A major new initiative which aims to give London’s untapped talent amongst young people of colour a pathway to jobs in the creative and media industries is being launched – and the organisers are asking everyone who works in those industries to get involved.
The initiative, called Create Not Hate, aims to see marginalised young people across the capital being coached by experts from the worlds of advertising, TV, film, design, digital and online media to make, write and design short films, posters, graphics and more with anti-racism messages inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. The best of their work will be debuted online, outdoor and on social media.
Create Not Hate was launched by award-winning advertising boss Trevor Robinson OBE, founder of agency Quiet Storm, and the man behind “You know when you’ve been Tango-d”.Quiet Storm has partnered with Debate Mate, which has an established network of young people through its school debate programme and is experienced in youth mentoring. Debate Mate will provide communication training and peer-to-peer mentorship for those participating in Create Not Hate. The agency is also running workshops with youth outreach programmes in Merton, South London
In addition to the ongoing initiative is a plan – devised by creative team Marley Muirhead and Chris Medford – to unleash the youngster’s best work around the time London would have been celebrating Notting Hill Carnival, sadly cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Quiet Storm, which makes ads for brands such as Haribo, Vimto, Zoflora and Young’s Seafood, is also asking for anyone involved in the creative and media industries to volunteer as mentors and provide resources to help bring these ideas to life.
Trevor, who was awarded an OBE for services to advertising in 2009, first launched Create Not Hate in 2007. Looking back at his own experiences growing up in South London, he had a vision to help inner city youth who had no exposure to the opportunities in the creative industries, whilst also putting a spotlight on the impact of gang violence and gun and knife crime, by the people closest to it.
Quiet Storm worked with hundreds of young people across London in a competition to make short films and the winning movie – written by two 14-year-olds, Jaron Williams and Alimur Rahman and co-directed by Dennis Gyamfi – earned national headlines and was screened in cinemas. Trevor now wants to not only revive Create Not Hate this year but make it even bigger and turn it into an on-going community organisation.
He explained: “Thirteen years ago, I launched ‘Create Not Hate’ to open the eyes of black inner-city school kids to their creative potential. Fast forward to 2020 and, while much has changed, much still hasn’t. Profound inequalities in society, as well as the issue of the lack of diverse talent being fully utilised in our particular industry, remain unresolved.”
Trevor said that the death of George Floyd and BLM propelling racial inequality into the spotlight had inspired him to resurrect Create Not Hate on a grander scale and to encourage other companies to run their own Create Not Hate initiatives in other London communities.
He continued: “This time around, the ambition is bigger: to involve more young people from more schools and communities; more mentors from across the creative and media industries; and to secure proper funding to create a programme of activity and support that is both inspiring, for all involved, and – critically – self-funding.
Trevor is inviting any companies, businesses or individuals interested in getting involved to get in touch, as well as asking London businesses, not necessarily in the sphere of media or the creative industries, for financial support.
Key partners that have already signed up include Ridley Scott Creative Group, spearheaded by Luke Scott, and Lively. The Media and PR campaign will be managed with the support of Persuasion and Total Media.