Hire Survivors – as part of several new exciting efforts in live theater that we will be announcing soon – is proud to consult on a powerful new theatrical project, POSTMORTEM. Written by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker @Marilyn.Ness.9, this groundbreaking play blends true crime with family drama to explore one woman’s reckoning with her difficult childhood. Integrating documentary filmmaking techniques into live theater, @POSTMORTEM_project is a brave and imaginative new play in progress.
The play will have its first public workshop presentations in partnership with DC’s award-winning @MosaicTheaterDC Company on September 8, 10, and 12, 2024.
Directed by Tony-nominated #SherylKaller, the cast features Outer Critics Circle Award-nominee @MsMaddieCorman, six-time Tony and Emmy-nominated @TovahFeld, and the renowned Helen Hayes Tribute-winning #NancyRobinette, along with a talented DC cast.
#HireSurvivors Advisory Board Member and credentialed victim advocate, #LaurenWeingarten (@mtmvcommunity), will be on-site for all three workshop presentations, representing Hire Survivors and providing additional audience support. On September 12th – after the performance – Hire Survivors will host a post-performance processing session facilitated by Lauren Weingarten and @JoCastleMiller, Secretary of the HS Board, survivors with expertise in navigating traumatic material. This session will provide a safe environment for the audience to process the emotions, questions, and challenges that POSTMORTEM may bring about, with care, and conversation as the primary focus. Attendees will be treated with respect and given tools to help ground themselves if they are feeling activated.
Tickets are on sale now! Visit the MosaicTheater.org to secure your spot.
”CW: Out of respect for survivors of sexual violence and based on what we now know about trauma, we offer a warning: this material includes discussion of childhood sexual abuse and may be challenging for survivors and upsetting for others. Please approach it with support, and if you cannot approach the material, know that we understand and support you.”
This is such thrilling news, and something we have been working very hard towards for years! And what a blessing to get to announce this in Variety on the six-year anniversary of when our founder – Sarah Ann Masse – shared her Weinstein story with Variety (and the world) for the first time. Thank you so much to our fiscal sponsors – RevComm Foundation – for making this possible as we file for our own 501c3 status. As an organization, we have achieved so much without any sort of financial backing or funding. And now, with the helps of any soul generous enough to donate, we will be able to expand and grow to better serve survivors, put an end to retaliation, ensure employment opportunities for survivors, and create a safe and equitable industry for all. Thank you to Variety and Elizabeth Wagmeister for helping us share our wonderful news! Read the full article here and see our Instagram announcement below.
We’re honored to be featured in Variety for our groundbreaking partnership with Husslup – a creative talent discovery network. This collaboration is set to create a new wave of opportunities for survivors of sexual violence within the entertainment industry.
In addition to our existing HSH Survivor Talent Database, utilizing Husslup to connect survivors directly to studios and production companies helps us to take a monumental step toward fostering representation and inclusion in Hollywood. Husslup’s invite-only mobile app and website align perfectly with our mission to democratize and diversify talent discovery in film and TV.
For the first time ever, Husslup will include a “survivor of sexual violence” designation via an optional demographic check box, empowering our community members to identify themselves and engage in the industry on their own terms. This is a feature we’ve been advocating for for years and are thrilled that Husslup recognized the importance of this step, putting it into action immediately. This partnership strengthens our resolve to end retaliation against survivors and Silence Breakers, both in front of and behind the camera.
Our founder, Sarah Ann Masse, stated that this is a pivotal moment that will help recognize survivors of sexual violence as the protected class they should be, aiding in our push for more opportunities, access, and representation.
H Schust, CEO of Husslup, added that survivors of sexual violence deserve increased DEI recognition, and they’re excited to make that happen.
A heartfelt thank you to Variety for highlighting this partnership and to Elizabeth Wagmeister for penning the article. Click here to read the full article.
Calling all LA union members, survivors, and allies: Mark your calendars!
This Thursday, August 31st, from 10am-12pm, join us at Fox to take a stand. We’re co-organizing a special survivor picket with members of the LA Local Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee. Gather side by side with us, and our striking unions, to fight for equity, safety, and inclusion in our industry. 🎬✊
Don’t miss out—free Hire Survivors Hollywood pins for all attendees (first come first served)! And please, take a rapid test before arriving and wear a high-quality, well-fitted mask (@maskblocla will be doing a mask drop at FOX if you don’t have a mask of your own). COVID numbers are rising; let’s keep our labor action inclusive and safe. Both COVID and sexual violence are public health emergencies, and many survivors are chronically ill, immunocompromised, and/or disabled. We must look out for each other through community care and community action.
The AMPTP can’t break us when we unite against systemic abuse. Let’s get out on the line together and make our voices heard!
🗓 August 31, 2023
🕙 10am-12pm
📍 10201 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064
It is an honor to have our essential work featured in a publication like Forbes. Thank you to Bonnie Marcus and Forbes for focusing on where Hollywood has been, where it is, and where it needs to go in terms of sexual violence. Excerpts of the interview are below and the entire piece can be read here.
In February 2020, Masse officially launched Hire Survivors Hollywood to end career retaliation against survivors of sexual violence within the entertainment industry. “I certainly didn’t plan to run an organization like this, but I do have, I guess that activist spirit inside of me. I’m really driven by wanting to push injustice out and do what’s right and help people, so it feels like a natural part of who I am.”
Bonnie Marcus: How does Hire Survivors Hollywood help?
Sarah Ann Masse: We’ve gotten many auditions and interviews for survivors. We’ve gotten something like 60 filmmakers to take our pledge to be inclusive of survivors. We’re having meetings with major stakeholders in the industry to try to get them to institute these policies. We’ve published a free toolkit that is a resource for everyone to use. We consult with filmmakers who are interested in creating opportunities in their projects for survivors above the line and below the line. We are putting more protocols and safety measures in place.
Marcus: Is sexual misconduct and abuse still prevalent in Hollywood today?
Masse: Yes, I think it’s prevalent everywhere. I do think things have improved though. I think there are more people paying attention and more people who are aware that they can and should say something when they see something.
But this is an industry where there are imbalances of power. Anytime you have a society or culture or industry or a community where there are imbalances of power, forms of abuse exist. It takes a lot of work and advocacy and ally ship to root it out and change the cultural expectations and norms that allow for that kind of abuse.
Marcus: Do you think survivors are now feeling more empowered to speak up?
Masse: Yes. At some level. I don’t think it was an issue of survivors not being empowered to speak. I think the issue comes from outside the survivor. It comes from the environment which makes it difficult to speak, where victims of violent sexual crimes are almost treated as though they’re the perpetrator of the crimes. They have the burden of proof. They are doubted. They are questioned.
Many survivors don’t what to talk about career retaliation publicly, which I understand because there is an extra level of fear that if I talk about the fact that nobody wants me, then nobody’s going to want me. I don’t want to put in people’s minds.
