Diversity and inclusion were at the heart of the topics of the round table on "Cultural and creative industries: opportunities for all", organized during the 2022 edition of We Are French Touch. The opportunity to extend the microphone to three personalities. Three stories, three journeys, three great successes. And so many ways to break through the glass ceiling.

The Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) sector is one of the most dynamic in the French economy, particularly in terms of job creation. The vitality of these sectors is a major asset in France's export strategy. But it is also a vector of social cohesion. In this context, how does the issue of access to employment, training and funding arise? For Laurence Le Ny, director of the ecosystem " start-up of the creative industries at Orange, moderator of this round table, the subject can be summed up as follows: the sector has a lot of assets, with major schools and start-ups that are doing great fundraising... There is still a glass ceiling, however, which we see is sometimes doubled, even tripled! ". To bear witness to this and, also, to provide solutions, Laurence Le Ny gives the floor to three professionals.

From rap to international associations, the career of Naim Zriouel, co-founder of Synergie Family and L'Epopée

My first passion was for urban cultures. Between 14 and 24 years old, to make it short: I did rap and nonsense! I used music as an outlet, not realizing that by playing rap I was also developing other skills. My first glass ceiling was therefore this self-censorship. I didn't take myself seriously at all, I didn't have the baccalaureate, barely the patent. But I had the chance to meet a few people, notably the father of one of the members of our group. With him, we created the association "Mektoub move" which made me realize that I had in my hands a real profession of event organizer. A second life then began: I had my baccalaureate with honors, I enrolled in law school, to then embark on a career as a business lawyer and teacher, while secretly continuing to always write rap. Finally I started a third professional life: at Airbus Helicopters. A great company where I learned a lot, and in which my creative profile was little expressed.

Ten years ago I dropped everything to create " Synergy Family » with a group of friends: an associative structure which today represents 600 employees located in Marseille, Lyon, Réunion and Africa. We help young people find their way through music, theater, etc. The message to convey: no matter who you are, no matter if you have a handicap, a brake, a glass ceiling, you necessarily have a dream, a talent or a desire to express. “Synergie Family” bought the former Ricard premises (19 m000) in the middle of the northern districts of Marseille in order to create an educational innovation village. A place of life and training where you can meet all kinds of people, young people from the neighborhoods, grandpas who play cards, rappers, business leaders, etc.

I finally created another project, “ Epic », which brings together young people in great difficulty and industry leaders. For two days in a seminar, these decision-makers go, helped by these young people, to repair bicycles, furniture... All are deeply touched by this experience. I know that when they leave the seminar they will take action. »

From accounting to classical music, a step taken by Clothilde Chalot, co-founder of Digital Music Solutions and NomadPay

“I started by wanting to go to a cooking school. My parents told me it was too far, too expensive and too hard for a woman. So I did a BTS accounting. But I quickly changed path to start studying law. Desperate to get a first job, I applied for a position as librarian at the Opéra de Rouen. I was taken without understanding that I was going to work in a sheet music library. This is how I became a specialist in this area, which was underdeveloped in France at the time.

When I arrived in Paris, I became an intermittent orchestra technician. A man's job: my first pay slip even said “band boy”! I was then hired at the Paris Opera, after which I wanted to move towards the technical direction. But I am told, once again, that it is not a woman's job. So I finally ended up in a training course as an administrator which led me to the Maison de la Musique in Nanterre, where new problems specific to the suburbs arose for me.

It was much later, while working for a baroque music label, that I came back to this notion of decompartmentalization: how to introduce young people who don't know the classical music repertoire to it? So I created "Digital music solution" with the aim of making this music accessible to all those who play music, but who do not necessarily have this classical culture. A karaoke of classical music, in short, since the principle is to be able to play, on a piece of music, the sound of an instrument that has been removed from the piece in question.

As I became an entrepreneur, I continued to face other glass ceilings. For example, when you are looking for financing from investment funds, if you are a woman, it is preferable to meet with a man, even if he is not in charge of the project! »

From France Television to Netflix, the fight for inclusion and diversity on screen by Catherine Jean Joseph Sentuc, audiovisual and film production consultant

“I have been in the audiovisual business for thirty years. Inclusion and diversity were subjects that did not exist at the time. It was while becoming an actor's agent that I became aware of glass ceilings. These subjects then became for me a fundamental commitment, the real trigger of which was a conference organized at Unesco, bringing together decision-makers with an audience of representatives of diversity and who expressed their difficulties in finding work.

It is by integrating France Television, then other media, that I was able to concretely highlight talents in films by seeking to break down prejudices. I have always approached these questions in a pragmatic and economical way. How to integrate under-represented groups, but who have economic potential, into films? If we cut ourselves off from the imagination of part of the French population, we cut ourselves off from the French imagination as a whole. I continued this commitment at TF1 then I set up a school of actors for young emerging talents from working-class neighborhoods and rural areas before joining Netflix.

All these years, I have seen the vocabulary evolve. We first spoke of “visible minority”, then of “diversity”, and now of “hybridization”… But it is not by changing the words that we will manage to get things moving. Each of us has a very different image of what diversity is: for me it will be the social issue, for you the disability, etc. Inclusion is in action when we all come together around the table. When Netflix International called me for a so-called experimental assignment, I was tasked with creating a program of integration, inclusion and diversity at every stage of the development of a work, from reflection to delivery. .

Today, this program is deployed on a European scale. The objective was once again very pragmatic: to reach the widest audience possible. What's really interesting is the path to get there. On these subjects, if we just try to fill in the boxes, it does not work. It takes courage and authenticity to accept our differences, and also humility. Working on inclusion and diversity means working on human relationships. It is necessarily a long-term mission, but also a challenge on an individual scale. How to move your mind, how not to disconnect from your emotions? And always bring the debate back to human values. Because this point is not negotiable. »