Category: Uncategorized

Cultural Diversity: An Honest Truth Are all children being exposed to multiple cultures from a very early age so that they can see themselves represented positively and accept diversity as the norm?

In recent months, with the Black Lives Matter movement gaining traction, the subject of diversity and inclusion has been making headlines, spotlighting the need for change and bringing to the fore previously subdued voices. However, will we see any real change in the education and entertainment industries, or is it all just more lip service to pacify the “noble activists”?

The lack of culturally diverse content is nothing new — from tokenistic preschool programs that children watch at home, to history textbooks spinning heroic tales of colonization justifying how the “discovered” Indigenous people were no better than animals.

Are we finally seeing a realization in the Western world of how education surrounding the 18th century has negatively impacted cultural differences, not only through history but also to the current day? Are we looking at another era of monumental change? With statues being toppled and misconceptions changing, history is indeed being challenged once again. We are seeing historical recognition that the “newly discovered people” by European settler colonists and their descendants were victims of commercial exploitation, not “animals” as they were portrayed. If our predecessors had been honest, we might have been spared all of these issues we see in the world today.

Growing up in the U.K., I was taught how Britain set out to “educate” different cultures around the world, where we were made to believe these people were not equal to us. These lies have been perpetuated throughout the Western world and taught for generations.

So many undeserving people have been celebrated throughout history, with many more deserving ones receiving no recognition at all. Not many people know of the fabulously wealthy Prince Mansa Musa, the tenth Mansa of the Mali Empire. With an indescribable wealth, estimated to be multiple times more than Warren Buffet, Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, he remains unrecognized throughout history. Is this due to his ethnic background? (See Mohamud, N. (2019), “The richest man who ever lived” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ world-africa-47379458).

The education system and the way we are brought up has created a prejudice, reinforced in school because we had to defend our status and position in the world. No one corrected us. These historical lies have led to a great deal of suffering and incited racism amongst the masses. In order to change this institutional racism, we must present an accurate version of history and teach diversity openly and honestly. This should start before children even go to school.

Many people don’t realize that racism starts in the living room, through our environments and the programmed content that fills our screens. Children, from a very early age, need to be introduced to diversity as a normal concept. Sadly, there is a massive lack of culturally rich content in material designed and directed toward them.

Broadcasters must begin to understand their vital role in shaping the minds of these future generations. Children need to be given the opportunity to watch and identify with a truly diverse cast of characters. While attempts to deliver inclusive content have been made, it is often portrayed with inauthentic tokenistic characters, not the people they represent.

Many of our children are growing up in mixed-culture families and socializing with multiple ethnicities and religious groups. We are seeing change being called for on our streets and pledges of change being made nationwide. Now is the time to take real action and demand fundamental change across all media outlets. Broadcasters are responsible for meeting the need for real culturally diverse and value-based content that supports our children’s learning and education.

However, they are wary, rather than unwilling, when it comes to real culturally diverse representation. The fear of “getting it wrong” leads many to create content that utilizes non-human characters to represent “diversity and inclusion.” But all children should be exposed to multiple cultures from a very early age so that they can see themselves represented positively and accept diversity as the norm.

This desire led the London-based Safi Productions to create Zayn and Zayna’s Little Farm, which will soon begin airing on Muslim Kids TV with new episodes every month. Created by educational experts, it focuses on a Muslim family, introduces diverse characters and portrays a cultural mix as everyday normality.

Its website (zaynandzaynas.com) also has games, books and exclusive content. An interactive app is available at The App Store and Google Play store, Instagram at @Zaynandzaynas, Facebook and Twitter at @ZaynandZaynas.

Wa’qaar A. Mirza, a British entrepreneur with over 30 years experience in direct response marketing strategy, is CEO and founder of Zayn and Zayna’s Little Farm and cofounder and global CEO of Safi Ideas (safiideas.com).

The original article url: https://issuu.com/isnacreative/docs/ih_september-october_20

People photo created by pressfoto – www.freepik.com

With diversity and inclusivity being brought to the fore across the media and into our homes of late, now’s as good a time as any to reflect on how to teach children about diversity, cultural awareness and racial differences.

By engaging our children in culturally responsive experiences we know that their awareness and appreciation of diverse cultures increases. And you can never start too early. Even babies recognise differences in skin color and hair textures, as Rebecca Bigler, PhD studies have shown.

