Celebrities join Arts Emergency’s call to #BreakTheGlass and let in young talent

Celebrities including Jack Dee, Miranda Hart, Katy Brand, Michael Sheen, Neil Gaiman, Jenny Eclair, Samantha Morton, Nikesh Shukla and Chris Addison have joined the #BreakTheGlass online campaign calling on those working in culture to help open the doors for young people struggling to break into the Arts.

The comedians, writers and actors were amongst hundreds of those sharing the names of the people who helped them to make their breakthrough and encouraging their followers to support Arts Emergency, the award-winning charity bringing creative and cultural professionals together to open the door for aspiring young talent.

Actor Michael Sheen thanked his former drama teacher Ken Tucker with a tweet, while The Thick of It star Chris Addison thanked fellow stand-up comic Dave Gorman for sharing his contacts and advice in his early days. Author Neil Gaiman thanked Comics legend Alan Moore for helping him realise he had made it as a writer.

Over 25 Arts organisations, creative companies and universities around the UK including The BFI (British Film Institute), University of the Arts London, the Eden Project, Get Up, Stand Up – The Bob Marley Musical, ATC Management and ATC Live, Avalon and The Agency, FCB Inferno, Rankin, Framestore, Company 3 and Linkedin also joined the campaign to show their support as the stats show that so much more is needed to open the creative industries to marginalised voices.

The odds of getting into a creative job are significantly lower if you are Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background, from a working-class background, female, disabled or living outside of London and the South East. In fact, people from privileged backgrounds are four times more likely to land in a creative occupation, and the likelihood of someone from a working-class background finding work in a creative career has remained largely unchanged since 1980.

• Just 16% of people in the Creative industries are from a working-class background
• Only 4.8% of people working in music, the visual & performing arts are Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background and just 12% of those are from a working-class background
• 40% of people working in media attended private school.
• 2.7% of people working in museums, galleries and libraries are Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background.
• 16% of people in film and TV come from working-class backgrounds, and only 9% of those in film, radio and TV are Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background

A giant ‘Break in Case of Arts Emergency’ case has been built to display examples of creative work from Arts Emergency’s young people, Jannell Adufo, Maïs Bouteldja, Helen Hale, Gwent Odai and Sam Oddie, showcasing some of the incredible raw talents which are at risk of being excluded from the arts. The box launched at the Museum of London yesterday before arriving at National Museums Liverpool.

The campaign was created pro bono by creative agency FCB Inferno. The launch campaign includes press ads and a series of short social documentaries to support the launch, with creative industry names including poet Raymond Antrobus and artist Mark Leckey sharing how they broke into their profession, exploring their struggles along the way and encouraging audiences to help more young people find their way into the arts. The organisation’s youth collective is also launching a podcast, Crash Culture, in which they interview people, including writer Kit de Waal and researcher/activist Rianna Walcott about social justice and the cultural industries.

Several of the organisations that have signed up to support are also opening their doors in practical ways to the young people Arts Emergency work with. These include promoting the charity’s action sheet on supporting young people and good working practices, virtual open days to understand the various roles available in advertising plus three paid summer internships with FCB Inferno, artist workshops to showcase the music ecosystem and range of behind-the-scenes roles available from ATC Management and ATC Live, and four paid traineeships with Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical’. Avalon and the Agency offer mentorship opportunities, three paid internships each year and actively recruit for full-time staff from the charity.

Neil Griffiths, Founder of Arts Emergency said: “No matter what you’ve achieved, someone at some time gave you a leg up, and Arts Emergency is thousands of people from across the cultural and creative industries doing just that for the next generation by donating money, time and contacts to help them get in and get on.”