#Diversity
Submit Now: Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase
It’s no secret that Cannes Film Festival would benefit from being more diverse and inclusive. Scheduled to be held May 20, the Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase is dedicated to...
Survey: 64% of Diverse TV Writers Have Encountered Discrimination on the Job
A new survey findings’ reveal that diverse writers are routinely isolated, tokenized, and mistreated in contemporary writers rooms. The Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity (TTIE) interviewed...
2019-20 Pilot Season: Jude Weng & Jessica Yu Make History, Uptick in Director Inclusion
This pilot season is one for the history books. Jude Weng and Jessica Yu have both booked directing gigs and, according to Deadline, are set to become the first Asian-American women to helm...
Paramount Launches New Dev/Green Light Process, Aims to Make Film Slate More Inclusive
Only a couple weeks after taking Time’s Up and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s #4PercentChallenge — and promising to commit to a women-directed project in the next 18 months —...
2019 Diversity Report: Women & POC Make Progress But Are Still Largely Underrepresented
UCLA’s College of Social Sciences has released its latest Diversity Report. Once again, the study reveals women and people of color are making strides on both sides of the camera, but overall,...
Paul Feig’s Powderkeg Creating Diverse, Inclusive Writers’ Rooms with New Initiative
Powderkeg has launched its latest inclusive initiative. Paul Feig and Laura Fischer’s digital media production company is following up its incubator for women filmmakers with Break the Room...
You’re Invited: Join W&H at Berlinale 2019 for Talk About Women Creating Change in the Biz
If you’re attending the Berlin International Film Festival this year, then make sure to mark February 9 on your calendar. That day Women and Hollywood — along with Time’s Up,...
CAA Supporting Rising TV Writers of Color with Showrunner Mentorship Program
Less than a year after creating a searchable database of TV writers of color, CAA is once again striving to make the television writing landscape — and the path to showrunning — more...
Guest Post: Hollywood, Resolve to Make 2019 the Year of Inclusive Hiring Targets
Guest Post by Gillian Thomas and Melissa Goodman It’s a new year, and that means it’s awards season — or more specifically, the season for a slew of award nomination announcements devoid...
Issa Rae and Columbia Pictures Join Forces to Support Emerging Diverse Writers
Issa Rae’s latest project will help boost diverse, up-and-coming screenwriters. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the “Insecure” star’s ColorCreative has signed a...
Reclaiming Our Experiences, Telling Our Stories: Crowdfunding Picks
When you take in the news today, what do you notice? Stories about women experiencing sexual assault, online harassment, body shaming, criticism for being too loud or not enough. Our culture is...
Sundance Institute Announces New Inclusive Filmmaking Fellowship, Names Inaugural Class
Sundance is continuing to up its inclusion game ahead of its 2019 festival. As previously reported, the fest has agreed to make its submissions data transparent and is working to ensure a more...
Jocelyn Bioh on “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” & Its Exploration of Colorism
If you haven’t heard of Off-Broadway’s “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play,” by Jocelyn Bioh, it is only a matter of time before you do. The play, directed by Tony...
Apply Now: NBC’s Female Forward and Emerging Director Programs
Heartened by the increasing number of women and people of color behind the camera in episodic TV? If you want to get in on the action, consider submitting to the 2019-20 classes of NBC’s...
Writer Ngozi Anyanwu and Director Awoye Timpo Talk Reuniting for “Good Grief”
Writer-actor Ngozi Anyanwu and director Awoye Timpo paired up for the current run of Anyanwu’s play “Good Grief” at the Vineyard Theatre. This isn’t the first time the pair has worked...
Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus Chats About Her New Show “India Pale Ale”
Jaclyn Backhaus, a playwright of Punjabi and German descent, is skilled at giving women a voice in her work. Her last play, “Men on Boats,” told the story of the 1869 Powell Expedition...
Quote of the Day: Jada Pinkett Smith on Ensuring #OscarsSoWhite Isn’t a Fad
Jada Pinkett Smith famously boycotted the 2016 Oscars — the year the ceremony was dubbed #OscarsSoWhite on account of its blindingly white nominees. Two years have passed, and while...
