Time’s Up’s latest initiative is working to improve the entertainment industry’s executive and producer pipeline. A press release from the gender equality and inclusion coalition introduced Who’s in the Room, a new mentorship program that will increase the number of people of color and other socially and economically underrepresented communities among the executive and producing ranks. CBS, a company in dire need of revolutionizing its own culture and pipeline of execs, is providing the program’s initial $500,000.
Who’s in the Room will set its sights on two points in the pipeline in which underrepresented groups tend to leave the industry: entry level positions (START) and assistants ready to shift to junior exec positions (JUMP). “Who’s in the Room’s” inaugural class will consist of 9 months of mentorship for 10 participants. The next two years will see 50 mentees accepted into each program.
The mentees will participate in weekly check-ins and monthly curriculum events as well as network with the women of Time’s Up Entertainment. There will be industry-specific instruction in addition to workshops covering public speaking, leadership methods, and financial planning.
Who’s in the Room also acknowledges that financial constraints often cause entry level execs and assistants to exit the industry, so it is providing “a flexible fund of up to $10,000 per candidate” to mentees. The money can be used for development opportunities, basic subsidies such as travel costs, and emergency relief. Mentors will help the participants apply for the funding and will oversee the approval process alongside the steering committee.
A group of TV vets designed Who’s in the Room, among them Chernin prez of film and TV Jenno Topping, film and TV exec Tara Duncan, Netflix vp of Original Films Tendo Nagenda, and Warner Bros. Pictures senior vp of film production Niija Kuykendall.
“The fact is that young people are dropping out of the industry because they are not being provided the support to succeed — this program provides them that targeted support,” said Nithya Raman, Executive Director of Time’s Up Entertainment.
“There is nothing short of an urgent need at the moment to have the people who buy, create, and promote entertainment content be more representative of the people we serve,” explained Jenno Topping. “[Who’s in the Room] hopes to exponentially change and expand the landscape within five years by aggressively growing the next crop of producer and executive talent. Recent financial data, such as the recent report from Creative Artists Agency and shift7, confirms it’s in all of our best interests.”
Time’s Up was officially launched on January 1 of this year by women in the entertainment industry. It has since grown to support women in other professions and locations far from from Hollywood. Housed and administered by the National Women’s Law Center, the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund is the org’s first initiative to address safety in the workplace outside of the entertainment industry. Women and men from all 50 states have been connected to legal resources via the Defense Fund.
