Chocolate Tribe on Representation, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The month of February marks Black History Month and the theme for this year is ‘Black Resistance’. Originated in February 1970 and has since spread across borders from its initial inception in America. Black History month provides an opportunity to reflect on the historical and current challenges that Black Indigenous People of Colour (“BIPOC”) endure in different spheres of life, including in the workplace.

Within the film industry there has been a long standing battle for more representation on-screen and with that came 'representation', which peddled a narrative of pre-existing and often damaging stereotypes of BIPOC. As part of the push back on stereotypes, BIPOC communities advocated for better characterisation and character development - full lives on screen and not to 'die' in the first few minutes of the film or serve as a sidekick of the often white main character. Yes! While there are gusty winds of change, particularly on-screen considering the phenomena of ‘The Woman King’ and ‘Black Panther’; there is still quite a bit of work to be done to level the playing field both in front of camera and behind the scenes. Especially when it comes to still fairly niche spaces like animation and visual effects.

As one of a few female black owned high-end animation and VFX studios in Africa, we are true to our name - Chocolate Tribe. For us the Shakespearean enquiry of “what is in a name” was a very important one. We envisioned ourselves as a family, community, a tribe that is a multi-shade, multi-coloured and multi-flavoured box of chocolate that encompasses creatives from all walks of life. To be honest, in relation to the chocolate part, we’d also never met anyone who hated chocolate!

We have been very intentional about diversity and have embraced the responsibility and impact we have on our various communities. Hence, we are very conscious about our hiring practices, how we train and develop up and coming talent. Our projects and partners reflect our vision of diverse narratives but also narratives that empower and speak truth to different states of creative power. We continue collaborating with like-minded partners (both local and international) who have been part of our post-production journey to bring shows such as Roots, Noughts and Crosses, The Brave Ones, Silverton Siege, Savage Beauty, and Little Match Girl to fruition. 

There still remains a sense of discomfort about discussions on diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Particularly, from older creatives who in conversations have shared the fear of exclusion from roles and opportunities. However; the more we normalise conversations on the topic, as well as understand that from all perspectives, diversity and inclusion is an imperative for a business' sustainability. Diversity affords us the opportunity to enlarge the creative reservoir so we continue pushing artistic boundaries to infinity and beyond.

As part of this reflection: we asked five BIPOC creatives in our company what it means to be a BIPOC creative at this point in time. 

Here are some of their thoughts:

Amantle Dipheko - intern from IIE Vega Johannesburg said, “It is very encouraging and empowering since there aren’t a lot of black female creatives in the industry.”

Kyle Nkosana- 3D generalist from Chocolate Tribe said “It is an opportunity to tell stories that relate more to people who are just like me."

Alistair Johnson - compositor, “Since I’ve joined Chocolate Tribe I feel more included and equal to any other person no matter what their skin colour is.”

Owami Vundla - intern from STADIO School of Commerce, “Something that I love about this industry is that there are endless opportunities and room for me to grow.”