Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson, Alison Brie, and Jennifer Garner are just a few of the entertainers who will perform as part of “Women In Film Presents: Make It Work!,” a one-hour variety special Women In Film, Los Angeles (WIF) has organized to benefit its Hire Her Back campaign. Launched in June, Hire Her Back is a multimedia effort calling on employers in the entertainment industry to reach gender and racial equality on film and television projects that are returning to production. According to a press release, “Make It Work!” will be broadcast on The CW August 26 at 8 p.m. ET.
Featuring music, comedy, and testimonials, “Make It Work!” will examine the obstacles women face as they return to their jobs in the wake of COVID-19, and offer potential solutions. “Saturday Night Live’s” Hannah Levy and Adriana Robles are directing, and Wendy Button (CNN’s “Heroes”), Simbi Hall (Women That Soar Awards), and Mishy Turner (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) are writing. Stephanie Allain (“Dear White People”), Amy Baer (“Last Vegas”), and Monica Levinson (“Borat”) are the executive producers.
Alfre Woodard, Lake Bell, Connie Britton, Beanie Feldstein, Kathryn Hahn, Cheryl Hines, Mara Brock Akil, Marta Kauffman, Andrea Savage, Alexandra Shipp, Michaela Watkins, and Kym Whitley are also among the special’s participants.
“COVID-19 is both a public health pandemic and a socioeconomic crisis. Women and people of color are at a higher risk of job loss and of exposure to the virus. There is ample evidence suggesting that women will have significant difficulty rebounding from the COVID-19 crisis, in particular Latinx and Black women, who have faced some of the highest rates of unemployment of any group as a result of the pandemic,” the press release emphasizes. “The goal of [Hire Her Back] is to protect the progress that women and people of color have made recently in front of and behind the camera: so that employers across the entertainment landscape hire women and people of color back to their former positions AND to fill new ones, to build to a new normal for parity in the screen industries.”
WIF is aiming to raise money for the Hire Her Back Fund, which will be used for grants to support women whose livelihoods in show biz have been impacted by COVID-19. WIF is also fundraising for its core programs, including career pipeline and mentorship initiatives like INSIGHT, a collective for rising BIWOC filmmakers, the sexual harassment Help Line — which will soon be used to address racial discrimination, too — and coronavirus support groups.
If you’re interested in contributing to the Hire Her Back Fund, visit WIF’s website.
