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Courtesy of Hollywood Chamber
of Commerce
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tax incentives, financial aid
Solving film industry's diversity dilemma
BY LETISIA MÁRQUEZ
UCLA Today
To increase diversity on screen and off in an industry that critics
say lacks color, representatives from government, UCLA and the entertainment
world recommended giving tax incentives to the industry to support
diverse programming and hiring, and more financial aid to film students
of color.
More than 70 people attended “Diversifying Hollywood: Practices,
Priorities and Policies,” a forum held Feb. 17 in Royce Hall
to discuss solutions to the decades-old problem of a lack of diversity
within the entertainment industry’s job ranks.
“While progress has been occurring, Hollywood remains an
incredibly insular industry where old-fashioned networking still
oftentimes dominates the employment practices of the industry,”
said Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-Calif.).
As head of the Congressional Entertainment Caucus, Watson chaired
the forum, which was jointly hosted by UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche
Center for African American Studies and Government and Community
Relations. Also attending were Congressmembers Darrell Issa (R-Calif.),
and Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.), both caucus members.
While some called for a major change in the culture of the entertainment
industry, others said Congress should play a larger role in advancing
a productive dialogue within the industry.
Chon Noriega, director of UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research
Center and professor of film and television studies, said many of
the recommendations made at the forum would not necessarily require
“legislation being forced on the industry.”
Congress can provide tax incentives for entertainment companies
that invest in diversity, Noriega said. In the past, for example,
the capital gains tax was reduced when a media company was purchased
by a minority-owned business.
Some participants also proposed that the Federal Communications
Commission require that the industry provide accurate employment
data. Noriega suggested lengthening mentoring and training programs
to ensure that participants are hired within the industry.
Providing more financial aid for film students of color would
help create a more qualified workforce, suggested Robert Rosen,
dean of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.
“If they are talking about making a long-term change —
about getting underrepresented groups behind the camera, in front
of the camera, in the front office — and they are looking
for people ready for prime time,” Rosen said, “then
there needs to be a high level of education for the people entering
the field.
“In the last 10 years, we’ve seen artists and producers
who have made a difference, and a disproportionate number of them
are coming out of film schools,” including Spike Lee and UCLA
alumni Gregory Nava (“Selena”), Gina Prince-Bythewood
(“Love and Basketball”) and Patricia Cardoso (“Real
Women Have Curves”), Rosen said.
Mitsy Wilson, senior vice president of diversity development for
Fox Entertainment Group, said the industry often discusses diversity
and takes action — when the timing is right.
For instance, the second season of Fox’s “The O.C.,”
which has a mostly white cast but is set in diverse Orange County,
is slated to add characters of color. After a show has been successful
for a year, industry executives “have more leeway to say:
‘Here is what we expect of you,’ ” Wilson said.
“We are looking at changing the behavior, change from within,
as well as [from] the outside,” she said.
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