So if we want to crack those negative stereotypes and move forward in creating a generation of open-minded future thinkers, there are many things we can do to engage our children in cultural awareness and understanding, at home and within our communities.

Educate yourself

Before we can really teach children about diversity, it’s important to have as good an understanding on the subject ourselves as possible. With the Black Lives Matter movement heavily featured in the media and historical statues being torn down, we are realising so much more about our own history than ever before.

There are a growing number of articles, books and talks on diversity and racism, it can only help to arm ourselves with a good range of knowledge from a broad range of perspectives and experiences. Knowledge is power to make a difference!

Challenge those stereotypes

We all know that racial and cultural stereotypes exist. It is very likely our children will have heard or seen something negative surrounding racial backgrounds for example, without even knowing the impact of those references. Don’t ignore them! Talk to your child about it and bring out strong positive messaging surrounding diversity and inclusivity.

Bring diversity into your home

There is sadly a gap in true diverse content in children’s television programming, and very little in the way of books and toys. But television is one of the most influential learning mediums for our children at home and it’s worth digging deep to find a mix of diverse content.

There are of course the usual tokenistic animal species in varying colours (like in Peppa Pig), but bring on programmes that feature authentic human characters with different racial, religious, sexual and other backgrounds.

Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm was created for the impressionable preschoolers with exactly this in mind. It features characters from differing religions, ethnicities and abilities and aims to normalise these differences for children, using fun, music and creativity in real world scenarios.

Taste the flavours from around the world

Who doesn’t love a tasty curry? A Chinese take-away perhaps? Or maybe an irresistible Pad Thai is more for you? Here in the UK, we are fortunate enough to have the world’s cuisine at our fingertips. Many of us probably know how to cook a dish or two that originates from another country.

Food is a great opportunity to teach children about diversity and raise awareness on the positives multiple ethnicities bring. Teaching (and tasting) cuisines from around the world broadens minds, tempts those taste buds and opens a cultural awareness dialogue. So let’s swap recipes with our neighbours, cook a new dish with our children and help bridge that gap in cultural awareness and understanding.

Try out different cultural activities

A fun way to teach children about diversity is through arts and crafts. Try making some funky clothes like a Japanese Shibori tie-dye shirt for example; or have a go at making Tibetan prayer flags and create messages of peace to write on them. There are many crafts you can do introducing cultures from all over the world. It’s a really fun and engaging way for your children to learn about different cultures and make something cool too!

Share the language of music

There are over 7,000 languages spoken around the world but only 1 language we can all understand – music. We hear the rhythm, the tunes, the sounds and feel the emotions only music can bring. Listening to music from around the world is another great way to introduce multiple cultures and sounds to your children. You can talk about the different instruments, the use of sounds and voices. And use this as a platform to discuss the people and their cultures.

Or why not go all in and learn a new language with your children. You can use apps like Duolingo to learn a language through daily lessons and games. Another fun way to learn and immerse yourself in another culture.

Explore your local community

With children comes a hectic family life, often leaving little time to look into what might be right around the corner. Taking your children for a stroll around your local area may lead to cultural insights never spotted before – from a specialty food shop to a monument or even ruins or a tomb. Discover what there is to see and you might surprise yourself with what’s on your doorstep.

Even closer to home are our neighbours. Reach out and start a conversation. They may have interesting stories to tell (or tasty recipes share) and would welcome the opportunity to talk about them.

Visit places of worship

From the spire of your local church to the minaret at the mosque, places of worship are beautiful buildings that hold an abundance of culture and interest inside. Most places of worship welcome visitors and open their doors for people to take a look and explore inside. This is a great opportunity to teach children about diversity and create an awareness and understanding of multiple religious groups, not to mention a fun trip out!

Integrating diversity and inclusivity into your family life can only help make a difference in our children’s cultural awareness and understanding. Cultural diversity is there to be celebrated. To teach children about diversity, embrace it with your children as an everyday norm and it will help teach them how to be inclusive to all people of all ethnicities.

