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| Author | Mia Blakeney |
This week in the UK (13-19 March) is Sign Language Week, a national campaign led by the British Deaf Association (BDA). This year is particularly special, as it is the 20th anniversary of the UK Government acknowledging British Sign Language (BSL) as a language in its own right.
There is even more cause to celebrate this year as it was only in April 2022 that British Sign Language was finally recognised in law as an indigenous language of Great Britain in the BSL Act (2022). This followed a similar ground-breaking legislation in Scotland - the BSL Act (Scotland) (2015).
The film industry is also making changes to support hard of hearing film fanatics, with preview screenings of upcoming title Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves being made available with captions in cinemas across the UK later this month, days before the film is officially released. Accessible screenings will also be available across the opening weekend and the remainder of its run in cinemas.
“The film celebrates how it’s only a diverse group of adventures that can overcome the many challenges thrown at them. In the same spirit, we’re excited to be playing our part in making the movie’s release in cinemas as welcoming and inclusive as possible” said eOne’s Kezia Williams.
Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Pictures collaborated with the British Deaf Association to put on a captioned screening of Creed III at its UK premiere, allowing deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people the opportunity to watch the blockbuster as early as anybody else.
The last couple of years has seen the cinema industry make a significant step forward in the inclusion of people in the deaf community. Disney’s Eternals introduced one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most diverse ensembles, bringing the franchise’s first deaf superhero.
CODA, a coming-of-age comedy-drama, triumphed at the 2022 Oscars, becoming the first film featuring predominantly deaf actors in leading roles to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Troy Kotsur also became the first deaf person to ever win a BAFTA, for Best Supporting Actor, proving a key moment in putting disabled people in the spotlight in acting and film.
CODA’s ground-breaking run on the awards circuit helped to herald change at DCM. We took crucial steps by investing in our systems to make captioned/subtitled screenings more accessible to advertisers, to ensure their messaging is landing with audiences in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community across UK cinemas. To further encourage advertisers to accommodate the deaf and hard of hearing community, if a brand delivers either an open caption or BSL signed version of their ad, we have waived any additional associated production costs (DCP creation and distribution) to get the open caption/signed copy produced, scheduled and distributed free of charge, as is the case across other AV channels.
DCM’s production team also make the process as smooth as possible, offering additional assistance for creative agencies on how to supply Audio Described formats. If a client does not have an open caption version their ad, DCM’s production teams can help with that too.
Some of the biggest brands in the UK already deliver multiple copies as standard practice, and DCM is dedicated to ensuring all brands get involved.
DCM has also enrolled its whole team on an Introduction to British Sign Language course with Enhance The UK, a charity run by disabled people who have helped businesses from all over the UK achieve their inclusion goals.
DCM is committed to its values of diversity and inclusivity, and has achieved a membership to the Advertising Association’s ‘All In Champion’ initiative for creating a workplace where everyone feels they belong in.