Marcus: Survivor career retaliation was highlighted in the film, She Said, where you played Emily Steel, the journalist who brought down Bill O’Reilly. What was that experience like as a victim yourself?
Masse: What was great was I got to play a journalist. I had my lived experience as a survivor, and I got to bring my whole history and my talent as an actor to this project, knowing that they were doing things right, knowing that I was going to feel safe. When I arrived on set, I had access to a therapist if I needed one, if I felt triggered, which is something we advocate for with Hire Survivors Hollywood. When I was about to be mic’d for sound, my wardrobe person asked me if I’d prefer her to wire me instead of the male sound person. It was a very respectful environment. Almost every department head was a woman and it felt amazing.
It was nice knowing, hey, the challenges I faced, the delays I faced, have nothing to do with my talent and have nothing to do with my drive. It has to do with the system that we’re trying to change.
Ashley Judd says in the film, ‘We just want to work. We just want to do the job that we’re good at and that we’re trained to do, and we don’t want people unfairly pushing us out.’
Survivors of sexual misconduct, like Sarah, who have called out their abusers, are paving the way for change. It is their courage and activism that will eventually transform the culture that penalizes victims and encourages and perpetuates the abuse to one of equity and justice.
We are thrilled to see our recent awareness campaign featured in the pages of Variety! During this Awards Season we had massive support for our work and our pin was spotted at all the most high-profile events, including The Oscars! We are so grateful to our pin-wearers and to Elizabeth Wagmeiseter for writing such a wonderful piece for Variety. Please read the entire article here, see our instagram post here, and see excepts of the article below.
Sarah Ann Masse and Rebecca Leinkeweiz at The WGA Awards wearing their Hire Survivors Hollywood pins Getty Images for WGAW
Sarah Ann Masse, an actor and activist who appeared in the film “She Said,” launched an outreach campaign via her organization Hire Survivors Hollywood, which had Hollywood notables wearing pins to support survivors of sexual violence across the entertainment industry at some of the buzziest events in the biz.
Masse — who is a real-life survivor of Harvey Weinstein, but did not play herself in “She Said” — is the founder of Hire Survivors Hollywood, a grassroots organization that aims to get major studios and networks to make a pledge to hire survivors and give them the same opportunities as others, and stand against retaliation for speaking up. Masse started Hire Survivors Hollywood out her own necessity, after she says she was retaliated against for coming forward about Weinstein, and because she believed other survivors of sexual abuse were facing similar professional backlash.
Throughout award season, Hire Survivors Hollywood created a pin that was worn by actors, filmmakers, attorneys and influencers to help raise awareness of the need to support survivors and create a safer and more equitable work environment in Hollywood.
The black pins that say “Hire Survivors Hollywood” were worn on industry players at events including the Academy Awards, the WGA Awards, Women In Film’s pre-Oscar event, the Artios Awards, the Celebration of South Asian Nominees, the Green Carpet Awards and more.
“She Said” screenwriter Rebecca Leinkeweiz was spotted wearing the pin at the WGA Awards and the Scripter Awards, “She Said” actor Adam Shapiro was sporting his on the Oscars red carpet and “Severance” creator Dan Erickson wore his at the WGA Awards. Others who recently wore the pin include “Jurassic World Dominion” star Dewanda Wise, “My Year of Dicks” Oscar nominees Pamela Ribon and Sara Gunnarsdottir, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” director Eric Appel and actor Kate Hallett while she was on the circuit for “Women Talking.”
“She Said” actor Adam Shapiro wearing a Hire Survivors Hollywood pin at the 2023 Academy Awards
“Being a part of ‘She Said’ has been such a dream come true as an actress and it has also provided me some wonderful opportunities to share the work I’m doing as the founder of Hire Survivors Hollywood with my colleagues, peers and leaders in our industry,” Masse tells Variety.
“During awards season, in my conversations with these folks, it became very clear that there was a huge amount of interest in the work I am doing with Hire Survivors Hollywood to create opportunities for survivors of sexual violence, while creating safer and more equitable work environments for all of us,” Masse continues. “I felt a pin could raise grassroots awareness to these powerful, passionate, influential people that wanted to support our work and it provides a visual way for folks to align with us. The pins began during awards season, but will be an ongoing effort moving forward.”
DeWanda Wise wearing a pin at the 2023 Women In Film Oscar partyWireImage
When sending out messages to encourage individuals across the industry to take the small action of wearing the pin, Masse sent three steps to those who chose to wore the symbolic accessory: spread the word on social media while wearing the pin; make it known that you or your company is committed to hiring survivors; and take the Hire Survivors Hollywood pledge.
That pledge reads: “I pledge to build a safe, more equitable industry by giving opportunities, auditions and interviews to survivors and Silence Breakers. I’ll never retaliate against anyone for coming forward about sexual violence. I pledge to hire survivors.”
Though the 2023 award season is over, the campaign is not.
Masse hopes the pins will continue to be proudly worn across Hollywood to signify her organization’s mission to create a pipeline to create continued opportunities for survivors for years to come.
This week, Hire Survivors Hollywood was mentioned on stage at the 75th Annual #WritersGuildAwards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, news, radio/audio, and more.
During Sarah’s speech, she praised the incredible work of @JodiKantor and @Mega2e, and thanked the survivors and Silence Breakers who shared their stories, and changed the world. She also talked about the work @HireSurvivorsHollywood is doing to make a safer, more equitable industry, that’s free from sexual abuse and career retaliation, and how Rebecca and her work exemplify that mission.
Rebecca’s beautiful speech discusses the importance of women’s voices, their right to work, and the long lasting damage that abuse can have. She also addresses the brave women who told their stories, the journalists and actors who sought truth in their work, and the power of freedom.
Thank you so much @WGAWest for including @SarahAnnMasse, and by extension, #HireSurvivorsHollywood, in this incredible ceremony! And thank you to Rebecca, and all writers like her, who listen to the voices of the community they are writing about in their work.
This morning, Sarah Ann Masse appeared with Amanda Salas on Fox LA’s Good Day LA to discuss her role in the film SHE SAID and the essential work she is doing at Hire Survivors Hollywood. Please enjoy the interview below. We are thrilled that they showed our website and our toolkit during the broadcast. Watch til the end to hear Sarah’s goal for 2023, a goal which we completely support!
SHE SAID opens nationwide tomorrow, November 18th. Tickets here.
In this wonderful article, Elizabeth speaks to survivors depicted in the film- Zelda Perkins, Laura Madden, and Rowen Chiu-, survivors who played roles in the film- Katherine Kendall and Sarah Ann Masse-, and SHE SAID’s screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz, to delve deep into what the process of making and watching SHE SAID was like for many of those impacted by the real story, and the importance of being inclusive of survivors. Our essential and tangible work at Hire Survivors Hollywood is also discussed. Please see SHE SAID, out in theaters November 18th, and show the world that survivors- our stories, our voices, and our work- matter. See an except of this fantastic article below and read the whole thing here.
