An agency honoring diversity in the cultural milieu is born. The Agency We are here! wishes to bridge the gap between industry and artists and artisans from underrepresented communities.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
When we ask the co-founder of the Agency We are here! why the initiative is relevant today, Pallina Michelot answers with another question: “Why not before? In her eyes, a project like the one she started with four other artists is long overdue.
The mission of the Agency We are here! : be a representation and placement agency that will facilitate the inclusion and outreach of underrepresented communities. Whether by presenting productions with profiles that fit with a specific request or by offering follow-ups for its artists and artisans to support them in their work, the agency wants to be a guide.
“We are here to place artists in the current system,” explains Pallina Michelot.
When we talk about underrepresented communities, it’s also that these people have the skills, but don’t always have the tools and the knowledge of the structure of the industry. We do the work of transmitting knowledge that the industry does not have the time to do. Thus, the agency wants to “make ends meet” to facilitate integration. All while training in the system in place in the cultural environment.
“The community and the industry are trying to find solutions to diversify, to have a healthier and more equitable representation of all communities,” observes Ms.me Michelot.
There are many initiatives in the context of the arts to help cultural, racialized or indigenous communities. The big challenge was always to find a way to reach people from these communities.
Pallina Michelot, co-founder of the Agency We are here!
The actress, author and director has seen it for a long time: artists and artisans are under-represented on screen and in work teams, which confines them to the “independent network” and prevents them from integrating the “network”. popular “. “It’s not that they don’t work or aren’t already professionals,” says Pallina Michelot, who founded the agency On est là! with filmmakers Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush and Bachir Bensaddek, actress and author Baharan Baniahmadi, as well as actor, director and producer Chadi Alhelou.
Multiple diversity
Incorporated in December 2021, the agency already represents more than a hundred artists and artisans. The Quebecor Fund, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Desjardins Caisse de la Culture made it possible to start the company, which has already begun to promote its catalog to the cultural community.
“We don’t just represent emerging artists,” explains M.me Michelot. We also have the profile of the person who has been forced to work outside or of the person who has taken training here and there because it is difficult to enter the programs offered in Quebec. and in Canada. Many have worked in the independent environment or have a migratory background, but 10 to 20 years of professional experience. »
The agency welcomes members of various cultural communities as well as the LGBTQ+ community. “Our battle horse is the under-represented communities, but they come in several intersectionalities, specifies Pallina Michelot. We will never refuse a qualified person who wants to be represented by us, regardless of their culture, whether Caucasian, Aboriginal or racialized. The diversity is multiple. »
The Agency We are here! will be officially launched on Wednesday evening at the Cinémathèque québécoise, in Montreal, as part of the festivities of the 37are Gemini award.