities shows which groups, at the intersection of class, race and gender, are more likely to receive funding. Drawing on Nwonka’s groundbreaking work on race and data in the screen sector, the paper concludes by highlighting the limitations of solely ‘data-driven’ responses to screen- and creative-sector inequalities, and the need for broader considerations of the structural factors in play.