Campaign production

Working with talent during filming or photography

There are some questions you can ask talent during production, to ensure they feel comfortable and safe in their environment. You can ask:

• What are your pronouns?
• What do you need from us so that you feel safe and comfortable to do the work?
• Is there anything we should consider for your costume, setting, or script?
• Do you have any accessibility needs? For example, are you going to need seating between takes?

A simple way you can be a more inclusive team is to wear pronoun badges on set.

Avoiding stereotypes

When trans and gender diverse people appear in the media, they can sometimes be portrayed with stereotypes. There is no way to ‘act’ trans or gender diverse, and you cannot ‘know’ that someone is gender diverse or trans by looking at them. Stereotypes are often harmful and may limit the effectiveness of your campaign.

Stereotypes can be based on:

• appearances: Avoid assuming that all trans and gender diverse people look a certain way. If you can, it’s best to represent a diverse range of appearances to reflect the true diversity in the community.
• behaviours: Avoid portraying trans and gender diverse people as always being in conflict, struggle or activism. Trans and gender diverse people are not always at a Pride March. It can make a big impact to show them in various roles and contexts.
• stories: Focus on a wide range of stories beyond just the transition journey.
• relationships: Often trans and gender diverse people are shown as a lone person in the world. It is important to show trans and gender diverse people in families, friendship groups, faith and community gatherings and events and show them as someone who is a giver or a leader, not always as the receiver or service user.

This can be the strength of an inclusive campaign. The more natural and authentic the setting and script is, the better. There are also subtle ways to signal to the community that someone is trans and gender diverse that other people may not notice. For example, a visible scar on someone’s chest. This indicates when someone has had reconstructive chest surgery (commonly referred to as top surgery).

It may be powerful to include people who are less likely to ‘pass’ as being cisgendered to encourage their safety and acceptance in public spaces. Gender non-conforming people experience a lot of stigma because they do not appear as traditionally masculine or feminine.

For example, it could be powerful to show non-feminine presenting people or non-binary people as someone who has given birth and is a parent. This challenges both a stereotype of:

• trans and gender diverse people: We assume they don’t have families, give birth or access maternal child health services.
• stereotypes of motherhood: We think only feminine women can be mothers or give birth.

Casting a socially ‘acceptable’ person is also known as positive stereotyping. It can erase the experiences of people who do not fit this image.

Be authentic

During your campaign development, we suggested thinking about your message. Think about why including trans and gender diverse talent is important in delivering that message.

When a campaign includes diverse talent as a box-ticking exercise, it is obvious to both the audience and the talent involved. Your campaign is less likely to be successful and to resonate with the community.

When you are producing your campaign, there are many subtle ways you can acknowledge the community authentically:

• Colour: This can be a great way to show your solidarity in a less obvious way. You could use the colours of the trans, genderqueer or non-binary flags. This indicates that you are speaking to the community and including them in your audience.
• Normality: Often trans and gender diverse people are portrayed in a negative light. This could be showing them as depressed, isolated, as a joke, or even as the villain. By showing trans and gender diverse people leading happy, engaged lives, you are challenging this narrative. It can help others in the community feel seen.
• Gender-neutrality: A gender-neutral campaign is more inclusive. It means your campaign is likely to have wider reach and doesn’t make assumptions about the gender identity of the person who engages with your campaign. You can do this by using gender neutral words like ‘parent’, ‘partner’ or ‘child’ in a script, in alt text, and in audio descriptions. You can also make subtle reference to someone’s pronouns in casual conversation.

Remember, it does not have to be obvious that the talent in the campaign is trans or gender diverse. While visibility is important, subtle references also make a big impact. It is likely that people who are part of that community will pick up on those references, while other people may not notice. This helps make the campaign feel authentic and can protect the talent from backlash.

Consider telling real stories

When you are casting for your campaign, it is great to work with a talent agency to help you find the right people to tell your story. You might also consider casting real people to tell their own stories.

A story shared by a trans and gender diverse person, about their own lived experience, can resonate a lot more with the community than a fake scenario. If you find you are struggling to find the right cast, consider working with people in the community who want to be involved.

By focusing on human stories and personal experiences, you can encourage empathy and understanding from people. This can send a powerful message – trans and gender diverse people are part of our community, and always have been. Their stories deserve to be heard.

Contracts and consent

You should be clear to the talent in your campaign that their safety is important and explain how the content of the campaign will be used. Safety is individual – it is best to discuss with the individual what their safety concerns might be. This is especially important if you are working with ‘real’ people from the community.

For example, if someone from the community is sharing their story in your campaign, they may not want to be identifiable. They may want to choose how they are represented in the campaign, what clothes they wear or whether their face is shown.

If someone transitions after your campaign goes live, they might want to rescind their permission to use their image or name. Many people who transition change their name, and do not wish to be referred to by their old one. It’s important that your contract outlines a process for rescinding permission if needed.

The cultural and political landscape is always changing. Sometimes a trans and gender diverse person might no longer feel safe being in a campaign, or to be identifiable. You may want to review your organisation’s consent forms, so talent can ask to be removed from a campaign. This is important if you’re using the content for another campaign, product or platform.

You could also consider a sunset clause for image use. This means there is a set period that campaign materials (including images and videos) will be used by the organisation. This can help address concerns about ongoing use.

You can find more information about this at Campaign in market – Keep talent safe.

Clothing

The clothes that trans and gender diverse people wear, or are asked to wear in a campaign, can reinforce stereotypes. Someone in drag is not a trans person, and clothes should comfortably express and affirm the person’s identity.

Many trans masculine and non-binary people wear chest compression garments or binders. You may need to consider this for wardrobe and microphone placement.

There are also creative ways you can subtly acknowledge someone’s identity in their clothing or costume choices. If your campaign is in a healthcare setting, you could show staff wearing pronoun badges. If you have a larger cast, you could consider gender-neutral clothing for everyone.

Remember that darker skinned actors often require adjustments to lighting or makeup. Some religious people might have modesty requirements. The clothing worn by trans or gender diverse people is a personal consideration just like any other talent.

Important note

If your ad has a voiceover, make sure that the voice reflects the gender of the trans or gender diverse person. For example, if you are depicting a trans man, you might make sure the voiceover is a male one. This is also important to remember when working with non-binary actors. You may want to use the actor’s own voice to be authentic.

[1] https://www.transhub.org.au/passing