Guest Post: How I Sought to Improve Black Representation with My First Feature “Solace”
Guest Post by Tchaiko Omawale Being a Black female filmmaker, I carry the privilege and responsibility of creating the things I wish I had seen when I was growing up. My two favorite movie genres...
ReFrame Is Accepting TV Submissions for Gender Equality Stamp
Having already bestowed its stamp of approval to 34 films, ReFrame is now setting its sights on the television landscape. According to The Hollywood Reporter, ReFrame is asking for TV submissions for...
Neither Here Nor There: Crowdfunding Picks
“America is a melting pot” you often hear people say. Different cultures, religions, and ethnicities all living side by side to make up the diversity we see in our everyday lives. There...
New WarnerMedia Policy Makes Significant Commitment to Inclusion on Both Sides of Camera
WarnerMedia — the conglomerate made up of Warner Bros., HBO, Turner, and their assets — is adopting a company-wide policy that commits to diversity and inclusion on- and off-screen....
Quote of the Day: “Star Wars'” Kelly Marie Tran Refuses to Be Silenced by Online Harassment
More than two months after she left social media in the wake of racist and sexist trolling, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” star Kelly Marie Tran is speaking out about the experience. The...
Growing Pains: Crowdfunding Picks
Flip through one of your old photo albums. How does it feel? Regardless of the time period you are looking back on, you’re probably experiencing a fairly strong emotional response. Maybe it’s...
The Bonds Between Us: Crowdfunding Picks
Our entire lives are defined by relationships. From a young age, we are taught to identify ourselves relative to someone else; daughter, sister, partner, friend. And whether these bonds are defined...
Under the Radar: “Are You Glad I’m Here” Expertly Portrays Friendship Across Cultures
Winner of the Brooklyn Film Festival’s Audience Award, “Are You Glad I’m Here” follows a young American woman as she moves to Beirut and befriends her neighbor, a Lebanese housewife. Directed...
Academy Invites 928 New Members, 49% Are Women and 38% POC
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited a record 928 people to join its ranks. As Variety reports, the Academy’s list of invitees has been growing steadily for three years....
Korean-American Superheroine Pic “Silk” in the Works at Sony, Amy Pascal Producing
Cindy Moon could be getting her own movie. Deadline reports a pic centering on the Marvel character, aka Silk, is in early development at Sony and Amy Pascal’s Pascal Pictures. Created by Dan...
BAFTA Introduces New Diversity Criteria for 2019 Film Awards
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced new rules for films competing for the BAFTA Film Awards’ Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut by a British...
Apply Now: Sony TV’s 2018 Diverse Directors Program
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is now accepting applications for this year’s Diverse Directors Program. The initiative gives emerging directors from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to...
Lena Waithe, Eva Longoria, & More Join Forces for MACRO Episodic Lab for POC
Lena Waithe and Eva Longoria are championing episodic storytellers of color alongside MACRO founder/CEO Charles D. King and The Black List’s Franklin Leonard. The foursome have introduced The...
Seed&Spark, Color Farm Media, & Black&SexyTV Team Up to Champion Creators of Color
Crowdfunding and streaming platform Seed&Spark, diversity-focused company Color Farm Media, and entertainment/lifestyle network Black&SexyTV are joining forces to support creators of color...
Apply Now: NBC’s New Unscripted Directing Initiative for Women and POC
If you’re a woman or person of color trying to break into unscripted directing, take note: NBC has unveiled the new Alternative Directors Program, the entertainment industry’s first...
Exclusive: Oprah and Ava DuVernay Reflect on Inclusion in “A Wrinkle in Time” Bonus Feature
Ava DuVernay brought “A Wrinkle in Time” to the big screen with a twist of her own. The director ensured that her adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic 1963 fantasy novel...
Quote of the Day: Veena Sud Is Tired of Seeing Asian-Americans Play “The Quirky Best Friend”
In news that’s disappointing yet entirely unsurprising, “The Killing” creator Veena Sud has revealed that when she was first pitching the crime drama, she wanted the homicide cops...