“She Said” also cast real-life survivors of Weinstein who auditioned for various roles but did not play themselves. Katherine Kendall and Sarah Ann Masse are both actors who came forward with allegations against Weinstein in 2017, becoming prominent voices in the fight against sexual harassment. Their own stories aren’t included in “She Said,” but in the film, Masse plays a journalist in the Times newsroom, and Kendall plays an executive who meets with the journalists for an off-the-record conversation and points them in the right direction to help their reporting. On set, both women say they were able to engage in productive conversations with creative executives about effectively incorporating survivors, both on-screen and behind the scenes.
“I felt connected to the story no matter what,” Kendall says, even though her own experience is not part of the script. “I was speaking to Jodi Kantor in my real life, days away from going on the record with her, while it’s being played out in the movie. If the movie had gone on for five more days, I would’ve been a character.”
Katherine Kendall in “She Said.”Universal Pictures
Masse has founded Hire Survivors Hollywood, an organization that encourages studios and networks to employ people who report assaults. When “She Said” was first announced, Masse cold-called Universal, hoping to provide consultation on behalf of survivors, but never considered the possibility of auditioning for the film. After she was cast, she was elated to learn that executive producer Dede Gardner of Plan B Entertainment had always planned to incorporate Weinstein survivors in the movie.
“When casting for the film began, I felt it was my duty to advocate for the inclusion of survivors on this project,” Masse says. “I never pitched myself as an actor for the film. I simply gave them some ideas and hoped they’d consider them.” Masse wants Universal’s commitment to hiring survivors to create a positive domino effect in the industry. “I know that when I take meetings and do panels or consultations, I’ll be able to point to ‘She Said’ as a big-budget film that wasn’t afraid to do things the right way,” she says.
Sarah Ann Masse in “She Said.”JoJo Whilden/Universal Pictures
This NEWSY piece (both readable as an article and watchable as a video) covers the important work we do at Hire Survivors to get survivors work, how the industry is changing with the inclusion of roles like intimacy coordinators, and the brilliant Universal film SHE SAID which opens November 18th. We are very grateful to Casey Mendoza for her thoughtful reporting. Watch the video, and read the article, below or visit NEWSY here.
Five years after the emergence of the #MeToo movement, the story that started it all is getting a treatment on the big screen.
In 2017, New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey broke the story of film producer Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual misconduct, opening the floodgates for survivors in Hollywood.
Five years later, as activists continue to work to reform the entertainment industry, a new film “She Said” is telling the story of the investigation that started it all.
“When I read the first New York Times piece, and I saw that people were speaking up, and there seemed to be a sort of general consensus of believing these women, it made me feel like I could tell my story,” actress Sarah Ann Masse said. “I wanted to tell my story because I thought it could help other survivors.”
Masse plays Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Emily Steel in the new film. But beyond her work on-screen, the story of “She Said” is personal.
Following the New York Times’ explosive report, she too came forward with her own allegations against Weinstein and became a major voice in the movement to reform Hollywood.
“I felt like there was positive progress being made, and then a few months after, I was told that I needed to stop: I need to stop talking about Harvey, I need to stop talking about the issue of sexual violence in the entertainment industry because I was being blacklisted,” Masse said. “I was being told that I wasn’t going to be called in for auditions.”
Masse said that after speaking out against sexual misconduct, she and other women faced retaliation in Hollywood — being told to stop speaking out and finding fewer opportunities for work.
In 2020, she launched the organization Hire Survivors Hollywood to advocate for others facing retaliation and help studios create safer, supportive work environments for survivors.
“There are barriers to entry and advancement when you have faced abuse,” Masse said. “You don’t want to work with people who are known abusers. You’re afraid that somebody might be in a project. You’re not sure if you’ll be safe. So, I just wanted to kind of change the narrative around that and find solutions to push through it.”
A 2018 report from USA Today and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center surveyed more than 800 women in entertainment and found that 94% experienced sexual harassment or assault.
To create safer on-set working environments, Hire Survivors Hollywood advocates for the hiring of trauma educators, intimacy coordinators and mental health professionals. For filmmakers telling stories about sexual abuse, Masse also emphasizes the importance of including the perspectives of real survivors.
“One thing that I really appreciated about ‘She Said’ is that they did make efforts to be inclusive of survivors — of Weinstein survivors,” Masse said. “Obviously, they couldn’t include every single Weinstein survivor; unfortunately, there’s hundreds of us who have come forward publicly. But my understanding is that they consulted with women who are depicted in the film early on. They auditioned several survivors. I was lucky enough to be one of the ones who was cast, and I think it’s a really good example of how that can be done.”
Going forward, Masse hopes the entertainment industry can become a safer, more supportive place for the many survivors of sexual harassment and misconduct.
“I want other survivors to know that there is hope,” Masse said. “There is healing, there are opportunities and I’ll do whatever I can to keep building those opportunities for survivors and advocating for all of us.”
We are so grateful to our partners at Women in Film for always highlighting our work, and the work of filmmakers like the team behind SHE SAID. See below for the article and to read some inspiring quotes from Rowena Chiu. Full article here.
From director Maria Schrader, the film She Said premieres in theaters this Friday, November 18. A dramatization of the work done by New York Times journalists Jodi Kantorand Megan Twohey to investigate decades of abuse perpetrated by Harvey Weinstein, and the culture in Hollywood that enabled his behavior and that of others in our industry.
This week, WIF held a special advance screening, as did our friends at Hire Survivors Hollywood. Its founder is a Weinstein survivor who spoke out about her experience after reading Kantor and Twohey’s reporting, and she has worked to encourage the entertainment industry to make workplaces and sets welcoming places for survivors of sexual violence. Hire Survivors Hollywood encourages those in positions of power in our industry to use its toolkit and take the pledge to #HireSurvivorsHollywood.
The filmmakers of She Said auditioned and cast survivors in the film, and took several actions to create a safe set. At this week’s screening, one of the survivors portrayed in the film, Rowena Chiu spoke to the audience about what it was like to see her experiences dramatized. In a discussion moderated by WIF Help Line Manager Ashley Merriman, Chiu addressed what accountability means to her: “One of the things that I hope the movie makes very clear is that the #MeToo movement is not just about holding individuals like Harvey Weinstein accountable. We are holding Harvey accountable, but as well as that, it is really important to hold the system accountable. Harvey was able to get away with what he did … for over thirty ears because he had a system of enablers that allowed him to do that.”
Chiu continued with words of advice for other survivors: “Don’t hide your stories. Don’t hide your voice. Come forward and speak. I know there’s a lot of women out there still who haven’t been able to come forward with their stories. It’s really hard. It’s been hard every day. But I think that you don’t know how much the power of one voice can change the world.”
