Demographic data is requested as part of the application process for all development and production initiatives and is captured through the NZFC's digital application portal.
Capture of Demographic Data
How is demographic data captured?
Demographic data is requested as part of the application process for all development and production initiatives and is captured through the NZFC's digital application portal. This is a standardised section of the application process and although completion is mandatory, the disclosure of this information is optional as all questions have a "Prefer not to answer" option.
Devolved funding initiatives administered outside of the NZFC also request this information as part of the application process. This information is securely transferred and combined with the data captured by the NZFC.
Who is demographic data captured about?
Demographic data is provided by applicants about the filmmakers occupying key creative roles. For development and production initiatives, key creative roles are limited to director, producer and/or writer. All references to key creative roles are in relation to these three roles. Demographic data is not requested about key collaborators that may be assisting with the development or production of a project.
The demographic information used by the NZFC in its reporting relates to the filmmakers attached to key creative roles at the time of application. In cases where a creative team changes after a funding decision is made, the demographic data of the creative team listed in the application will not be updated retrospectively.
How is demographic data captured?
Demographic data is requested as part of the application process for all development and production initiatives and is captured through the NZFC's digital application portal. This is a standardised section of the application process and although completion is mandatory, the disclosure of this information is optional as all questions have a "Prefer not to answer" option.
Devolved funding initiatives administered outside of the NZFC also request this information as part of the application process. This information is securely transferred and combined with the data captured by the NZFC.
Demographic data is provided by applicants about the filmmakers occupying key creative roles. For development and production initiatives, key creative roles are limited to director, producer and/or writer. All references to key creative roles are in relation to these three roles. Demographic data is not requested about key collaborators that may be assisting with the development or production of a project.
The demographic information used by the NZFC in its reporting relates to the filmmakers attached to key creative roles at the time of application. In cases where a creative team changes after a funding decision is made, the demographic data of the creative team listed in the application will not be updated retrospectively.
Who is demographic data captured about?
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect.
The NZFC and our third party providers store personal information in a secure environment accessed only by authorised persons. We use generally accepted security standards to protect personal information collected from you from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.
All reporting and data requests completed by the NZFC are prepared in an anonymous and aggregated format. Identifying information such as names and contact details are removed from all datasets to ensure the privacy or our applicants. You can read more about the NZFC Privacy Policy here.
What Data is Captured?
Gender Identity
Gender identity is an individual’s internal sense of being wholly female, wholly male or having aspects of female and/or male (Stats NZ, 2015). Application forms and subsequent reports produced by the NZFC use the terms female, male and gender diverse. These terms are used in line with the Stats NZ Classification Standards definition of gender identity. For more details about the Standard or further definitions of gender identity, please refer to the Stats NZ website - Standard Classification for Gender Identity.
Ethnicity
Data relating to ethnicity is also captured in line with the Stats NZ Standards. Following the recommendations outlined in the Standard, applicants are given the option to select from a list of 180 ethnicities that make up Level 4 of the standard. Applicants have the ability to select all ethnicities that they identify with and there is no restriction on how many options they can select. A free text 'Other ethnicity' field is also provided. For more details about the Standard, please refer to the Stats NZ website - Standard Classification for Ethnicity.
A further explanation of how ethnicity data is used in reporting is further down this page.
Iwi
Data relating to Iwi is also captured in line with the Stats NZ Standards. Applicants have the ability to select from 175 Iwis as listed in the Standard. Applicants have the ability to select all Iwis that they identify with and there is no restriction on how many options they can select. A free text 'Other Iwi' field is also provided. For more details about the Standard, please refer to the Stats NZ website - Standard Classification for Iwi.
Age
Applicants are asked to select the age bracket that applies from a list of seven pre-determined age brackets.
Screen Experience
Applicants are asked to select the bracket that applies from a list of seven pre-determined screen experience brackets.
