The entertainment world has been a visible part of the pronounced global effort to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). The voiceover industry has had an essential part to play, too.
At Backstage, our mission is to make the world’s creator economy more accessible, productive, and successful. Creating a marketplace that promotes more diverse, equitable, and inclusive voice casting is a crucial piece of that mission.
While animation and video games have had more diverse lineups over the years, the voice actors who bring these characters to life have often not matched. Voice casting has historically been dominated by white, male voices. The industry is emerging from an entrenched legacy of using actors to imitate an accent instead of hiring someone who more authentically matched the part.
Andrea Toyias, casting and voice director at video game company Blizzard Entertainment, said in an interview with NBC News that when she was looking for voice actors for Overwatch, she searched internationally to maximize the authenticity of the game’s characters. Overwatch has been recognized for its international lineup. Accordingly, the game’s voice actors include Nigerian, Japanese, Chinese, and Egyptian voice actors.
“It’s easy to find someone who can emulate an accent, but it’s important to have someone who actually has a tie to a character’s background and history,” Toyias said. “We reach so many people, but it’s no longer just a kid living on a block in a neighborhood—we’re reaching and representing the whole world. When you get diversity right, you get the world right.”
Diversity in voice casting makes for more authentic, relatable storytelling. The popularity of animated films like Moana and Coco have also been part of the changing tide. Because people are able—and likely—to look up the actors behind their favorite characters, having people who actually look like those characters is impactful, especially for children of diverse backgrounds looking for role models. A Hispanic or Black voice by a Hispanic or Black actor should no longer be a novelty.
We are working alongside you to keep challenging the model of the entertainment industry as exclusive and privileged—when we all know firsthand the greater achievement that comes with it being more inclusive and equitable.
We live our values so you can, too
We work with DEIB specialists to continually evaluate how we help facilitate the ongoing transformation of our industry. We want creators to be able to find the skilled voice performers they seek and also provide access to talent that otherwise might continue to be overlooked.
One of the ways we’ve put our values into action is by implementing important changes to our tools and resources.
Diversity
Individuals with diverse backgrounds, identities, attributes, and abilities have long been underrepresented or misrepresented in mainstream contexts. There is no question positive depictions through the arts and popular media assist in reducing stereotypes of underrepresented and marginalized groups.
Backstage seeks to attract and maintain a diverse voice talent marketplace, which is searchable by ethnicity, gender expression, different abilities, and other keywords to find the right fit for your project. For example, talent profiles for nine different ethnicities, including for individuals of African-American, Latino and Hispanic, Middle Easter, Asian, South Asian, and Native American descent, have increased exponentially over the last four years. Talent of African-American and Latino and Hispanic descent have increased by almost tenfold.
A new way we have ensured greater discovery of diversity among talent is by completely rebuilding how gender identity and expression are represented. To allow all talent on Backstage to appropriately and equally represent themselves, we have introduced 27 new gender options for talent profiles. Members also have an option to create their own description if they find one of our options does not accurately represent them.
Equity
Equity means recognizing not everyone has the same opportunities and providing individuals what they need to overcome—intentional or unintentional—barriers that create an imbalance in access to opportunity and success.
To make discovery more equitable, Backstage has changed how talent is found in search based on ethnicity, abilities, and gender—specifically non-cisgender candidates. Our search tool is designed to include additional gender identities so, for example, directors looking for cisgender male or female talent will see non-cisgender talent included in their search results. Non-cisgender talent will likewise receive relevant casting and audition notices to ensure more people are included in opportunities.
We have also enhanced visibility during the job posting process by adding instructional content to our role-creation form that educates creators on the benefits of diverse and inclusive casting. This addition prompted the creation of more than 10,000 unique roles specific to non-cisgender people within a single year.
Inclusion and belonging
Inclusion and belonging ensures people from diverse groups are not just included but feel welcome and are able to participate as who they are.
Backstage profiles provide options to fully describe ethnicities, abilities, and other attributes so individuals can promote who they are in the way that suits them best. Talent profiles also include personal pronouns to ensure talent can express who they are and be accurately addressed in messaging and direct communications. This seemingly small detail has big impact by preventing misunderstandings and eliminating unnecessary stressors, like talent having to self-identify during auditions.
Our ongoing commitment
Backstage is committed to continuing to find new ways to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our messaging, tools, and own workplace practices. As we learn and do better, we will adjust, enhance, and grow our product offerings and features to ensure we are enabling and promoting the value of better talent decisions.
And we expect you and our talent community to continue to hold us to it.
Get started by posting a job right now.
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