We hired Belinde for an impulse workshop on the occasion of the 10th German Diversity Day 2022 to inform us fundamentally about diversity and conscious and unconscious discrimination in society. It was a successful and really descriptive lecture with many examples from the film and television industry. It fits very well with us as a media company.
Sandra Ruffer, Team Leader Media Analysis, ARGUS DATA INSIGHTS GmbH
I am a scriptwriter working on several feature scripts. I was priviledged to attend a seminar given by Belinde on Gender and Diversity, run by Northern Ireland Screen. I was very impressed by her dedication to NEROPA, and have since addressed some of my screenplays to include more Diversity in Gender, Race, Sexuality, Disability and Age. I feel NEROPA will make a big difference to writers, directors, producers, cast and crew, within the industry.
Eileen McAuley, screenwriter, Belfast.
Regardless of the topic, often only grievances are pointed out and criticism is voiced (undoubtedly important), but with no solutions being offered. Therefore it is refreshing to learn about the casting tool NEROPA.
Pamela Gräbe, Managing Director German Stunt Association
NEROPA is a solution for balanced casting. But it also encourages playing with the characters, taking different angles, creating new perspectives and thus telling stories beyond common clichés.
A trailblazer and thought leader, Belinde Ruth Stieve is an actor who does not watch but takes matters into her own hands. With her method NEROPA – Neutral Role Parity, she is committed to holding the system accountable for its blatant gender and age discrimination. Thanks to NEROPA, we can really see what we are facing.
Stefania Medetti, journalist, sociologist, author. The Age Buster
We have been using NEROPA for years for our POLIZEIRUFE and TATORTE (two highly successfull German cop dramas) and other projects. It is a very simple tool that always challenges us to see roles differently and to recognise thought patterns. We find this a benefit for the creative process and are very grateful for it! At the same time, we can confirm from our experience that NEROPA quite pragmatically leads to more film roles for actresses. It thus makes an important contribution to the fight for gender equality in the film industry.
Eoin Moore, director and screenwriter, Anika Wangard, screenwriter.
Northern Ireland Screen brought Belinde over in January 2019 to explain to our sector the issues and present her solution NEROPA. The attendees (writers, directors, producers) agreed that these issues need to be tackled and were keen to apply the principles. With the concept of NEROPA in mind and adopting its model of a 3-member steering group, we introduced mandatory monitoring on key changes to gender neutral roles and diversity opportunities for producers applying for funding at the first stage of development funding from April 2019.
Andrew Reid, Head of Production, Northern Ireland Screen.
NEROPA is an excellent tool to improve gender balance in the casting of roles in film and television. For many years older actresses have suffered from a lack of roles written for their gender and age. NEROPA has the potential to change that and represent more accurately the lives of women of all ages, not just the young.
In the UK actresses like Emma Thompson have advocated ,gender blind casting‘ for many years but improvement is slow. However, if we could persuade producers and broadcasting companies to adopt this good practice initiative as the norm, I believe we would see an exciting improvement. Good luck!
Jean Rogers, actress. BECS Chair, Equity UK & TUC Women‘s Committees
I used NEROPA for my TATORT (cop drama) “Für immer und Dich”: male Police officer Liebermeister became female police officer Liebermeister, Jonas from the petrol station became JONA, now two terrific female characters. Supporting roles are thus equal in numbers. Thank you for the inspiration.
Julia von Heinz, director