Attention anyone who has worked or sought work in the entertainment industry: The Hollywood Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment needs your input. According to Deadline, the Anita Hill-led organization has launched its long-in-the-works survey, an anonymous, untraceable questionnaire designed to “gather data that will be used to develop policies that encourage diversity and inclusion while preventing bias and harassment.”
The Hollywood Survey will be conducted over the next four weeks and overseen by the Ethics & Compliance Initiative, a nonprofit research program focused on workplace integrity and ethical standards. Findings are expected to be released early next year.
All entertainment professionals or hopefuls — including but not limited to performers, writers, directors, producers, musicians, singers, dancers, crafts people, crew members, agents, and executives — are welcomes to take the survey. “Anyone who works or has sought work at movie studios, TV networks, streaming services, record labels, production companies, theater companies or talent, management, and PR agencies has valuable insight worth sharing,” the Commission emphasized.
“Due to the heroic and brave work of many, we all now know there are serious problems of harassment, bias, and mistreatment of others in Hollywood,” said Hill, the Commission’s chair. “What we need to get our arms around, if we’re going to come up with effective solutions, is reliable data that reveals the specific nature and actual extent of those problems as well as the cultural environment that enables and hides them.” She added, “We also want to know what is going well, and how we can improve the industry for all employees. Therefore it is important for everyone who has worked or even tried to work in the entertainment industry to partake in the survey as their experiences will tell us what we need to know.”
The survey includes demographic questions — age, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, etc. — and then inquires about the participant’s experiences and career in entertainment. It also asks if and how the industry has evolved in terms of harassment prevention, inclusion, and respect since the rise of #MeToo in 2017. The participant will then be asked about their personal experiences with sexual harassment and discrimination and the prevalence of unsafe workplaces, but they will not be asked to name their companies or assailants.
The survey inquires how often in the past year the participant has been subjected to any kind of racial or gender discrimination, harassment, or abuse — behaviors ranging from offensive comments to inappropriate touching to threats or bribery to rape. The survey concludes by asking how the Commission can best serve entertainment workers, whether that might be via helplines, an app that lets survivors document their experiences, or eduction/training/mentoring initiatives.
The overall goals of the Hollywood Survey are the establishment of a baseline of “the current culture” in show biz; the understanding of “the nature and extent of misconduct” and its pervasiveness; the identification of systemic issues that support misconduct and power abuse; and the identification of “any gaps in access to representation, advocates, systems, and support.”
Data collected from the survey will also aid the Commission in developing “initiatives aimed at protecting entertainment-industry workers, many of whom are freelance and/or starting out in this industry, and therefore lack access to adequate safeguards against workplace bias and harassment.”
The Hollywood Commission described the survey as “a vital step in its mission to ensure a safe, secure, and inclusive workplace for everyone in the entertainment community.” The org continued, “the sole way to build safe, respectful workplaces that give equal opportunity in the film, television, commercial, music, and theatre industries is to have a clear, data-driven, and supported understanding of the culture where people work.” It stressed, “In a critical move towards solving the systemic problems of abuses that have been brought to mass attention, this anonymous survey will be available to anyone who has worked or has tried to work in any area of entertainment making it the largest attempt at gathering this essential data. All in the industry are encouraged to participate – you do not have to have experienced abuse of power, harassment, or bias to fill out the survey.”
“The more varied the mix of industry employees, freelance, long term, support staff, executives, etc. who participate in the survey, the more illuminating and useful it will be,” Hill said. “At the end of the day, the aim here is to help us develop as complete an understanding as possible of the issues facing the entire industry. The number of survey responses will also tell us how serious and purposeful Hollywood is at solving the systemic problems it has been so dogged at illuminating.”
The Hollywood Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment was formed in December 2017, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations and the onslaught of #MeToo stories that came out of show business and beyond. Since its inception, the org has researched technology that identifies abusers, has called on Hollywood power players for donations, and made the protection of freelance workers a priority.
Hill brought workplace sexual harassment into the national spotlight when she testified at Clarence Thomas’ Senate confirmation hearings in 1991. Her story became part of the national conversation once again when Christine Blasey Ford testified about Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual abuse during his confirmation hearings last year. “We must make it unequivocally clear that if the government is not prepared to protect women from sexual violence, we in our industry will do it ourselves,” Hill wrote after Kavanaugh was confirmed. “Throughout our industry, there is a profound sense of betrayal and despair among many that the government no longer cares about protecting their basic rights to be heard and to have their pain recognized as a public concern.”
“Scandal” star and #TimesUp supporter Kerry Washington portrayed Hill in HBO’s Emmy-nominated 2016 TV movie “Confirmation.”
Head over to the Hollywood Commission’s website to view or complete the survey.