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2011 Social Entrepreneur of the Year: Diane Johnson

Rebecca Tay

| October 6, 2011

Diane Johnson, Descriptive Video Works | BCBusiness

Return to: B.C. Entrepreneur of the Year 2011

Congratulations to Diane Johnson, president and CEO of Descriptive Video Works Inc., the 2011 Pacific Region Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

Watching television is something most of us take for granted. Diane Johnson, CEO and president of Descriptive Video Works Inc., wants to make sure this is true for everyone, even the visually impaired. 

Since founding her company in 2003, Johnson has ensured that the visually impaired can enjoy television through described video (DV), which plays on top of a show’s pre-programmed audio. “As a sighted person, we don’t realize all the nuances that might be missed on screen,” she says. “We might describe a scene by saying that a woman is wearing a red blouse, but what’s more important is that a woman is wearing a red blouse and has her back to the door.”  

Johnson worked in the broadcast industry and as a marketing manager for Disney before she found herself looking to make a greater difference in her community. A friend in the television broadcast business suggested she look into DV. “I had never even heard of it,” Johnson remembers, saying her friend explained that closed captioning is for the deaf, and DV is for the blind. 

Four Questions

What was your first real job? 
Teaching swimming in grade 8. I wanted contact lenses and my parents said, ‘OK, if you pay half, we’ll pay half.’ 

What was your first big break in your current business? 
Meeting Harold Wesley, director of on-air operations at CTV. I asked if DV was something they would do in-house and he said, ‘No – and I want to be your first customer.’ 

What’s the  secret to  success? 
Holding that vision in your heart and knowing and believing in it. 

If you were  a TV or  movie  character,  who would  you be?  
Sally Field as  the Flying Nun.

Today, Descriptive Video Works has three offices, including one in Studio City, Los Angeles, that opened in March. “We’re the only company in Western Canada doing exclusively DV, and the only company doing it for live TV,” she says proudly. The company has narrated thousands of shows and films in English, French and Spanish, and handles all of CTV’s live programming, from the royal wedding to So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Where it used to narrate just one show a month, these days, Descriptive Video Works narrates up to 100. 

Most people don’t realize that DV is available on all TVs (via the second auditory program, or SAP, function), but recent legislation in the U.S. and Canada mandating increased access to DV will be a boon for Johnson’s business. “There’s only one other company in the U.S. that’s been doing DV for some time,” she says, “and the longer you’ve been doing it, the better you get.”  

From airplane movies and government websites to museum guides and YouTube videos, the opportunities are limitless, not to mention the fact that an aging population means macular degeneration will double by 2032. 

Last year, revenues increased by 38 per cent and gross margin by 43 per cent; with 25 writers on contract and no long-term debt, Descriptive Video Works is positioned for strong growth. For Johnson, though, lack of sight is still less a business opportunity than a quality-of-life issue. “TV gives people something to talk about, to engage,” she explains. It would be fair to say she wants us all to be able to keep watching.