You can visit Zayn & Zayna, play games, buy books and watch exclusive content on zaynandzaynas.com or visit the interactive app, available on The App Store and Google Play store. For additional information about Zayn & Zayna, visit zaynandzaynas.com. Find us on Instagram at @Zaynandzaynas, see our Facebook page at Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @ZaynandZaynas

Author bio

Wa’qaar A Mirza is co-founder and global CEO of Safi Ideas. An accomplished British entrepreneur with over 30 years experience in direct response marketing strategy, Mirza has held senior executive positions at leading global media, financial and consumer brands including PWC, British Telecom and HSBC.

An accomplished author, speaker, producer and director, much of Wa’qaar’s work has been in cultural and religious production with a focus on content working towards greater equality and visibility for marginalised groups. Mirza has produced programmes for National Geographic and the Discovery Channel.

In 2020 Safi Productions launched Zayn and Zayna’s Little Farm, an inclusive pre-school animated show dedicated to seeding inclusive ideas and teachable moments in kindness, mindfulness, family, and community to all children.

About Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm

Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm is a branded English-language animated show and book series for pre-school children that incorporates a little Arabic too. Each adventure follows brother and sister, Zayn & Zayna on their British family farm and introduces all children to mindfulness, sustainability and diversity.

Zayn & Zayna is wholesome entertainment for the entire family where each instalment is an adventure and teachable moment in kindness, creativity, family, and community. Playing games, learning, exploring nature and helping their family are Zayn & Zayna’s favourite pastimes. Zayn & Zayna are Arabic and live with their father ‘Baba’, ‘Mama’ and grandmother ‘Nanee’.

Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm was created by Wa’qaar A Mirza, who also directs the animated series. Illustrated by Pablo Breh; Zayn & Zayna is produced by Safi Productions, an ethical and disruptive innovation incubation company based in London. Legendary producer, Henry Becket, best-known for ‘Olly the Little White Van’ and a larger team of 34 culturally diverse creatives come together to create this warm and charming animated adaptation.

You can visit Zayn & Zayna, play games, buy books and watch exclusive content on zaynandzaynas.com or visit the interactive app, available on The App Store and Google Play store. For additional information about Zayn & Zayna, visit zaynandzaynas.com. Find us on Instagram at @Zaynandzaynas, see our Facebook page at Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @ZaynandZaynas

Picture credit: People photo created by jcomp – www.freepik.com

While many would argue that there is now more diversity in the industry than ever before—whether that is through the representation of women, people of color, other gender or sexual identities, or religious beliefs—with a starting position of nil, we’ve hardly made progress at all.

My story of getting into film and television was a challenging one. In 1970s England, as a brown young Muslim man with no connections in the industry, it proved impossible to open any doors in the production industry I longed to join. Dejected, I left film behind, and joined the corporate world where I was lucky enough to forge myself a successful career in banking. But the power and importance of film never left me, and I started to see movies as a way of helping charities with which I was working raise their profile and much needed funds for their causes. Seeing this have a positive impact from both an educational and fund-raising perspective, I decided it was time to make a much bigger part of my life, co-founding Safi Ideas.

For 20 years, diversity and inclusion have been at the heart of what we do. Our mantra has always been to produce film and television content that can do good in the world through education, awareness and understanding.

Our desire to address big issues in the industry led to our latest project, an animated preschool series Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm, which tells the story of a British Muslim family that runs a farm through fun-packed engaging content and music. Kevin Clark’s “How to move beyond tokenism” piece, which talked about the lack of diversity in children’s programming, resonated very strongly with us—in particular, the idea that creators and broadcasters think that they are addressing the diversity of the real world by using a mix of animal species, rather than authentic human characters of different racial, religious, sexual and other backgrounds. They are not, and that needs to change. Children need to see and learn about the diversity of the human race from as young an age as possible.

Broadcasters often fool themselves believing that by having a diverse group of children’s presenters, they are addressing diversity. Of course, it is great to see diversity on camera, but preschool programming itself falls way short of the bar on this issue.

I don’t know what it is like to be a young black man trying to get in the industry today; I do believe there has been changes in diversity, even if more is needed. But in terms of commissioning, broadcasters need to stop playing safe when it comes to pre-school children’s programming. Let’s show diversity in its true form, not through foam body suits and talking animals. It is only by doing this that we can start honest and open conversations about the wonderful diversity in the modern world, while stopping the prejudices and misrepresentation that still exist today.

