Senior figures from the film and television industries will meet this week to discuss how to stem an exodus of ethnic minority talent to Hollywood.
Representatives from the BBC, ITV, the British Film Institute, National Theatre and the Arts Council are among those who have been summoned to Whitehall for the summit, which was prompted by concerns that stars such as Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor are being lured across the Atlantic because of a lack of prime roles for minorities in the UK.
It has been a key year for black British actors: Ejiofor and Elba won plaudits for their lead roles in 12 Years a Slave and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedomrespectively, while Lennie James starred in one of America’s most-watched cable