Universal sponsored a screening of their upcoming film, SHE SAID, for the Hire Survivors Community last night in Burbank. The night was hosted by Hire Survivors Hollywood with our founder- and SHE SAID cast member- Sarah Ann Masse playing emcee.
The auditorium at the AMC 16 was filled with survivors, filmmakers, industry leaders, and Advisory Board Members. The reaction from the audience was overwhelming- SHE SAID is an important, impactful, moving film. That inspiration carried over to our panel- hosted by Women in Film’s Ashley Merriman– when cast member Adam Shapiro, cast member and survivor Sarah Ann Masse, and survivor and acitvist who is depicted in SHE SAID Rowena Chiu– took to the stage to share their insights on inclusion, breaking down oppressive and abusive systems, why films like SHE SAID- and the work Hire Survivors Hollywood does to get survivors Hollywood- matters so much, and how each one of us can use our power to change the world.
After the screening and panel, we headed to OVER/UNDER who generously hosted our after party, and continued to share community, creativity, and calls to action.
We are so grateful to our community and our supporters and are excited to see the new collaborations and work that comes out of this incredible night.
SHE SAID is in theaters November 18th. Get your tickets and help spread the word about this wonderful film!
Thank you to Women in Film for drawing attention to this important subject and for mentioning Hire Survivors Hollywood as a survivor run and focused community resource. Read the full post below or on the WIF website.
As the Communications Manager at WIF, I often meet with my colleagues to find out if there are any topics we’d like to cover editorially. One frequent question we bump up against throughout the year is the best way to talk about affinity months. There can be great value in joining in with a chorus of voices while a topic is trending to shine a light on opportunities for distinct communities. But, it can feel performative and perfunctory when we—as individuals with overlapping identities, and as an organization—want to talk about issues affecting people from different backgrounds, with differing abilities, and more all year round!
When I was chatting with a colleague from the WIF Help Line, we struggled with the conundrum of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, April’s designation. Is the goal of this month indeed “awareness”: to remind people of the pervasiveness of this spectrum of crimes? Some groups add the word “prevention” to the SAAPM title, which implies that the purpose is to take action to interrupt the systems that keep assault overlooked and forgiven. Who is charged with raising awareness and taking action? Does the burden to educate, spread awareness, and advocate for prevention fall on the shoulders of those who have been harmed? Why isn’t it called “Survivors Month” or something that uplifts the people affected, instead of focusing on the harm and consequently, defining survivors by their trauma, instead of their resilience?
Ultimately, we’re raising these questions with the hope that actions to prevent sexual violence, as well as care for and celebration of survivors, can become the norm all year long. I want to take this opportunity to remind people about the WIF Help Line, where Advocates are available to speak to anyone working in entertainment who has experienced harassment or misconduct, and to amplify community resources like Peace Over Violence, RAINN, Right to Be‘s bystander intervention training, and Hire Survivors Hollywood. Remember that it is a likely truth that there are survivors in every room, and you never know what someone might be dealing with—respect and understanding should be the default in how we treat the people around us.
Talented artist, musician, and actor Charlyne Yi, has been an outspoken advocate for survivors of abuse in our industry for years. And they have also been very vocally committed to the work Hire Survivors is doing. We were thrilled to discover that Charlyne links to our Hire Survivors Hollywood pledge on their website. Please visit Charlyne’s website, enjoy their art, and take our pledge!
As the release date for SHE SAID approaches (November 18th, 2022) the press coverage for this important film is amping up, and we are thrilled to see such a large focus being placed on the importance of the inclusion and involvement of survivors in the process. Please read the entire article here and see an except from the article below:
L to R (top row) – Image 1: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Dede Gardner, Jodi Kantor, Patricia Clarkson, Carey Mulligan, Maria Schrader, Megan Twohey; Image 2: Sarah Ann Masse, Rowena Chiu, Louisette Geiss, Caitlin Dulany, Larisssa Gomes, Katherine Kendall, Lauren O’Connor; L to R (bottom row) – Image One: Matt Purdy, Jodi Kantor, Rebecca Corbett, Megan Twohey, Dean Baquet; Image Two: Megan Twohey, Carey Mulligan, Donna Langley, Dede Gardner, Jodi Kantor
Aside from the two stars, She Said also features several Weinstein survivors in onscreen roles — including Ashley Judd, who plays herself when telling her story to the journalists and allowing them to name her in their story.
To have survivors’ involvement “was just extraordinary, and I think our biggest goal was if Megan and Jodi can walk away feeling OK about this and [the survivors] do too, then the job is kind of done,” Mulligan said. “The way that they were involved the whole way through and consulted about the script, I think, has been key to us wanting to do it.”
Director Maria Schrader said Judd was actually the first person she physically met on the project as they were both in Berlin during the pandemic. After reading the script, one of Schrader’s first questions to producer Dede Gardner was, “So, is Ashley playing herself?”
“It was clear to me that Ashley Judd playing Ashley Judd, telling her own story with her own words, is something extraordinary,” said Schrader. “It’s like a different kind of reality which all of a sudden enters the movie; it’s kind of like tearing down the fourth wall in the theater.”
Kantor said that in watching the real-life Judd sit down with her onscreen alter ego, “I just feel so glad to have a little more company [via the audience] in what started out as a bunch of pretty secretive conversations.” She added, “I think that Ashley playing herself in this movie represents something really important about the project which is we want you, the viewer, to feel enveloped in the experience, to have the chance to listen to these stories, to come inside the walls of the New York Times.”
Weinstein survivor Sarah Ann Masse also has a role in the film, which she landed after cold-calling Universal to ask that they be inclusive of survivors and offer the help of her initiative “Hire Survivors Hollywood,” and eventually was offered an audition herself.
“I had lost a lot of time in my career because of what Harvey did to me; I faced direct retaliation these past five years and it’s been slower,” Masse said. “When I walked on set I immediately felt like I was at home. It was my first big studio feature, and then today here I am at the Chinese Theatre at the premiere of this huge film that I’m in, and it’s really healing. It’s poetic justice; it feels like the start to the life I was always supposed to have and I’m just excited at the new opportunities that are going to come.”
The film’s release also comes alongside Weinstein’s L.A. criminal trial, “which I think it’s just a reminder that this is ongoing,” Masse explained. “This isn’t linear, and sexual violence is so deeply ingrained in our culture and there are a lot of different paths to take in order to find healing and find change and develop this. I’m so grateful for the women that are participating in this trial; it takes so much bravery.”
Co-star Patricia Clarkson, who noted she’d “worked with Harvey and been bullied by Harvey,” said that the timing of the film and the trial is “apropos and divine.” Gesturing down the carpet, she added, “Look at us, we’re all in power. It’s women from beginning to end and we are powerful, we’re all beautiful, we’re all strong, we’re all in a better place. And he’s in jail.”
