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Tuesday, Jun 4

00

Geena Davis Is an “Incorruptible Optimist” About Representation in Hollywood

Twenty years after launching her Institute on Gender in Media — which created a blueprint for gathering data about inclusion and diversity on- and offscreen — Geena Davis is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Arkansas’ Bentonville Film…

Tuesday, Oct 17

17

Jeanell English Breaks Silence on What Led to Her Exit From Film Academy EVP of Impact and Inclusion

Jeanell English has opened up about what forced her to recently leave her role as executive vp of impact and inclusion at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences following a year confronting an industry distrusting or outright…

Thursday, Jun 8

00

RespectAbility Sets 2023 Entertainment Lab Fellows

RespectAbility, the non-profit that seeks to combat stigmas for people with disabilities through advocacy, has announced the participants for the 5th edition of its Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities. The individuals who…

Tuesday, May 2

20

Diego Luna, Gloria Calderón Kellett and More Encourage Latinx Community to Tap Into Their Own Storytelling Power

Latinx creatives gathered around sopes and mezcal at Cantina Frida in Beverly Hills on Monday afternoon for a conversation around community and representation in Hollywood. “The fact that this room exists now is so enormous,” said writer…

Thursday, Mar 23

18

Paul Feig, Marlee Matlin, Ramy Youssef, Lauren Ridloff and More Support Call to Hire Fewer Consultants, More Disabled Creatives Offscreen

Marlee Matlin, Ramy Youssef, Lauren Ridloff, Ryan O’Connell and Ali Stroker are among the Hollywood names supporting The Inevitable Foundation’s open letter calling on the industry to shift away from relying on disability consultants and…

Thursday, Mar 16

Ming-Na Wen, Tati Gabrielle Among CAPE’s Inaugural Radiance Honorees

Actresses Ming-Na Wen and Tati Gabrielle, along with Partner Track showrunner Georgia Lee and Everything Everywhere All at Once costume designer Shirley Kurata, are among those being honored by the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in…

Wednesday, Mar 1

04

How the Landscape of Native-Led Stories Has Changed Between ‘Avatars’: “We’re Flexing Our Sovereignty”

Hollywood has never had a reluctance to show Native characters onscreen. They’ve served as the go-to foils for the hero in the most American of movie genres — the Western — and occasionally have been romanticized for their exotic mysticism…

Monday, Feb 27

21

Nearly 60 Percent of PBS Doc Content in 2022 Featured BIPOC Talent or Was “Diversity-Related,” Per DEI Report

PBS built out its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team in fiscal year 2022. The public broadcaster’s second annual DEI report, released Monday morning, noted that the network created a DEI Office during the period and hired a staff,…

16

Aminah Nieves, Mo Brings Plenty on Why ‘1923’ Doesn’t Look Away: “We Have to Allow the Audience to Witness”

1923 has released its season finale and amid heartbreaking cliffhangers and treacherous uncertainty for many of the ensemble cast, the Yellowstone prequel series also delivered hope. That ray of light surrounds Teonna Rainwater, the…

Thursday, Feb 23

22

Rideback Rise Adds Producer Tracey Bing as Head of Content and Veteran Philanthropy Advisor Sabrina Pourmand as Executive Director

Dan Lin has found the leaders for his BIPOC-focused content accelerator. Rideback Rise has hired film producer Tracey Bing as the nonprofit’s head of content and former charity:water executive Sabrina Pourmand as founding executive…

Saturday, Feb 18

23

Simu Liu Criticizes Celebrity Look-Alike Segment During NBA All-Star Weekend: “This Wasn’t Cool”

Simu Liu was a member of the winning squad during the 2023 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, but there was one aspect of the event that he didn’t appreciate. Liu took to social media Friday to call out a celebrity look-alike video segment…

Friday, Feb 17

01

Television Academy Reports 75 Percent of Its Membership Is White

Nearly 75 percent (74.9 percent, to be precise) of the Television Academy’s membership is white — or at least the two-thirds (67.4 percent) of its 20,583 members who responded to the organization’s call to update their demographic…

Thursday, Feb 16

17

Movies Starring Women of Color Hit 16-Year High in 2022, Study Finds

The latest Hollywood diversity study actually has some positive news to report: Popular movies starring women of color hit a 16-year high in 2022, according to USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. The research group’s annual breakdown of…

Saturday, Feb 11

00

Idris Elba Responds to Debate Over the Star Saying He No Longer Calls Himself a “Black Actor”

Idris Elba is addressing social media debate surrounding the Luther: The Fallen Sun star recently saying he no longer describes himself as a Black actor because he found he was put “in a box.” The actor took to Twitter on Saturday to…

Friday, Feb 10

02

Idris Elba Opens Up About Hollywood Racism and Why He “Stopped Describing Myself as a Black Actor”

