A breakdown on how the industry is doing
Multiple companies pledged monetary support for nonprofits focused on racial justice and other social causes, setting up funds to distribute money over a few years. Such funds in the past have been criticized for supporting the same groups. But people involved in the recent efforts say the funds contribute to a broader swath of local and grassroots organizations.
Walt Disney Co.: Disney pledged $5 million to existing and new organizations. According to the company’s 2020 social responsibility report, Disney has made commitments to groups such as the NAACP, the Equal Justice Initiative, the United Negro College Fund, the Black Girls Code, ARRAY 101 and the Hidden Genius Project. The company said in 2021 that it would begin tracking its social initiatives with a goal that more than half of its charitable giving would go to programs directly serving underrepresented communities.
Warner Music Group:
The $100-million Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund has committed $12.9 million to organizations. Those groups include the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which aims to remove barriers to voting for formerly convicted people, and the Black Futures Lab, which used its investment to register Black voters through its #BlackToTheBallot voter engagement campaign.
PIPELINE PROGRAMS FOR TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Companies set up and expanded programs to help diverse writers, directors, crew workers and aspiring executives gain exposure and experience. While such initiatives are seen as important pathways for some, they have long been criticized as not leading directly to the level of hiring that would meaningfully move the needle.
Tim McNeal, who runs the Creative Talent Development & Inclusion department within Disney’s general entertainment division, acknowledges the challenge. This year, the unit’s longrunning directors program committed to participants directing episodes of shows including “black-ish,” “Good Trouble” and “Snowfall.” McNeal’s unit also connects new writers and directors to Disney executives through “speed dating”-type events.
“For us, good intentions don’t mean much if people aren’t getting jobs,” McNeal said. “We want to support them not just in their first episode or second episode, but we want to make sure they get enough traction to become working directors not just at our company but across all of episodic television.”
Fox: Fox Inclusion and Fox Learning & Development developed and launched a company-wide inclusion education series — addressing issues including education, health and wellness — that seeks to amplify diverse leaders within Fox. Fox Alternative Entertainment Fastrack in January to nurture producers with diverse backgrounds and create a pipeline of new talent behind the camera.
NBCUniversal: In addition to existing programs for liveaction film screenwriters and directors, the company this year launched its Universal Animation Writers Program, which identifies and develops an inclusive pool of talent. The one-year paid program partners with NBCU-affiliated units including DreamWorks Animation and Illumination Entertainment. NBCUniversal has named diversity, equity and inclusion executive leaders across its business units, in such areas as content, development programs, employee engagement and supplier diversity.
ViacomCBS: In September 2020, MTV Entertainment Group established its First Time Directors Program, which calls for 50 films across the Paramount Network, MTV, Comedy Central and other networks from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) and female filmmakers. The division in December committed $250 million over three years to support content from femaleand BIPOC-owned and operated production companies.
INTERNAL PROCESSES AND GOAL-SETTING
Many firms expanded efforts to improve their inclusion numbers. Some companies are more transparent than others when it comes to disclosing their progress. WarnerMedia, for example, publicly issues a report on its progress for inclusion and diversity among its employees at various levels. In 2018, the most recent data available, executives were far less ethnically and racially diverse than nonmanagers, though new hires and promotions were more diverse than total employees.
Bad Robot: For several years, Bad Robot has implemented an internal requirelaunched ment of interviewing a diverse slate of candidates for every open position that is commensurate with the U.S. population. The company says its employees are 48% people of color and 60% women.
Sony Music: Talent pipeline and development strategies include the Sony Music University (SonyMusicU) College Ambassador program, which allows students from a variety of backgrounds to work with industry experts to sharpen their professional skills. SonyMusicU now has a network of 65 campuses — including more than a dozen historically Black college or university partners. About 40% of SonyMusicU participants have moved on to fulltime employment with Sony or elsewhere in the music industry.
REPRESENTATION IN CONTENT
In the last few years, it has become conventional wisdom that diverse representation in film and television is good business. According to a March report from consulting giant McKinsey & Co., Hollywood leaves $10 billion in annual revenue on the table because of its Black inclusion gap.
Pressured to act, entertainment companies signed multiple deals with filmmakers and showrunners of color. Some set up specialty labels for underrepresented voices. MGM, for example, last year revamped its legacy Orion Pictures label, led by producer Alana Mayo, with a focus on movies with diverse filmmakers and casts.
Amazon: Projects featuring stars and creators of color include Oscar nominee “One Night in Miami,” Emmy nominees “The Underground Railroad” and “Small Axe,” and “Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse.” The studio has recently signed overall or first-look deals with artists including Lizzo, Michael B. Jordan and Viola Davis.
Netflix: The streaming service last year set up a “Black Lives Matter” collection as its own genre. Several projects in the last year by and featuring people of color include "#BlackAF,” “The Upshaws,” “Bridgerton,” “Malcolm & Marie” and “The 40Year-Old Version.”