We are revising our language, including changing our organisation’s and festival’s names and logos to make sure everybody impacted by gender inequity is included in our shared mission.
Phase 1: Initial Input
First we gathered initial input on the name change through two surveys.
- Membership survey
- Trans and nonbinary community survey
Phase 2: Deeper Dive
Next, we did deeper engagement with Two-Spirit, trans, nonbinary, and QTBIPOC community members, and learned together how to move towards inclusion. We conducted the following:
- Interviews with Two-Spirit, trans and nonbinary community members to identify how to better support trans inclusion at WIFTV.
- QTBIPOC focus group to identify how to better support racial equity at WIFTV.
- Gender inclusion workshop with board, staff, and membership to collectively learn about inclusion.
Phase 3: Develop Options
Next, we developed options and gathered feedback on potential names.
- Develop and gather feedback on a shortlist of names (complete)
- Membership survey on name options
All of the names submitted in the Phase 1 surveys were collated, sent for feedback, and shortlisted by a group made up of WIFTV staff, current and past board members, key contractors, and from Two-Spirit, trans and nonbinary interview participants.
To our surprise, a clear front runner emerged from the mix - Gender Equity in Media Society (GEMS) Vancouver. The board voted in favour of proposing the name GEMS Vancouver to the membership due to its popularity.
Phase 4: Choose a Name, and Implement
On April 4th 2023, the organization's membership vote by Special Resolution to change the name of the organization to the proposed new name - Gender Equity in Media Society Vancouver.
On April 12th, 2023, the change was recorded with BC Societies and made official.
Our name change process will eventually culminate in a re-brand - for now, we are focused on ensuring that we record and document the process and that we continue to do the important programming and advocacy work that underpins our name.
FAQ
There are many people who experience gender-based discrimination and inequities in film and television. The current name of our organization speaks to the identities and experiences of some but not all of our members, and does not reflect our long-standing goal of eradicating gender-based discrimination and fostering gender equity for all people in the film and television industry.
Absolutely! Our programming will continue to serve women, and we will continue to work at ensuring that women are valued in their film and television work. For a long time, our programming has also been open to other people who are impacted by gender inequities in the industry. We are updating our name to be in alignment with the diversity of our membership, and to ensure that we can work effectively at ensuring gender equity for all of our members - and this includes women!
We don’t expect any significant changes to our current programming, but we do hope to continue to expand our programming to include more offerings. We are looking forward to making our programs more inclusive and welcoming to our diverse membership!
Most definitely! We have been working with several other WIFT chapters throughout this process and are happy to have their support.
There are already several chapters that have names that do not contain ‘WIFT’, including Allia (QC, Canada). For a full list of chapters, check out: https://www.wifti.net/membership/
Each chapter is autonomously governed, so it is up to each individual chapter what they want their chapter to be called. We are proud to be a front runner and leading by example when it comes to inclusion. We hope other chapters will follow suit if and when they are able!
Our membership has always included people of all genders, including men. We do however have a distinction between voting members and non-voting members, as before. Voting membership will be inclusive of cis women, trans people of all genders, nonbinary people and other people who are marginalized and minoritized based on gender identity. We use the language of "people who are equity-deserving on the basis of gender" or "people who are marginalized based on gender" to capture everyone that will be eligible to be a member of our network. Yes, this means that trans men will be welcome as members. However, we will continue to invite cis men to serve as ally members to our network and they will not be eligible for voting membership.
We undertook a robust, year-long process involving community and membership consultation using funds from the BC Arts Council and with the guidance of hired consultants with relevant expertise. Our members voted not only on the decision to change the name, but on which new name would more accurately and inclusively capture the mission and membership of our network. We were very pleased to have a strong majority of support for the change and for the chosen name.
There are other fantastic organisations like the Indigenous Screen Office, Black Screen Office, Disability Screen Office, BIPOC Film and TV, Racial Equity Media Collective, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, Skoden Indigenous Film Festival, Vancouver South Asian Film Festival, MENA Film Festival, Out on Screen / Queer Film Festival (to name just a few!) that do excellent work on other important equity topics.