The Shift 20 Initiative has partnered with TikTok to launch the Shift 20 Casting Call (@shift20castingcall) channel.

Created in collaboration with creative agency Special and media agency PHD, the channel is designed to educate, empower, and enable brands, advertising agencies, and casting directors to discover talent with disability. The initiative aims to increase disability representation on screen and democratise the casting process for talent with disability.

The channel will feature educational content from talent with disability represented by Zebedee, an inclusive talent agency. Content will include guides on how to self-tape an audition, what to expect on a production set, and how to fill out an access rider.

Shift 20 Initiative partners, including Uber, ANZ, nib, and Anytime Fitness, have committed to utilising the channel for future casting. In 2023, the Dylan Alcott Foundation launched the Shift 20 Initiative to increase disability representation on-screen from 1% to 20%. The campaign has seen a rise of over 10% overall recall of disability representation in advertising post-launch.

Alcott said: "This past year has been monumental; getting some of Australia’s biggest brands onboard and seeing them take representation seriously has been incredible. To continue this journey, and facilitate inclusion for people with disability we have to create safe spaces and employment pathways for people with disability who might fancy giving acting a crack. As a community we’ve spent so long thinking it's not a place for us or something we can consider as a career or even a hobby, but I’m here to tell you that this absolutely is - and we want to see, empower and open up opportunities for all of you who might want to give it a go."

Creative Director at Special, Adam Ferrie, said: "The appetite for brands to cast more inclusive of disability is growing, but the current talent pool is relatively small. In creating the Shift 20 Casting Call we’re opening the aperture, and access to incredible new talent."

Creative Director at Special, Peter Cvetkovski, said: "By turning TikTok into a platform for talent with disability, we’re breaking down barriers of the traditional casting process and ensuring these incredible talents are seen and more importantly cast by brands."

GM Global Business Solutions, TikTok AUNZ, Brett Armstrong, said: "At TikTok, we're committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse community where everyone has the opportunity to be seen and heard. Partnering with the Shift 20 Initiative to launch this initiative has been a huge step in empowering Australians with disability to pursue their passions and break into the industry. We believe this channel will not only create career opportunities but also help normalise disability representation across media and beyond."

Director, Zebedee, Laura Winston, said: "As the leading global agency for disabled talent, we are over the moon to be working with the Shift 20 Initiative and TikTok on this project. We work tirelessly with the fashion, media and advertising industries to understand the ethical and business case for inclusive casting, and this platform is going to make it even more simple for talent and clients to connect."