Tina Tchen Names Members of Recording Academy’s Female Advancement Task Force
Time’s Up leader and former chief of staff to Michelle Obama Tina Tchen has unveiled the members of the Recording Academy’s Task Force for Female Advancement, of which she is chair....
Trailer Watch: Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh Face Off in “Crazy Rich Asians”
When Rachel Chu (Constance Wu, “Fresh Off the Boat”) finds out her boyfriend, Nick Young (newcomer Henry Golding), is crazy rich — like the Prince Harry of Asia rich — she takes it...
MPAA Report 2017: Women-Centric Films Dominate and Females Account for 50 Percent of Moviegoers
Women continued to be a major presence and spending force at the movies last year. The MPAA has published its THEME — theatrical and home entertainment market environment — report for...
BAMcinématek to Spotlight Women Filmmakers & Black Cinema in Upcoming Film Series
Brooklyn theater BAMcinématek is celebrating women directors and black cinema in two of its upcoming film series. The venue will host “New Voices in Black Cinema” April 26–29 as well as “A...
“Brown Girl Dreaming” Author Jacqueline Woodson to Receive Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
The 15th annual Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest prize for children’s writing, will be awarded to author Jacqueline Woodson, BBC News reports. Woodson will receive the prize,...
Women and POC Led the Box Office’s Top Films for 11 of the Past 12 Weekends
This year’s box office numbers are deliciously proving what we and many others have been saying all along: Diversity and inclusivity always come out on top. Per a report via CNN, revenue data...
Check Out the Inclusion Rider Template
Interested in adopting the inclusion rider but unsure how to go about it? USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative is here for you. The organization has released an inclusion rider template online....
Netflix Must Lead on Inclusion Issues — Instead, They Are Lagging Behind
It’s been 10 days since Frances McDormand uttered those two words that set Hollywood afire — inclusion rider. And in those 10 days Brie Larson, Michael B. Jordan, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon,...
Paul Feig, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck Latest to Adopt Inclusion Rider
Paul Feig, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck are following in Brie Larson and Michael B. Jordan’s footsteps and committing to the inclusion rider. Feig announced that his production company, Feigco...
#OscarsSoWhite Creator April Reign’s New Database Helps POC Find Work in the Biz
In 2015 April Reign spearheaded the #OscarsSoWhite movement to call out the Academy Awards’ lack of inclusivity among its acting nominees. The hashtag gained even more momentum in 2016, when the...
ReFrame Pushes for More Inclusive Hiring in Hollywood with New Handbook
ReFrame, a Hollywood inclusion program that boasts 50 industry leaders among its ranks, has set its sights on updating show business’ current hiring practices — i.e. its habit of employing...
Brie Larson and Michael B. Jordan Commit to Inclusion Rider
Frances McDormand’s Oscar speech is proving to be a game-changer in Hollywood. The “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” actress mentioned the words “inclusion rider” while accepting...
Frances McDormand Made My Night at the Oscars a Memorable One
I’ve tried to get Oscar credentials for the past several years. This year, my dream finally came true. Like most people, I’ve watched the Oscars every year I can remember — years ago for...
Lena Waithe Joins Forces with Sight Unseen Pictures to Champion Underserved Voices
When Lena Waithe made history at last year’s Emmy Awards she used her time at the podium to recognize her “LGBTQIA family.” “I see each and every one of you,” the “Master of None”...
Vanessa Taylor to Adapt “Hillbilly Elegy”
The Oscar-nominated co-writer of “The Shape of Water” has booked her next gig. She’ll follow-up the otherworldly fairy tale with a gritty drama set in the Rust Belt, an adaptation of...
Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira Teaming Up for “Americanah” TV Adaptation
The long-gestating screen adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Americanah” is moving forward. Nearly four years after Lupita Nyong’o first optioned the heartbreaking novel about love,...
Jill Soloway Is Launching a Book Imprint with Amazon Publishing
Jill Soloway is taking their relationship with Amazon to a whole new level. The “Transparent” creator is set to launch a book imprint with Amazon Publishing, the Los Angeles Times reports. Named...