After years of work, we are thrilled to announce that our Entertainment Industry Toolkit is here! We have created this comprehensive toolkit and checklist to assist stakeholders in putting the Hire Survivors Hollywood pledge into action – by creating opportunities for survivors and a safe, welcoming, and inclusive work environment – at every step of production, from development to release. This is a living document that will change and grow with ongoing input from the survivor community.
You can read the entire toolkit on our website, download the relevant sections, or download the entire toolkit as a PDF. And, very excitingly, our toolkit is also part of the newly launched ReFrame ReSource which brings togethers resources from dozes of organizations and initiatives across our industry. The ReFrame ReSource is the open source, research-based toolkit for advancing equity in the screen industries. We are grateful to our partners at ReFrame for their support and encouragement as we developed this toolkit and for welcoming us into their new, inclusive, essential hub of research-based best practices, actionable tools, and inspirational insights to advance equity in the screen industries. You can read more about the ReFrame Resource at this Variety article.
Our hope is to get our toolkit into the hands of every filmmaker, producer, actor, writer, director, studio head, exec, gaffer, grip, editor, sound person, publicist, agent, casting director, etc. With this toolkit, our mission to create a safe, equitable working environment for survivors of sexual violence, to end career retaliation, to get survivors hired, and to change the industry landscape for everyone, is more within reach than it has ever been.
We want you to consider this toolkit as a map, a checklist, a jumping off point to put our pledge into action. And then we want you to come to us for further guidance and for even more tangible ways you can change things for the better.
Hire Survivors Hollywood has spent years advocating, educating, consulting, guiding, training, and helping to get survivors hired and we are proud of the community we have built doing so. Along the way, we have met and collaborated with countless incredible people, some of whom are now members of our Advisory Board! Please visit our WHO WE ARE page to get more information on these amazing humans. This Advisory Board is a living, growing entity and we are always excited to meet new people who want to support, and move forward our work. So, if you’d like to talk to us about our work, please reach out any time.
We are thrilled to have contributed to this year’s survey from The Hollywood Commission! Their past research has been invaluable to us and our work and we were thrilled to have been asked for guidance from The Hollywood Commission to ensure survivors needs were being met. Please see the instagram post below and please TAKE THE SURVEY before November 27th, 2022 so your voices and experiences can be heard!
Kelsey Garcia at Popsugar has written a great article with beautiful insight into the night of celebration and the state of our industry. Read the selected section below and read the whole article by following this link.
The issue of sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry loomed over the event, as did the fight for reproductive rights. WIF CEO Kirsten Schaffer expressed her concerns on the red carpet. Regarding this year’s “forging forward” theme, Schaffer told POPSUGAR, “there’s a lot of regression happening right now, so we’re bringing the community together to empower people to keep moving forward.” She noted that calls to the organization’s help line have doubled in the last month. “We’re not done,” Schaffer added.
The five-year anniversary of the #MeToo movement was also a topic of discussion. Among the recipients of the Crystal Award For Advocacy was the team behind “She Said,” the upcoming adaptation of Jodi Kantor and Meghan Twohey’s book about their Harvey Weinstein exposé. The New York Times journalists — as well as was “She Said” star Carey Mulligan and producer Dede Gardner — were all in attendance to receive the award and sit for the panel discussion that accompanied each presentation.
“We were outsiders,” Kantor said, “but people here, including people in this room, did help us.” In the room were three Weinstein accusers: Sarah Ann Masse, Katherine Kendall, and Lauren O’Connor, who were asked to stand as the room applauded. Masse and Kendall both also appear in “She Said.” These days, Masse, who accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct in 2017, helps survivors like herself seek opportunities — and find cover from retaliation — through her Hire Survivors Hollywood initiative. Though she is hopeful for the future, Masse doesn’t believe there’s been enough “tangible change” in the industry yet. “We’re moving in the right direction, but we need to not have mission drift,” she told POPSUGAR.
She also emphasized the need to create a safe environment for victims to come forward. “I took almost a decade to come forward because of the fear that surrounded it and my worries of retaliation, and then they happened. Even after everything, I still faced retaliation,” she said. “People need to remember there is a real risk, and a real loss.”
At this very moment, Weinstein is on trial in Los Angeles. (The disgraced film producer is already serving a sentence of 23 years in prison after being convicted of sex crimes in his 2020 trial in New York.) Masse said she’s following the LA trial in which Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of rape and sexual assault: “I know some of these women personally, I know their stories personally, and they need our support. They need to know that we’re behind them. This has been a long slog for a lot of people, and it’s not over yet.”
During an exciting, moving, and inspiring awards ceremony WIF dedicated themselves to the issue of centering and supporting survivors of harassment, misconduct, and discrimination, by using their annual fundraiser to bolster support for their essential hotline. They also took a moment to acknowledge survivors.
There was a powerful moment in the show when several survivors of abuse within the entertainment industry (pictured from left to right: Katherine Kendall, Lauren O’Connor, and Sarah Ann Masse) stood to be acknowledged during the Crystal Award presentation by filmmaker Miranda July to the team behind the film She Said—producer Dede Gardner, actor Carey Mulligan, and journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. As attention to the very real problem of harassment and abuse in our field has waned in the past five years, calls to the Help Line have in recent months, and last night’s WIF Honors was a much-needed opportunity to remind the industry that the work to end harassment and abuse in Hollywood must continue. If you are able, please consider joining in this effort by making a tax-deductible donation to keep our Help Line running for as long as survivors in our industry need its resources and support.
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 27: Katherine Kendall, Lauren O’Connor, and Sarah Ann Masse attend the WIF Honors: Forging Forward Gala sponsored by Max Mara, ShivHans Pictures, Lexus and STARZ at The Beverly Hilton on October 27, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for WIF (Women in Film))
The WIF Honors presented awards to many incredible women this year including prominent survivor Michaela Coel and several members of SHE SAID’s cast and creative team – Carey Mulligan, Dede Gardner, Jodi Kantor, and Megan Twohey who were all on hand to speak to Variety’s Ellise Shafer about the importance of reminding folks “what really happened” in regards to the Weinstein reckoning.
Harvey Weinstein’s Los Angeles trial made headlines earlier this week as it got underway, with the convicted rapist’s defense team completely dismissing the #MeToo movement in its opening statement.
But the women behind upcoming film “She Said” — which follows New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) as they investigate and eventually expose Weinstein’s decades of abuse, unleashing the #MeToo movement — are hoping the movie, which premieres on Nov. 18, reminds viewers “what really happened.”
