Attitude

Attitude Pictures has made nearly 300 programmes in the last seven years, telling human stories with social impact. Filming is done around the globe and is now attracting international interest. Tanya Black, Dan Buckingham (both presenters and associate producers) and Jai Waite (editor) are among Attitude’s staff members living with disability. Dara McNaught spoke to the trio about their experience in forging successful careers in film and television.

People with disabilities make up 17% of our population**,** yet the majority – many of them keen, skilled and willing to work – are not able to find jobs. In the New Zealand screen industry disabled people tend to be conspicuous by their absence.

The reluctance to employ people with disabilities is puzzling. Employment studies consistently show that people with disabilities make exemplary employees – loyal, hardworking and take less sick leave. Also, other employees feel that if anything should happen to them then their employer would be supportive and this can lead to productivity rises… yet the myths that create barriers to their employment persist.

Three Attitude TV staff share their journey and talk about the barriers they face and about the value that people living with disability add to the industry.

Tanya: Prior to falling down a steep set of stairs in December 2006, I had been in the United Kingdom managing several top restaurants and I had returned to set up my own business. At the time of the accident, when I lost the use of my legs, I was studying English literature along with Film and TV at The University of Auckland. I was attending a gym when Attitude Pictures came to do a story there, I was intrigued and before I knew it I was interviewed to work as a researcher on the show. Robyn Scott-Vincent (producer) sent me to an AFTVA course on documentary making. My favourite part of the job is getting out and meeting new people, hearing their inspirational stories.

Dan: I was studying Surveying at Otago University in 1999 when I put my head the wrong way in a rugby scrum. I have tetraplegia. After my accident I studied under Jim Tully in media communications at the University of Canterbury. Wheelchair rugby is a huge part of my life and I was president of New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby when Robyn did a documentary on them and recruited me as a researcher. She had recognised the need for people with disabilities to present and work in the industry. I have been to Melbourne to study directing and storyboarding for drama. Last year I was filming in Papua New Guinea. That was a challenge!

Jai: I have a Graduate Diploma in Digital Media from AUT University and was recruited direct to Attitude TV. I have tetraplegia following a swimming accident in 2000 when I was in Ios, Greece. With Dan, I’m a member of the Wheel Blacks team that won Gold at the Athens Paralympics. I’m married with an 18-month old daughter, which probably explains why I recently found our missing TV remote tucked in the carry bag on my chair.

What have you found are the myths people – employers – have that create barriers to employment?

Tanya: People have a perception that it will be costly to adapt an environment, but there were no modifications needed for us to work here.

Jai: I have ergo rests at my desk (for my arms). But that’s all.

Dan: Toyota sponsored us a company car with hand controls so we can drive ourselves.

Tanya: People think that other staff members will be affected in some way, and that more time off will be needed. Not true. We also have to deal with lower expectations of friends and families as to our capabilities. I had been managing restaurants in London and in New Zealand was owner/manager with my brother of our own bar and café. I was told I “could be a telemarketer”. I thought, “is that all there is?” I was determined that it wouldn’t be. We’re told, “you don’t have to work – ACC will cover you.” Only 18% of people who have a spinal injury get back to work.

Dan: Low expectations also come from other people with disabilities.

Jai: There is often a perception that if a person has a physical disability they must also have an intellectual disability. Some people talk over my head to my wife.

What other barriers do you see to employment?

Tanya: There’s a lack of role models who have disabilities, problems with access to public transport, a lack of car parks and there are local problems with travel. People with higher levels of disabilities will need some kind of additional support. Auckland City Council says there is an expectation that people want to work, but they are not actually envisaging young disabled people being in business settings, so they are not providing the facilities such as access on to buses and car parks for them that would make it possible. The four basic needs I see are for shelter, food, to love/to be loved and to be able to make a contribution. People with disabilities are being denied that.

Dan: I wonder if with able-bodied people there’s an element of fear, fear of saying the wrong thing or being offensive. The disability community is one that anyone can join at any time – they look at us and think: that could be me. I’m also concerned that many people think you’re only well-adjusted if you play Paralympic sports. When I traveled to Sydney recently the cabin crew all wished me luck with the game as I was disembarking – but I was going to a conference! Not everybody wants to be an athlete, so why should we be any different? Then you have people like Michael Laws on talkback who said disability sports are ‘ludicrous’ because Paralympic gold medalist Adam Hall fell during his final run in the Slalom at the Vancouver Winter Paralympics and still managed to win gold… yet he was racing at 120km an hour – faster than you’re legally allowed to drive a car – with no feeling in his legs and no sensation in his feet. He’s an outstanding athlete by any measure.

What kind of edge do you think people with disabilities can bring to a workplace?

Dan: We become very good at problem-solving. We have to – when we meet an obstacle we have to find a way around it.

Tanya: Every day, navigating an ‘able-bodied world’ we’re having to work out… ‘how do I reach something, how do I get from A to B, how do I get up that curb?’ There’s always a way, you just have to think creatively. In today’s marketplace employers want people who are flexible to change and can think outside the box. There are one or two things we can’t do but a million things we can – people tend to focus on the negative.

Dan: This is a great quote: “It’s not the unity of uniformity that we seek, it is the harmony of diversity.”

Tanya: It’s especially important in the screen industry environment, where you want diversity and different perspectives. It’s like with our mental health, where ‘everyone is somewhere on the mental health spectrum’ – that is, we are all differently abled.

Jai: As a person with a disability you have to think outside the square. You must do things differently anyway and editing needs creative and innovative input.

Dan: You have different experiences, so you think differently. It has been a very full life. I remember having a conversation with my father when I was 17, when I laid out my plan for the next ten years and where I expected to be. I was going to do my degree (in surveying), do a year’s OE, and in ten years I expected to be managing the farm. It didn’t turn out that way! I’ve had a very interesting time – different from what I had planned but just as interesting.

Read Dan’s article on Adam Hall’s achievement at: www.attitudepictures.com/about-us/dan-buckingham/dan-blog/adam-hall

Dara McNaught is a freelance writer. In a former life she worked for the NZ Writers Guild.