This Scheme Is Tackling Inequality of Opportunity in Adland

Above: Team photo from moremilk's Sky Arts shoot, featuring an XP1 mentee and actor Daniel Mays

Forty percent of the UK’s workforce comes from a lower socioeconomic background; but only 20% of people from the ad industry do. People who went to fee-paying schools, meanwhile, are overrepresented in the industry, making up 19% compared to only 8% of the general population.

These latest figures from the Advertising Association lay bare adland’s problem with access. We all know that the industry and its work improves when its more diverse – varied perspectives cultivate greater creativity, speak to a wider spread of consumers, and foster a culture of inclusion that aids talent retention – but barriers to entry are delaying progress.

If those hurdles are to be knocked down in good time, for the benefit of people, creativity, and the industry, tangible steps have to be taken; mere good will and bias training isn’t enough to counteract the broad impact of inequality of opportunity. 

Commercial production company moremilk has recognised the facts and tackled them head on. Producer and owner, Liam Winn, has set up XP1, a first-of-its-kind scheme to actively give opportunities to young people who might otherwise struggle to get their foot in adland’s door. The best part is, it’s a simple strategy that can be applied by almost any company to almost any upcoming project.

With the support of Creative Mentor Network, London Screen Academy, the APA, and Advertising Association, XP1 is pairing 18-25 year olds from lower socioeconomic backgrounds with senior crew on genuine commercial productions – so far, for Vinted, Dolby, and Sky Arts. Its invaluable, paid, practical experience and mentorship tapping into the wealth of talent and potential that gets overlooked in marginalised sections of society.

To find out more about moremilk’s XP1 initiative and how it’s welcoming young, underrepresented talent into the industry, LBB’s Zara Naseer caught up with Liam – and got reviews of the scheme direct from the mouths of two mentees.

LBB> What’s the story behind the name XP1?

Liam> XP1 simply means Experience One. This is a first-of-its-kind scheme and I wanted the name to recognise this in a way that’s easy to say and remember. Also, from playing computer games with my kids, I know that XP can mean Experience Points. As our scheme is aimed at a younger demographic, I thought the term XP1 might feel kind of familiar to some people.

LBB> What spurred you to launch XP1? Why is this issue particularly close to your heart?

Liam> In the past few years, I’ve formed a relationship with London Screen Academy (LSA) to offer work and work experience to their students and alumni on our London shoots. I’ve also become a mentor through the Creative Mentor Network. I’ve realised that I get a lot of satisfaction from helping others get into our industry, and it felt like the right time to bring all this together to create something more purposeful. 

XP1 is close to my heart because I came from a low income background and I had to work hard to create opportunities when it came to starting out – they didn’t present themselves. I always knew I wanted to work in film, but with no industry contacts or knowledge, it was difficult to know how and where to get started. Careers advice at the time was pretty much non-existent so I had to carve my own path. If a pathway like XP1 had existed when I was starting out, I’d have jumped on it. 

LBB> Sobering figures from the Advertising Association state that only 20% of people in the ad industry come from a lower socioeconomic background, compared with 40% of the population – why do you think that is? What barriers do people from such demographics face?

Liam> People from lower socioeconomic backgrounds simply have fewer opportunities. I believe this is a significant barrier to people entering our industry and it’s the area I’m focusing on with XP1.

If you come from a ‘better off’ background, the likelihood is your family will have a broader professional network which will inevitably lead to increased knowledge of the world, exposure to new experiences and career paths, and informal opportunities.

While there’s nothing wrong with this, there’s no denying that a good family network and lived experiences will give some people an advantage.

The people most likely to learn about a job vacancy, or an internship, or a work experience placement, are those with the family connection, or the family friend, or the industry awareness. So as an industry we need to make sure we’re promoting our roles in more places to reach those people with fewer opportunities. We need to proactively open doors.

Above: Team photo from moremilk's Dolby shoot with an XP1 mentee and director Alfonso Cuarón

LBB> In what ways do all those involved benefit when the makeup of a production crew (or a company in general) is more diverse?

Liam> Everyone has a different lived experience, and we can all learn a lot from each other. A diverse crew brings a variety of viewpoints and it’s important in a creative environment to challenge ideas and offer fresh perspectives. 