“As reporters, we can never tell what the verdict will be. But part of why we’re so appreciative of this film is that it takes us back to the beginning,” Kantor told Variety on the red carpet at the Women in Film Honors on Thursday night, where “She Said” received the Crystal Award for Advocacy. “That’s why we wrote our book, because we felt that the story belonged to everybody, and we wanted you there with us on the first hushed phone calls or at the moment when Weinstein burst into The New York Times with very little warning. And so regardless of the outcome of this trial, we do feel that at least journalistically, Weinstein has been held accountable and we’re so grateful to Carey and to everybody who worked on the film, because we feel like you’re helping others — and us — remember what really happened.”
In addition to speaking with Mulligan, Kantor, and Twohey, Variety’s Ellise Shafer also spoke with Hire Survivors Hollywood Founder – and SHE SAID cast member – Sarah Ann Masse:
The cast of “She Said” also features several Weinstein survivors, including Sarah Ann Masse, who was on hand at the Women in Film Honors. Masse, who plays journalist Emily Steel, told Variety that her experience in the pic was both empowering and healing.
“It was the meeting of worlds because before I was a survivor, I was an actor. This is what I do — I’m an actor, I’m a writer, I’m a filmmaker — and it’s all I want to do, I love it. And that has been taken away from me in some ways through me speaking out and through the abuse that I faced,” Masse said. “So getting the opportunity to be in this film was really healing for me. You know, I earned my way into it — they gave me the opportunity to audition and I got the job, and that’s such a great moment to have, especially after the past couple of years.”
This is an excellent, in depth, and humanizing article that digs deep into the ongoing issues survivors within the entertainment industry face. We are grateful to journalist Kayla Webley Adler and ELLE for shining a light onto Sarah’s story, mentioning our work here at hire Survivors Hollywood, and giving a peek into the realities of an industry that still has made progress but still has a long way to go. It’s also very exciting that ELLE teamed up with The Hollywood Commission for a new survey to gauge what workers at all levels in Hollywood think of the progress that has been made in the past five years.
The entire article is worth a read with insight from activists, organizers, and journalists.
In Hollywood, progress seems to vary from studio to studio, set to set, director to director. “One thing we’ve seen that is really positive is individual organizations addressing these issues from within, but what workers are really telling us is we need industry-wide change,” says Malia Arrington, executive director of the Hollywood Commission.
One thing that is sure to lead to further change is the same thing that started all of this to begin with: women coming forward to speak about what they’ve experienced. In being candid in this article about the retaliation she’s experienced, Masse may only further provoke those who wish she’d stay silent. But not only has that not stopped her, she’s doubled down. In February 2020, she launched an initiative called Hire Survivors Hollywood, designed to bring attention to the art created by survivors and provide opportunities for them, while also spotlighting the fact that retaliation is still an issue. “I thought, I’m already dealing with this, so I might as well be honest about it,” she says.
In a wide ranging article covering new and lingering fears about Hollywood’s lack of commitment to true inclusion, equity, and safety, many industry insiders spoke on and (mostly) off the record to NY Time Journalist Brooks Barnes. Sarah Ann Masse’s contribution to the article is quoted below:
The moment is nonetheless unnerving, said Sarah Ann Masse, an actress who appears in “She Said” — which is based on a book by The New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey — and who serves on two sexual harassment prevention committees for SAG-AFTRA, the omnipotent actors union. In 2017, Ms. Masse accused Mr. Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in 2008. He has denied wrongdoing. “I’m not naïve enough to think that a system that is unequal and oftentimes oppressive — yes, still, very much so — is going to change overnight,” Ms. Masse said. “At the same time, I find it incredibly frustrating. People at the top of the food chain, in particular, seem to have gotten distracted by new concerns.”
Two articles that give further insight into how Weinstein survivors were involved in SHE SAID are published by The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
In The Hollywood Reporter’s “‘She Said’ Premiere Honors Women Who Exposed Harvey Weinstein’s Alleged Misconduct” Hilary Lewis discusses how the movie’s worldwide debut at the New York Film Festival celebrated the women who accused the fallen film mogul of inappropriate behavior as well as the New York Times journalists behind the landmark 2017 investigation. The piece quotes the film’s director Maria Schrader and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz; stars Zoe Kazan, Jennifer Ehle, and Andre Braugher; cast members and real-life Weinstein survivors Ashley Judd and Sarah Ann Masse; and Weinstein survivor Ambra Battilana Guttierez. There is even a mention of Hire Survivors Hollywood. Some excepts are quotes below but please read the entire, excellent article, here.
But Thursday night, the focus was on women, with the red-carpet event playing host not only to the many female figures behind the film, including the Times journalists who worked on the 2017 exposé, but also to the women who accused Weinstein of misconduct.
The survivors in attendance included Ashley Judd, whose on-the-record account was a key component of the Times‘ exposé and who participated in a panel discussion after the film screened.
Recalling speaking out about Weinstein, Judd, who has been grieving the death of her mother Naomi Judd earlier this year, appeared to get emotional as she recalled her mom’s support when she decided to come forward.
“I just want to remember when I was speaking to my mother about all this, she said, ‘Oh, you go get ’em, honey,’ in her sweet way, in dulcet tones … not a punitive bone in her body,” Judd said in the post-screening panel. “She was just enthralled by my audacity, as I later heard from friends.”
Judd even plays herself in the movie and said that while filming she “kept telling the story” of what happened to her with Weinstein in 1996 at the Peninsula hotel.
The film’s cast also includes another Weinstein accuser, Sarah Ann Masse. While Masse’s personal experience (she says he sexually assaulted her when she interviewed to babysit his children) isn’t included in the film, she plays business reporter Emily Steel.
Masse, who launched the Hire Survivors Hollywood initiative, said that she had hoped Universal would hire survivors for this film.
“I actually spoke to a couple of people at the company and they were receptive to it, but then I didn’t know what would happen,” Masse told THR ahead of the premiere. “Several months later, a lot of us got a call that we had an audition for this film. I didn’t expect to get an audition, I just hoped that they would include some survivors. So I was obviously thrilled and auditioned for the part and got it.”
Centering and recognizing the women who spoke out against Weinstein was key in writing the script, screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz told THR before the premiere, while Schrader felt a strong “responsibility to get the details right, to do justice to the sensitivity of the subject.”
“The biggest challenge was to honor all those who were involved in speaking out and in the investigation,” Lenkiewicz said. “So the challenge was portraying the journalists accurately and the fantastic journalism and just showing how absolutely brave and resilient the survivors have been.”
Both Lenkiewicz and actor Andre Braugher, who plays former Times executive editor Dean Baquet in the film, said that they were excited about working on a film that aimed to shine a light on misconduct in Hollywood.
“Working in Hollywood makes you want to tell the story even more because you want to be able to work in an industry that doesn’t [tolerate] that horrific behavior,” Lenkiewicz said.
Braugher added that he feels the film has “the potential to really tell the story that was untold, a story that you can’t get from soundbites on television.”
