Showrunner says #MeToo forcing long-delayed reform

Few showrunners are as well-positioned as Glen Mazzara to help create change in the TV industry.

A veteran of “The Walking Dead,” “The Shield” and “Damien,” among other shows, Mazzara was an activist in the realms of inclusion and gender equity long before the recent wave of allegations over the abuse of power in Hollywood. But going through this post-Weinstein moment has only strengthened his resolve to help bring about a new era.

What’s occurring in the entertainment industry at this moment, Mazzara said, “is a major correction that is long overdue. I don’t think it’s going to dissipate.”

Mazzara, who is working on the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” novels, is on the board of the Writers Guild of America, which has been working on a code of conduct for members that includes “zero tolerance” for sexual harassment as well as due process for those accused of misconduct.

Beyond his WGA duties, Mazzara has done outreach among Hollywood writers for a decade. He’s run seminars for his peers at various networks and hosted meetings designed to help educate agents, executives, creators and staffers learn more about the barriers that exist for minorities, white women and others from underrepresented groups.

Before entering the TV industry, Mazzara worked as a hospital administrator in New York for 13 years.

“A good manager would be open to the conversation, ‘What am I doing right and wrong? Give me some feedback.’ I’ve mentioned this kind of thing in public and people think I’m a lunatic,” he says. “But you know what? It worked in hospital administration, and that’s saving lives. This is making TV shows.”

The following is an edited transcript.

A: I do. There have been a lot of people around town who are very earnest and want to talk about this. Most people want to say, “Well I’m not racist, I’m not sexist, but the system is. I would hire more women, but the agencies don’t rep them. I would hire more women, but the studios don’t approve.” The studios and networks say, “Well, we would hire more women, more people of color, more Latinos, more AsianAmericans. We would hire different groups of people, but the showrunners have a boy’s club culture and we don’t want to force them.”

Everyone passes the buck.

So what I’ve done is try to educate the community — I’ve spoken to agencies and studios and networks. I’ll get 40 or 50 people in a room, and we’ll talk about programs we’ve started at the Writers Guild, trying to educate our members.

A: Yeah. Over the years, a lot of people have come to me privately and said, “Hey, I’ve been in a room. I’m African-American and there were writers using the N-word.” And then you say that to other people, they say, “No, nobody’s really doing that.” When you would talk about the fact that people are being harassed, the reaction to that would often be, “No, that’s ridiculous.” Like, it’s outrageous to assume someone’s really grabbing somebody and sexually harassing them.

There was just a disbelief — I think that disbelief is gone. I think people are now saying, “OK, there is a problem.”

A: People have to be held to a standard. I think the studios and networks have to get their act together, and clean up their H.R. departments, because the H.R. departments have not been welcoming.

There are practices in other industries that could be adopted.