LBB> Many companies that want more diverse employees struggle with getting marginalised people to apply in the first place. Was that something you faced? What were your recruitment practices for ensuring the offer was appealing to, and being seen by, the right people?

Liam> I can’t speak for those that struggle, but to me it’s about knowing where to look and being genuine in your search. That’s why I forged the partnership with London Screen Academy, because I identified straight away that a proportion of their students come from a lower socioeconomic background and that they had a real hunger to get out there and work.

LBB> What brands have gotten involved so far? 

Liam> We’ve been offering work and work experience on our Vinted shoots, Dolby shoots and our recent Sky Arts ad. We actually won the Sky Arts job off the back of XP1. The experience all round has been very positive and well received.

Above: moremilk's Vinted 'Turntable' commercial

LBB> How did you foster a welcoming, safe, and encouraging environment on set for the mentee crew?

Liam> This very much starts with me. Recently I’ve been taking the time to jump on a video call ahead of a shoot to explain a little about what’s involved. On a shoot we make the effort to meet and greet, and introduce people to the right crew. We spend time answering questions and offering advice, and we encourage them to speak with everyone on set. I want our shoots to be a learning experience so mentees can go onto their next job better prepared, better connected and with a greater understanding of how to find future work.

On a recent shoot for Dolby we only had space for one XP1 person. We approached LSA as usual and selected our runner because we knew she wanted to ultimately work in camera, and we knew she’d have an opportunity on this shoot to work closely with our DOP. It turned out to be a perfect pairing with lots of knowledge shared.

LBB> Mentees, what’s the experience been like for you? 

Graziela Goncalves (LSA – Dolby Shoot)> I have had such a lovely experience with moremilk, my first professional runner role was with them. I was quite nervous when I arrived at the location but they helped me so much that day, I can’t express it enough. 

I felt so comfortable as they were very nice to me and made my nervousness go away. I was eager, confident and full of energy. I learnt many things that day as I was keen to learn. As a person whose dream aspiration is becoming a DOP, the experience they gave was perfect to start out. I told them that I was having a hard time getting into the film industry and the next day they created a social post recommending me. That alone, and the shoot day, has made me feel wonderful, optimistic and certain for my future in the industry.

Charleigh Burke (LSA – Vinted shoot)> How do I even start?! It was amazing and I loved every second of it. Everyone was so welcoming and kind, it really helped me settle into the environment. I got to know everyone and got a good understanding of what they do so that was super helpful. 

If I’m being completely honest, I cried a little on the way home. I had a moment of realisation during the day, I realised that’s where I wanted to be and that’s where I feel most passionate and most myself. LSA has helped me realise what I want to do but after Friday, even though I wasn’t there for long, it really solidified everything for me. I’d like to say I’ve never felt so happy being somewhere.

Usually, it takes me a while to adapt to new places and people, but I felt so comfortable and at home so quickly, mostly down to the crew and everyone there on the day. They all made me feel so welcome and helped me through everything. I was able to spend some time with Ali [Hyde-Tetley] and Liam (production manager and producer) and they answered all my questions which was amazing. 

I really enjoyed it, like really really enjoyed it. I was so enamoured by everything. It was amazing :))

Above: moremilk's Sky Arts 'Hero' commercial

LBB> Have there been any learning curves since launching the scheme?

Liam> The main thing we’ve learnt is to start small and take things slowly. We believe we can run XP1 on a large scale on the right project, giving lots of experience to many people. But we’ve decided to take a measured approach and build things up gradually to ensure everyone benefits and comes away with a first class experience. So we’re building the scheme incrementally and in a way that’s right for each project.

LBB> What are your ambitions for the future of the scheme?

Liam> We’ll continue to roll the scheme out on moremilk projects, building it gradually to open doors for as many people as possible. I’d like to apply the scheme outside of London too. I actually do have a plan for this, but I’m not quite ready to announce it yet.

You never know, maybe XP1 will inspire other production companies to take a similar approach too. Then together we can make a real difference.

We work in an amazing industry. I just want to do my part in making it accessible to everyone.

Above: Behind the scenes of moremilk's Vinted 'Turntable' shoot