Last week’s world premiere for She Said in New York has afforded Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan an opportunity to reflect on the task they just undertook, to tell the story behind the story of Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s 2017 reporting for the New York Times that first exposed the harrowing abuses of Harvey Weinstein. It was a monumental journalistic achievement, and the impact of their reporting, as well as that of the New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow published just a few days later, brought about a seismic shift in industry attitudes to abuse, cracking open a door that survivors of Weinstein and the many other abusers exposed since have been able to step through. Kantor, Twohey and Farrow would go on to share the Pulitzer Prize for their reporting.
Directed by Maria Schrader from Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s script, and produced by Plan B’s Dede Garner and Jeremy Kleiner, She Said is adapted from Kantor and Twohey’s book of the same name. In the spirit of All the President’s Men and Spotlight, the film details the investigative reporting behind the story, from the initial whispers about Weinstein’s behavior through to its bombshell publication, as the pair uncovered truths that had lain buried for years while Weinstein wielded his outsized power.
Kazan, Mulligan, Kantor, and Twohey attended the film’s New York Film Festival world premiere Thursday, along with a number of the survivors of Weinstein’s abuses, including actress Ashley Judd, who plays herself in the movie, Sarah Ann Masse, and Katherine Kendall. At the London Film Festival the following day, survivors including Zelda Perkins, Laura Madden, Lauren O’Connor and Rowena Chiu were present for a second emotional premiere. All of them had been included and consulted in the film’s production.
The New York screening was a moving experience for Kazan and Mulligan, as they held hands throughout their journey down the red carpet (Kazan, who is nine months pregnant, was unable to travel to London). Though they were cast in the movie separately, they have known one another for 14 years, having shared a dressing room during the Broadway transfer of Ian Rickson’s production of The Seagull. It’s a bond, they say, that reflects the closeness Kantor and Twohey developed as they supported one another in reporting this story.
Our entire purpose at Hire Survivors Hollywood is to ensure that retaliation against survivors ends; that career opportunities are opened to them; that our stories are not told without our involvement; and that we create a safer and more equitable work environment for everyone in our industry. May SHE SAID serve as an example of some of the steps productions of all sizes can take to achieve these goals.
L to R: Kaja Sokola, Dominique Huett, Katherine Kendall, Jasmine Lobe, Tarana Burke, Rowena Chiu, Sarah Ann Masse attend the 60th NYFF World Premiere of SHE SAID in NYC on Oct 13th, 2022
SHE SAID, based on the book of the same title, which details the reporting Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey did at the NY Times- and the brave women who went on the record for that first story- had it’s World Premiere this Thursday at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall as part of the 60th NYFF and it’s European Premiere at BFI’s LFF in London.
While there have been many films and series which tell the stories of survivors and victims of violent crimes, SHE SAID takes the right path in actually involving survivors in the process of making and releasing this film. Several Weinstein survivors have roles in the film including Ashley Judd portraying herself, Katherine Kendall as a former Miramax Executive, and Hire Survivors Hollywood Founder- Sarah Ann Masse- as Pulitzer Prize winning NY Times Journalist Emily Steel. In addition, several of the women whose stories feature in the film- such as Lauren O’Connor and Judith Godreche- voice themselves while Ambra Battilana Gutierrez’s harrowing real-life audio is played to chilling effect.
At both the NY and London premieres this week, many Weinstein survivors attended- including women depicted in this film such as Laura Madden, Rowena Chiu, and Zelda Perkins- and were celebrated by the filmmakers and the audiences alike. Additionally, we are aware of several other steps that the filmmakers of SHE SAID took to create a safe working environment and we encourage all filmmakers at all levels to take these sorts of steps on their own productions.
We at Hire Survivors Hollywood are here to help make the inclusion of survivors and safer, more equitable sets, a reality. Please reach out.
You can see some photos- including photos of some of the amazing survivors in attendance- here (NYFF) and here (LFF)
Please read this powerful piece and let it serve as an example of how reporting on sexual violence- and the survivors of sexual violence- can, and should, be done.
Five years after so many women shared their stories with the world, four of them— Caitlin Dulany, Louisette Geiss, Larissa Gomes and Sarah Ann Masse, who were all involved in a civil class action suit filed against Weinstein — spoke to The 19th about building identities separate from the often nameless “Weinstein survivors.” These women, regularly denied the chance to show their full selves and tell their own stories, do so here in their own words, navigating what it means to find safety and self in the face of widespread public attention, and criticism, five years after #MeToo went viral.
This great article- which features quotes from survivors Caitlin Dulany and Sarah Ann Masse- digs into what gains have been made, and what still remains to be done, in the wake of a global reckoning regarding sexual violence. Hire Survivors Hollywood Founder, Sarah Ann Masse, says:
“While there are many projects being made about survivors, many changes to policies and practices on set and many folks who are thriving in this ‘post reckoning’ Hollywood, the individuals who have faced abuse — and oftentimes put their careers on the line to talk about that abuse — are being left behind,” Masse says. “I think there is a clear understanding that the progress that came from survivors sharing their stories is essential, but I think there is also an amnesia around the fact that these survivors are not a faceless, monolithic group, but instead a massive community of individuals who have been deeply impacted by abuse, retaliation, and harm.”
Speaking of her work as the founder of Hire Survivors Hollywood, she adds, “It is our duty and our privilege to guarantee that survivors never feel left out, silenced, or ignored ever again.”
In August, Eric Weinberg, the co-executive producer of shows like “Scrubs,” and “Californication” was arrested by LAPD on 20 charges of sexual assault, including rape. Yesterday, he was arrested again and charged with 18 counts of sexual assault by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, and later released on $5 million bail, up from his previous bail of $3.225 million.
From at least 2012 to 2019, Weinberg would prey on women in their twenties and thirties in public places, often convincing them to participate in a photo shoot, and assault them during secluded sessions at his home.
When The @HollywoodReporter chose to have a photo shoot with some of Eric Weinberg’s survivors to accompany the story they were publishing, we at Hire Survivors Hollywood were concerned about these survivors being on set of a photo shoot without the support of a trauma therapist, considering the fact that photoshoots can be triggering at the best of times, and specifically because Weinberg often used photoshoots as a way to isolate and abuse his victims.
To The @HollywoodReporter‘s credit, they heard our concerns, included a content warning in their story, and came to us asking us to help them find and hire a trauma therapist for the photo shoot. They also filled available Hair and Makeup positions on set with survivors that we recommend to them.
We are so grateful that one of Weinberg’s survivors, Claire Wilson (@ClaireWilsonPhoto), was aware of our work and suggested THR talk to us in advance of the photoshoot and publication of this story to see how we could help ensure a survivor centered, trauma informed approach, and so we could help get some survivors hired! As always, none of our work exists without amazing survivors like Claire.