I hope nobody experiences the knock backs I did as a young man trying to get into the industry. But we must remember that it is not just about jobs: Creatives, programme makers, commissioners and broadcast executives all need to think about what diversity means in their role, to the industry and the end audience. It’s time for some bravery, let’s grab the nettle and stop simply talking the talk.

Wa’qaar Mirza is the co-founder and global CEO of Safi Ideas. 

Read full on KIDSCREEN

In the current global climate, kids’ content producers and distributors are determined to deliver more diverse and inclusive content for young viewers all around the world.

The Black Lives Matter movement, which aims to dismantle the structures that enable unchecked police brutality against Black people through nonviolent civil disobedience, gathered new support in the wake of unarmed Minneapolis, Minnesota, resident George Floyd’s death at the hands of police officers in May. The tragedy, in conjunction with scores of others in a similar vein, led millions of Americans to take to the streets calling for justice. Around the world, millions more followed suit, the protests’ asks adapting for each country’s particular set of problems pertaining to race and ethnicity, creed and sexuality and gender. While many wrongs must be righted through politics and policy, media has a role to play in changing hearts and opening minds by putting forth diverse stories with diverse characters. For kids, the value of watching shows about kids and families that don’t look like them—or watching a show that’s finally about kids and families that look like them—can’t be overstated. And in the current climate, kids’ content producers and distributors—many of which have already heeded the call for more diverse content—are determined to deliver.

Safi Productions, a London-based company that sits within Safi Ideas, which makes ethically-minded content across film, animation and interactive media, has a core mission “to create a more ethical purpose to filmmaking,” according to Wa’qaar A Mirza, writer and global CEO of Safi Productions. “We want all of our content to feature mindful messaging and to demonstrate an understanding and celebration toward diversity, with an honest portrayal of history, peace and goodwill.” He adds, “Safi Productions’ key focus is on creating harmony and mindfulness across all cultures. The purpose is to improve understanding of people and humanity, with a focus on young people, because that’s where education begins.”

In keeping with the company mission, Safi has in its catalog Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm, an animated English-language preschool series. Each episode’s adventure follows siblings Zayn and Zayna on their British family farm, and introduces kids to the concepts of mindfulness, sustainability and diversity, incorporating Arabic while it portrays both cultural diversity and diversity in abilities. The company is also in preproduction on a yet-to-be-titled travel show for 14- to 18-year-olds. It focuses “on countries that many people view in a negative light,” says Mirza. “Our aim is to explore each country’s culture, the people and history, and to shine a light on the diverse cultural differences.”

Among the titles on CAKE’s slate that offer their young viewers a more inclusive look at the world around them is Pablo, a preschool show for CBeebies that centers on a little boy who is on the autism spectrum. “The wonderful thing about the series is that it never mentions autism; it is just about a boy who sees things differently,” says Tom van Waveren, CAKE’s CEO and creative director. “Pablo shows people on the spectrum on television, and by doing so, effectively makes them part of the world as it is seen on screen. That’s a big part of diversity—to make sure that the world we see on screen reflects the real world. In the real world, there are a lot of people on the spectrum, but unfortunately, there are not that many people on the spectrum on the screen.”

Mama K’s Team 4, a superhero series that CAKE is currently producing for Netflix, follows four teenage girls living in the neo-futuristic African city of Lusaka, Zambia, who save the world in each episode. “The show is really a very entertaining action-comedy that happens to be set in Lusaka,” says van Waveren. “Here again, the simple fact of having an entirely African cast is hugely significant when it comes to seeing yourself on screen. Consequently, that makes it an important contribution to improving diversity to the storytelling available to children of all ages and around the world.”

Amid the global uprisings and consequent actions and initiatives, programs with a diverse angle have only increased in popularity. “The whole industry is interested in diverse stories and diverse characters that reflect children’s worlds; their friends, their interests, what they see around them,” says Bernadette O’Mahony, head of development and production at the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF). “Projects that entertain and reflect the diverse makeup of society, as well as model positive relationships, behavior and kindness and inclusion are really important right now.” Traveling well for ACTF is the comedy series Hardball, which centers on a group of kids from different backgrounds and has a lead character with cerebral palsy. “Buyers love the diversity and how it’s just naturally a part of this group of friends—it’s not commented on in the show, it just is normal to kids and accepted—both on-screen and by the audience.”

