On Monday, February 22, 2021, a film worker showed up for work to the Vancouver set of a production called Gone Mom wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt. Two days later, they returned to work, where they were told by a producer not to wear anything Black Lives Matter again because that statement was too political. This worker resigned from the production the following day. Another BIPOC crew member removed his Black Lives Matter hoodie and gave it to a white colleague, who wore it and shared a photo on social media with a caption that read in part: “Racism is ALIVE AND WELL in BC film and it's disgusting.”

News about the incidents spread on social media and was met with universal outrage. On Friday, the production company responded by removing the producer in question from the production, and issued apologies to the affected crew members. But what does what happened on the set of Gone Mom tell us about racism, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and life for BIPOC cast and crew in the industry?

In this special episode of the YVR Screen Scene Podcast, Sabrina speaks with the film worker who was told that their Black Lives Matter shirt was too political for a film set, as well as Gone Mom’s executive producer Shawn Williamson and BIPOC actress and activist Angela Moore, about what happened this week. Episode sponsor: Jules Sherred’s DisabilityAndFood.Art exhibit