Victoria Emslie
Nominee Profile
Location: London
Victoria is a British Actress known for her work on Downton Abbey, The Theory Of Everything, 12 Monkeys, The Danish Girl, The Frankenstein Chronicles and Grace. As an active Time’s Up UK member and liaison for activism group ERA 50:50, she bootstrapped and launched a global organisation at Cannes Film Festival in 2019, called Primetime, to answer a frequently asked question within the Entertainment Industry: “Where are all the women and non-binary folk working above and below the line behind the camera”.
Primetime now has members in 75+ countries covering over 260 job titles and members include multi-BAFTA, Emmy and Academy Award winners and nominees. Since the launch, Primetime has partnered with leaders in the Industry such as The Geena Davis Institute, the BSC and BAFTA. Through a successful initiative called Primetime Pledges, where those with hiring power commit to hiring underrepresented voices they have not worked with before, thus pushing back against the traditional pipeline of ‘it’s who you know’, Victoria helped orchestrate and organise 250 1-2-1 meetings which resulted in multiple high end job offers and in one case, the member went on to win a coveted RTS award for her work on that show.
Advocacy has many strands, and as a multiply-neurodivergent Founder, Victoria has explored many routes; from a highly impactful turnout at EEBAFTAs of high profile individuals such as Richard E. Grant, wearing a Primetime badge in pledge of working with more inclusive teams going forward, to her recent grant initiative to fund a project from an underrepresented filmmaker. What started as a £10k grant initiative, Victoria has single-handedly grown into a deal, attaching Jodie Whittaker, a £15k camera package hire deal from HAWK London and a £15k Post Production deal from Picture Shop; resulting in the winning filmmaker shooting a film this year worth £40k. Accessibility was fundamental in creating this new funding pipeline, and Victoria listened to feedback from her members at every step of the way to ensure that no voices were excluded: from scholarship places, deferred payments, video submissions and even an extended deadline to support parents juggling half term responsibilities, inclusion, accessibility and the well-being of her members was at the heart of every decision made.
In addition to stepping into a world of tech in which was vastly unknown to Victoria prior to 2019, she runs every aspect of the business herself. From designing the platform with the help of Social Good Tech Company, Hactar, as a search and resource tool for the Industry, Primetime is as useful as this structure platform can be. Being intentional about the inclusion she wished to foster, she has built a platform which allows members to self identify in any number of ways, which then gives them extra visibility on the site and helps employers look at their own DEIA targets.
Chosen by leaders from Netflix, Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and others as the “Shaker of The Year”, Victoria has established her platform as a respected and practical resource to a much-asked question, and with the arrival of their Founder Membership last year, the social enterprise goes from strength to strength with the more people coming onboard amplifying the impact they are able to have. Not only has the social mission been embedded into every action Primetime takes, Victoria has led by example fostering an inclusive community, putting in place policies such as a Menstruating Policy in order to best support their employees.
Victoria runs Primetime alongside her acting and artistic career; with a recent lead role in ITV’s Grace and her work shown in Galleries in London, Athens and Texas, she also sits of BAFTA’s Disability Advisory Group and integrates all her work and reach with a neurodivergent and disabled lens, advising leaders in the Industry on best practices within their own ecosystems.
Primetime now has members in 75+ countries covering over 260 job titles and members include multi-BAFTA, Emmy and Academy Award winners and nominees. Since the launch, Primetime has partnered with leaders in the Industry such as The Geena Davis Institute, the BSC and BAFTA. Through a successful initiative called Primetime Pledges, where those with hiring power commit to hiring underrepresented voices they have not worked with before, thus pushing back against the traditional pipeline of ‘it’s who you know’, Victoria helped orchestrate and organise 250 1-2-1 meetings which resulted in multiple high end job offers and in one case, the member went on to win a coveted RTS award for her work on that show.
Advocacy has many strands, and as a multiply-neurodivergent Founder, Victoria has explored many routes; from a highly impactful turnout at EEBAFTAs of high profile individuals such as Richard E. Grant, wearing a Primetime badge in pledge of working with more inclusive teams going forward, to her recent grant initiative to fund a project from an underrepresented filmmaker. What started as a £10k grant initiative, Victoria has single-handedly grown into a deal, attaching Jodie Whittaker, a £15k camera package hire deal from HAWK London and a £15k Post Production deal from Picture Shop; resulting in the winning filmmaker shooting a film this year worth £40k. Accessibility was fundamental in creating this new funding pipeline, and Victoria listened to feedback from her members at every step of the way to ensure that no voices were excluded: from scholarship places, deferred payments, video submissions and even an extended deadline to support parents juggling half term responsibilities, inclusion, accessibility and the well-being of her members was at the heart of every decision made.
In addition to stepping into a world of tech in which was vastly unknown to Victoria prior to 2019, she runs every aspect of the business herself. From designing the platform with the help of Social Good Tech Company, Hactar, as a search and resource tool for the Industry, Primetime is as useful as this structure platform can be. Being intentional about the inclusion she wished to foster, she has built a platform which allows members to self identify in any number of ways, which then gives them extra visibility on the site and helps employers look at their own DEIA targets.
Chosen by leaders from Netflix, Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and others as the “Shaker of The Year”, Victoria has established her platform as a respected and practical resource to a much-asked question, and with the arrival of their Founder Membership last year, the social enterprise goes from strength to strength with the more people coming onboard amplifying the impact they are able to have. Not only has the social mission been embedded into every action Primetime takes, Victoria has led by example fostering an inclusive community, putting in place policies such as a Menstruating Policy in order to best support their employees.
Victoria runs Primetime alongside her acting and artistic career; with a recent lead role in ITV’s Grace and her work shown in Galleries in London, Athens and Texas, she also sits of BAFTA’s Disability Advisory Group and integrates all her work and reach with a neurodivergent and disabled lens, advising leaders in the Industry on best practices within their own ecosystems.