Region
Applicants are asked to select the region they live in within New Zealand. Applicants that reside overseas are provided with a free text field to enter the city they live in.
Counting Key Creatives
Our reporting focuses on comparing the entire application pool against those projects that are offered funding by the NZFC. It should be noted that a filmmaker’s demographic data can be included in our analyses more than once. This is because they are counted towards each project they are working on as well as every funding application that has been submitted for this project. This allows us to account for cases where a filmmaker is attached to multiple projects applying for funding, as well as cases where a project submits multiple applications within the reporting period. In addition, if a filmmaker is attached to multiple key creative roles (i.e., director and producer), then they are counted once in each category.
Reporting on Ethnicity
Application forms are designed so that applicants can select multiple ethnicities for each filmmaker. The list consists of 180 ethnicities as listed under Level 4 of the Stats NZ Standard. For reporting purposes, each ethnicity is aggregated up to six categories that make up Level 1 of the Standard. The six categories are; European, Māori, Pacific Peoples, Asian, Middle Eastern/Latin American/African (MELAA), and Other Ethnicity.
The 'Total response output method' is used when interpreting this data. This method' counts every ethnic group that a person identifies with. People with responses which fall into more than one group are counted once in each group. For example, people of Samoan, Tongan and German ethnicities would be counted once in the Pacific category and once in the European category. This means that the sum of the ethnic groups can be greater than the number of key creatives listed in the application form.
For more details about the Standard, please refer to the Stats NZ website - Standard Classification for Ethnicity.
Headcount Method
The analysis of gender identity and ethnicity data is complex and multi-layered. For this reason, the NZFC has taken a two-step approach to measuring diversity. The first method is the Headcount method.
The Headcount method considers the entire pool of filmmakers across key creative roles attached to projects applying and/or approved funding from the NZFC. Analysing the diversity of filmmakers across the entire pool of creatives allows the NZFC to answer questions such as, 'what proportion of filmmakers supported through production financing initiatives were female?'. We can analyse this even further and analyse the diversity across the different key creative roles which will allow for questions like "what proportion of directors supported through production financing initiatives were female?
Project Count Method
The second approach to measuring diversity is the Project Count method. Unlike the Headcount method, this method does not focus on the wider pool of filmmakers, but instead focuses on measuring diversity within creative teams. This allows the NZFC to answer questions like, what proportion of funded projects had a female filmmaker attached and how many projects were female led?
The purpose of this method is to understand how filmmakers of minority groups are represented across projects applying and approved funding from the NZFC. What is important here is to ensure that diverse filmmakers are not confined to a select few projects, but instead their voices are increasingly represented across a large proportion of projects applying for funding from the NZFC.
Combined Methods for Reporting
In order to measure and fully understand any disparities between filmmakers of minority groups as well as the equal representation of genders, both the Headcount and Project count methods need to be interrogated. Both methods have advantages of reporting and analysing data from different angles and both provide informative views that allows the NZFC to identify areas of success and also areas needing attention. However, it is essential that the NZFC uses a combined method approach when using this information to drive change.
For instance, equal representation of female and male creatives across the creative pool could be achieved (45%* respectively). Although a result like this is a step in the right direction and at first glance it may appear that female filmmakers are equally represented, what it doesn't show is the volume of projects that had the input and voices of female filmmakers among their creative team. This figure could be inflated by a handful of projects that had a large female presence.
Therefore, it is equally important to use the Project count method to understand the representation of female filmmakers across projects. It could be found that less than 20% of projects had at least one female filmmaker attached. A figure like this could suggest that female creatives are in fact underrepresented. What this example shows is that in order to fully understand the representation of diverse creatives, it is important to interrogate the data using both methods in combination with each other. By doing so, the NZFC can ensure that different viewpoints are considered and not overlooked. The NZFC will use a combined method approached and will provide reporting using both methods. The NZFC will also use the insights collected from the combined method approach to inform change.
* this figure is used for example purposes and is not attributed to a specific period