O’Mahony adds that there is also a marked interest in “LGBTQI+ stories for a young audience when done well, and I think we’ll see more characters and actors included in comedy or drama series going forward.” (Safi Productions’ forthcoming travel program, which is aimed at teenagers and young adults, will be featuring LGBTQI+ characters.)

Superights is also witnessing the appetite for stories that center on those that are more often than not on the margins—and that these shows have truly global legs. “Our experience proves that diverse characters travel easily, and that the demand for diversity is significant,” says Nathalie Pinguet, deputy managing director for sales and acquisitions at Superights. “There is a real desire to broadcast open-minded programs, especially from public free TV around the world.”

Superights’ catalog contains several series that feature diverse characters and stories, including Story Time!, a collection of tales for preschoolers that takes its viewers on a journey to a new country in each episode. There’s also Moko the Young Explorer, about the titular African boy whose biggest goal is to explore the entire world; Koumi’s Animated Picture Book, about a 5-year-old mixed-race girl who travels the globe to meet the animals in her picture book; and Zibilla, which centers on a zebra in a world of horses struggling to find acceptance. “This lovely special about adoption celebrates differences and tackles the issue of children who feel different finding their place in the world,” says Pinguet.

Key to effectively and authentically making diverse shows is having a cast and crew behind them that is representative of the diversity portrayed. “If you don’t have diverse cast and crew on your shows, how can you hope to effectively capture and communicate the experiences of those different races and cultures?” asks Jon Ollwerther, executive VP of global brand and business development at Genius Brands International, which counts among its tentpole brands Rainbow Rangers and Llama Llama. “There is truth and authenticity in these stories, which really resonates with kids, and we would be missing that if our cast and crew were not diverse.”

Rainbow Rangers follows seven superhero girls that are each represented by a different color of the rainbow and have a different skin color, incorporating themes like empowerment, individuality, leadership, inclusivity, diversity and environmental care. “Llama Llama is a slightly different take on diversity than Rainbow Rangers, and each character is a different member of the animal kingdom,” says Ollwerther. “In season two, we also introduced Audrey the Antelope, who is limb different, and the outpouring of support from the limb different community has been exceptional.”

For CAKE’s van Waveren, nothing is more important than getting the diversity right behind the scenes. “It’s not just picking a subject that highlights diversity and has that embedded,” he says, adding, “The stories of Pablocame from either people on the spectrum themselves or from people who have children on the spectrum or work with people on the spectrum. All the voices were done by children on the spectrum and this results in wonderfully unique stories, authentic and diverse, but most of all, with a unique and fresh voice.” As for the Africa-set, female-centered Mama K’s Team 4, “all the scripts are being written by African female writers. The lead animation studio, who also developed the concept, are Triggerfish Animation based in Cape Town. And most of the key creative talent comes from Africa. There is no other way in which we could tell stories about children in Africa from an authentic perspective.”

A common sentiment for those delivering diverse kids’ content to platforms and broadcasters is that the content needs to organically show different faces and perspectives without making these differences the focus of the show. As the world is made up of many different people with many different stories, it really shouldn’t be all that hard to do. “We live in a world with people of different abilities and disabilities, of different genders and geographical and cultural backgrounds,” says van Waveren. “The beauty of storytelling is embracing the richness of our world on both sides of the screen while resisting the urge to make the content about that.”

Referring to shows on ACTF’s slate such as First Day, Little J & Big Cuz and The Inbestigators, O’Mahony concurs, explaining, “What sets them apart is that they are just great storytelling; authentic stories that ring true to an audience and have a lot of heart and warmth. Diversity comes naturally to these projects; it’s not heavy handed or preaching, it’s just reflecting real life and the makeup of society.”

Read Full Article on WORLDSCREEN

From the 80s and 90s, where advertisers first made moves to include children from a diverse range of backgrounds, to more recent efforts to include children with differing abilities, meaningful representation is becoming a more conscious decision in the minds of those who create and produce media.

The danger in this space is that media creators move to be inclusive in their practices for the sake of “ticking a box”. To explore this conundrum of how to be inclusive without veering into tokenism we spoke with Wa’qaar A Mirza, Co-Founder and Global CEO of Safi Ideas, the production company behind children’s animation Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm.