Idris Elba is getting candid about racism he has experienced in Hollywood and his reasons behind having a career in entertainment. In an interview with Esquire magazine, published online Wednesday, the Luther: The Fallen Sun star said, “I…

Friday, Feb 3

22

Academy Museum to Host ‘Regeneration’ Summit Honoring Black Cinema

This weekend, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is hosting the Regeneration Summit: A Celebration of Black Cinema in honor of their ongoing exhibition Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971, which has been extended through July 16. The…

Tuesday, Jan 24

17

Oscars Diversity: ‘Everything Everywhere’ Propels Asian Acting Nominees to Historic High

Just three years after Parasite swept every one of its possible Oscars but received nary a nomination in any of the acting categories, fellow unlikely awards favorite Everything Everywhere All at Once is responsible for helping Asian…

15

Oscars: Michelle Yeoh Makes History as First Asian Best Actress Nominee

It took 59 years for Michelle Yeoh to land her first lead role in a Hollywood film. And it’s taken 95 years for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize a woman who identifies as Asian in its best actress category. On…

Saturday, Jan 21

02

Sundance: How the Multicultural Team Behind ‘The Accidental Getaway Driver’ Sought to Make a Culturally Sensitive Film

Andy Sorgie knew he had finally found his passion project when he read Paul Kix’s 2017 GQ feature “The Accidental Get Away Driver,” the true story of Long Ma, an elderly driver-for-hire in Orange County whose life was unexpectedly upended…

Thursday, Jan 12

18

Spike Lee, Gersh Launch HBCU Fellowship Program

“Morehouse Man” Spike Lee is paying it forward at his alma mater. The director, who graduated from the college in 1979, is teaming with his agency, Gersh, for the Spike Fellows Program, which kicks off this month and will support students…

Thursday, Jan 5

21

Sundance Sets Inaugural Indigenous House With IllumiNative (Exclusive)

Sundance will continue to see a number of first-time official “houses” dedicated to specific cultural groups during the 2023 festival. IllumiNative, the Indigenous social justice organization founded in 2018, will host the inaugural…

Monday, Jan 2

15

Latest Diversity Reports From USC, SDSU Reveal Room for Improvement Behind the Camera

As 2023 dawns, two major academic organizations that measure the progress of inclusion in Hollywood are looking back at the track record for 2022 in film. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s latest “Inclusion in the Director’s Chair”…

Wednesday, Dec 21

17

Sundance Sets Festival’s First South Asian Lodge With Nonprofit 1497 (Exclusive)

Sundance in 2023 will feature the festival’s first-ever South Asian Lodge, thanks to the nonprofit organization 1497. The group is collaborating with filmmakers Shruti Ganguly and Tanya Selvaratnam to develop the lodge, which will be…

16

“We Don’t All Fit Neatly Inside a Box”: How Latin Execs Across Studios Are Fighting for More Representation

Once a month, Tanya Saracho’s Ojalá Production’s headquarters in Los Angeles transforms into a safe circle of trust for the Latina Squad — where more than 80 Latin executives gather to recommend projects and up-and-comers to their…

Tuesday, Dec 20

Sundance Sets Official AAPI House With Daniel Dae Kim, Gold House and The Asian American Foundation (Exclusive)

The Sundance Film Festival is getting an official AAPI house this year, thanks to Daniel Dae Kim, Gold House and The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). Under a new banner known as Sunrise Collective, the actor’s production company, 3AD, and…

John Oliver, Amy Schumer and More Sign Writers Guild DEI Pledge for Late Night and Comedy/Variety TV Writers

The Writers Guild of America East and Writers Guild of America West have crafted a pledge committing to improving diversity, equity and inclusion in late night and comedy/variety TV, signed by more than 50 supervisory scribes in the space.…

Friday, Dec 9

17

SeeHer, Gold House Release Writers’ Guide for Depictions of API Women (Exclusive)

SeeHer, an organization focused on accurate portrayals of women and girls in media and advertising, has released a new guide on how to write Asian Pacific Islander women authentically. First announced in May at the Gold Gala, the lavish…

Thursday, Oct 27

16

Study: Diversity in TV Casting Increasing, More Lead Roles for Women

Diversity in television casts has continued to improve, and women now make up a major portion of lead roles in broadcast, cable and digital series — but that may not remain the case. This year’s Hollywood Diversity Report — now being…

Wednesday, Oct 19

02

Warner Bros. Discovery Grapples With the Cost of Cutting Pipeline Programs

As Warner Bros. TV Group underwent a round of layoffs in October, the news that garnered the most attention seemed to catch the leadership of the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery off guard: the shuttering of WBTVG’s long-running writers…

Thursday, Oct 6

19

Paramount, Sony Join MPA and EICOP’s Entertainment Law and Policy Fellowship (Exclusive)

Paramount and Sony have become the first member studios to participate in the MPA-EICOP Entertainment Law and Policy Fellowship, the program first announced by the Motion Picture Association and the Entertainment Industry College Outreach…