While there is a huge range of preschool children’s television available, Mr Mirza said, diversity is often a carefully crafted illusion, designed to mimic inclusivity, rather than embrace it.

“Characters,” he said, “are portrayed with different personalities, looks, jobs and responsibilities,” and while this is engaging for children “it fools us into thinking we are being diverse, but it doesn’t fool the children, and we need to ‘get real’ when it comes to true diversity.”

From the Latino family who are devout Catholics with a reverence for Abuelita (Grandmother) to the Asian family where parents are strict and rice is served with every meal, while producers hint at diversity, there is much more that can be done, Mr Mirza said.

“Children need to be given the opportunity to watch and identify with a truly diverse cast of characters,” he added. More importantly, these representations need to have diverse characteristics.

Often, media creators will attempt to work around this delicate balance for younger children with the use of animals or puppets, helping children to address difference in a non-confrontational way. This theory, Mr Mirza believes, “puts a wall up” making it confusing for children to learn about the diversity they see all around them.

“At Safi Productions, it’s obvious to us that broadcasters, rather than being unwilling, are simply wary of representation,” he said, noting that the fear of ‘getting it wrong’ leads to many simply opting to create content utilising non-human characters to represent ‘diversity and inclusion’.

Rather than being respectful, this wall of non human characters “makes a mockery of diversity,” Mr Mirza said.

We know this from the content we see and the challenging conversations we’ve had with networks,” he added. “We believe it’s vital that all children, from as early an age as possible, are exposed to multiple cultures, see a mix of people, and also see themselves represented positively.”

“Using human characters makes the content relatable, but it does not need to be any less interesting” he emphasised, saying that carefully crafted content for children will help them to “see themselves and the people around them in a way that embraces diversity and prompts questions they can discuss with their parents”.

Read full on THE SECTOR

Wa’qaar A Mirza, co-founder and global CEO of Safi Ideas, whose UK-based production outfit is behind the children’s animation Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm, discusses the responsibility that broadcasters must accept in delivering children’s content with real diversity.
Broadcasters certainly like to talk the talk about diversity and inclusion in their content, however, there is still a noticeable lack of true representation that requires drastic attention – particularly when it comes to children’s content.
The call is now for them to walk the walk: not only are broadcasters falling short of understanding their vital role in shaping the minds of future generations, but they are also missing out on a massive commercial opportunity that can come from truly introducing diversity in their children’s programming content.
While attempts to deliver inclusive content have certainly been made, there have also been many missteps. Particularly, as broadcasters begin to understand that narratives are best told by the people they represent – rather than attempting to shoehorn concepts into inauthentic, tokenistic narratives. Look around, the industry is now screaming out for minority talent, ideas and content. But why does this not appear to extend to children’s content? Particularly preschool content (0-5 years)?

We are all spending an increased amount of time with our children… it has resulted in an increased awareness of the lack of real-world diversity delivered across children’s content
Wa’qaar A Mirza

There’s a very real relationship between self-worth and media representation, particularly of marginalised groups. Research shows 22% of ethnic minorities did not feel like a part of British culture and this has risen very slightly to a quarter (24%) since the Brexit referendum*. With the evolving makeup of British culture, broadcasters now have a greater than ever responsibility to deliver inclusive children’s content, with meaningful representation.
Children need to be given the opportunity to watch and identify with a truly diverse cast of characters. More importantly, these representations need to have diverse characteristics. We have gone beyond the need for equal casting on male/female hero characters. Non-white characters should occupy leading roles too, and not be limited to the role of sidekicks.
Learning from the lockdown
As we navigate the Covid-19 pandemic, we are all spending an increased amount of time with our children, connecting with other parents and sharing resourceful links to occupy our families as we work from home. This is a good thing – it has resulted in an increased awareness of the lack of real-world diversity delivered across children’s content.
Lockdown has been a revelation to us: our animated TV series Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm is in pre-release on YouTube and, with no promotion, we are seeing viewer numbers increase exponentially.
And, perhaps because we are a welcome surprise, we have received lots of feedback from viewers thanking us for delivering content that allows future generations to see versions of themselves, their communities and their friends represented. Notably, our values of respect, self-worth, community and mindfulness are being welcomed early on.
At Safi Productions, it’s obvious to us that broadcasters, rather than being unwilling, are simply wary of representation. The fear of ‘getting it wrong’ leads to many simply opting to create content utilising non-human characters to represent ‘diversity and inclusion’.
This ultimately makes a mockery of diversity. We know this from the content we see and the challenging conversations we’ve had with networks. We believe it’s vital that all children, from as early an age as possible, are exposed to multiple cultures, see a mix of people, and also see themselves represented positively.
We truly understand the trepidation when it comes to delivering content that incorporates our narratives, however, we ask that broadcasters look beyond their existing talent and explore the content creators from different backgrounds available to them – those who are best equipped to tell their narratives from their perspective.
Providing teachable moments
Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm, our English-language animated TV series, is dedicated to delivering teachable moments in kindness, mindfulness, family, and community and has been received in homes all over the world.  We’ve had really insightful responses from families and we’ve been very grateful that people have been open and honest with us. We appreciate this is new and unprecedented, and are all agreed it’s vital for a generation of children to see different types of British families.
The UK’s demographic is increasingly diverse. Our children are growing up in mixed culture families and socialising with multiple ethnicities and religious groups. This affords broadcasters and production companies a huge opportunity for significant progress in media representation, reflecting increased diversity including race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other marginalized groups. We have seen companies take brave steps in fundamentally changing the way content is delivered with streaming services from Netflix, Apple and now BBC and ITV with BritBox. Now we need to see the same bravery and investment with the content – particularly for the younger viewers who are the future.
*Chuka Umunna, MP, forwarded research piece by Opinium Research, 2018
Read full on TELEVISION BUSINES INTERNATION 

The broadcasters have a vital role to positively help shape the minds of future generations, by providing a diverse-rich content

Diversity and cultural inclusion within the media is certainly a hot topic, many feel representation is at an all time high; however, this winding path has quite a journey ahead until individual differences are truly represented and viewed as the norm within the media.
The media influences us all, and it starts from a very early age. From the music we listen to, the books we read and the films we watch; to the TV we view and games we play – we breathe it all in and exhale views and opinions taken from this multitude of influential sources. It is therefore crucial that characters, themes and messages within this stream of content, are inclusive to the diversity that forms our world as much as possible.

We have seen an increase in inclusive content across the media over recent years, indeed, in India, 44% of people believe the ethnic, religious, and racial makeup of their country has become more diverse over the past 20 years, as per Pewter Research Centre 2018. However, when it comes to children’s content, these attempts are still very much represented through tokenistic narratives rather than including the underrepresented individuals and cultures they are created to represent.

There is still a gaping hole in children’s content featuring a fair representation of multiculturalism, ethnicity, race and genders, and it is the responsibility of broadcasters to help fill this gap. The broadcasters have a vital role to positively help shape the minds of our future generations, by providing the diverse-rich content we so desperately need. Children should be given the opportunity to watch and identify with a truly diverse cast of characters. The inclusion of this diverse content should be viewed as the norm – and not a rarity that is noted for inclusivity. This can only be achieved by broadcasting content that features diversity as an everyday normality, not highlighted as a point of differentiation.

 

Produced By: Safi Productions, an ethical and disruptive innovation incubation company based in London. Wa’qaar A Mirza is creator and director, Henry Becket is executive producer. Illustrated by Pablo Breh. Mirza, David Garbett and Hina Chaudri are co-writers.
Partner Potential: Thirty-four culturally diverse creatives come together to create this warm and charming animated adaptation. Safi Productions is seeking children’s broadcasters as partners on the show.
Description: An animated series that follows the exciting adventures of a sibling duo on their family farm. Engaging edutainment that introduces children to mindfulness, sustainability and diversity. Each episode is 11 minutes long, with three completed and a fourth in production. Target demo is preschoolers 3 to 6.
Pitch Perfect: Developed by a team of children’s entertainment experts from around the world, Zayn & Zayna’s Little Farm offers top-quality production with culturally diverse rich content, unique curated percussion music and a 360-degree product offering, including an Android and iOS app, a range of merchandise including books and an e-learning module. Currently proving popular in prerelease on YouTube, the channel has a growing fan base of 125,000 subscribers and 350,000 views, offering wholesome creative entertainment around mindfulness and environmental awareness.