Thank you to @Ash_Mack, @McKennaGuyMUA, @ClaireWilsonPhoto, and #AshleyMerriman for providing these quotes about their experience on set, and the importance of fostering safe sets, being survivor focused, and providing opportunities for survivors.
We applaud THR for taking Today, and always, we stand with the Silence Breakers and survivors of #EricWeinberg. We stand with all survivors and all #SilenceBreakers.
In a thoughtful, informative interview in The Independent, Clemence Michallon speaks to Sarah Ann Masse and helps shine a light on the essential work we are doing at Hire Survivors Hollywood, how things haven’t changed simply because Weinstein is in prison, and how stakeholders can take steps to address the issues of retaliation, among many other important issues.
Survivors of sexual violence, she says, never signed up to be brave – the industry just keeps demanding they be so. “I want people to understand this is a thing that’s still happening,” she says. “It’s not over because the Me Too movement happened. It’s not over because Harvey is in prison. It’s still going on. There are still abusers in our industry. The people who came forward years ago are still paying the cost, and there are new people every day who are dealing with this kind of abuse and harassment. We need to protect them, and we need to uplift them. We need to make sure they have a fair shot in this industry, which is already so hard. We don’t need to be putting in new barriers for an industry that’s already extremely difficult to thrive in.”
We are thrilled that Sarah Ann Masse, and Hire Survivors Hollywood, have been featured on International Women’s Day. Please click here to read for free (when registering for a free account).
This excellent article by Alexandra Pollard states “James Franco’s ‘apology’ feels late and insincere – but Hollywood will have him back”. In an except from this piece Alexandra explores the reality of Hollywood blacklisting of survivors:
Meanwhile, women who speak up against powerful men are punished. Violet Paley told a college newspaper that she felt the consequences of saying no to Franco would be that her career would be over – that he would never talk to her again, “like he did to my other friend”. This morning, Tither-Kaplan tweeted: “Apologies are meaningless until active steps towards harm reduction are taken and directed towards survivors specifically. General statements of ‘sorry’ or ‘I was wrong’ or ‘I love women’ etc. do nothing to actually help those who have been harmed.” She added: “Platforming abusers while excluding survivors causes even further harm. Survivor blacklisting is still a very real problem.”
According to Anita Hill’s Hollywood Commission, which surveyed nearly 10,000 entertainment workers about abuses in Hollywood, 75 per cent of employees who have spoken out against workplace mistreatment have faced some form of retaliation. Sarah Ann Masse, who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct in 2017, told Variety just this week that she had been “largely frozen out of the more mainstream parts of our industry” since she made her allegations. She claimed that she had had roughly half a dozen auditions in the last three and a half years, whereas before she spoke up, she was auditioning at least four times a month. Last month, Oscar-winning actor Mira Sorvino said she was blacklisted from Hollywood for two decades after rebuffing Weinstein’s advances. “I mourn the loss of the two decades of career that I would have had,” she told Vanity Fair.
That’s why Masse created Hire Survivors Hollywood, an organisation working “to end retaliation against survivors of sexual violence in the entertainment industry”. The initiative, which Tither-Kaplan enthusiastically supports, encourages those in positions of power to make a pledge to hire survivors and silence-breakers. Given all the work he says he’s been doing, I’m looking forward to seeing James Franco sign up.
We are thrilled to share this excellent piece by Elizabeth Wagmeister, which was published in Variety today, covering some of HSH’s history, the work we have been doing these past few years, upcoming partnerships, and some of the projects that have taken our pledge and put it into action. We are looking forward to 2022 when we are confident many more projects and stakeholders will team up with us to create real, lasting change in our industry, making it a safer, more equitable, inclusive, and accessible space for all! Please read, share, and celebrate our partners and all the wonderful survivors who have benefitted from this work so far!
Actor, writer, filmmaker, Weinstein Silence Breaker, and founder of ‘Hire Survivors Hollywood’, Sarah Ann Masse, and Quei Tann (Dear White People, How To Get Away With Murder) are joining the cast of ‘A More Perfect Union’, a pandemic-era poly romance drama that tackles America’s tepid covid response while advocating for ending mass surveillance and passing universal healthcare.
The producers of ‘A More Perfect Union’ are also committed to Masse’s ‘Hire Survivors Hollywood’ pledge which advocates for survivors of sexual violence in the entertainment industry by pushing back against career retaliation and pledging to “hire survivors”.
We at Hire Survivors Hollywood are so thrilled that another production has stepped up to take our pledge! This is only the beginning of a new safer, more equitable era in Hollywood!
We at Hire Survivors Hollywood are proud to throw our full support behind “The Right Girl”, a new musical co-written by Harvey Weinstein survivor Louisette Geiss & producer Howard Kagan, with songs by the incredible Diane Warrenand directed by Broadway legend Susan Stroman!⠀
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Based partially on the true accounts of about two dozen Hollywood sexual assault survivors, “The Right Girl” will pay 2% of the show’s take to those who gave rights to their story.⠀
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“The idea that a tragic story about serial rape and the struggle of women to be heard — the heart of the #MeToo revolution — could end in a play co-written by a woman, scored by a woman and directed by a woman was a karmic arc that no one could have predicted.” -Sharon Waxman for The Wrap⠀
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We’re also proud to announce that #HireSurvivorsHollywood founder Sarah Ann Masse not only shared her experience for the development of this musical, but is a part of the cast getting to sing and act her face off amidst some of Broadway’s finest performers, finally fulfilling one of her lifelong dreams and career goals.⠀
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The creative team behind “The Right Girl” embodies the Hire Survivors Hollywood ethos and pledge by hiring, paying, raising up, and empowering survivors. We look forward to continuing to support their journey towards Broadway. ⠀
⠀ Read this great piece from The Wrap for info on the journey so far, the novel way the cast and crew adapted to covid lockdowns, and the world premiere of “The Right Girl” on November 1 at Barrington Stage!
In advance of her keynote interview during the 30 Days of Courage, Sarah Ann Masse appears with Ashley Easter (Courage 365) on Rich Kimball’s radio show! It was live on October 16th and you can now listen to the replay here.
Actor, writer, filmmaker, and #MeToo survivor Sarah Ann Masse and survivor advocate Ashley Easter joined us to discuss 30 Days of Courage, The Courage Conference, and Sarah’s Hire Survivors Hollywood initiative.
Hire Survivors Hollywood founder, Sarah Ann Masse, is thrilled to be joining the likes of Leah Remini and Johnathon Schaech as Keynote Speakers at this year’s 30 Days of Courage event for survivors and allies. Sarah will be closing out this month long, digital event, during a Live Interview and Q&A on October 30th at 7pm eastern/4pm pacific with Ashley Easter.
To watch the free stream, and for full event details, please join the Facebook Group and share with friends, family, and loved ones who want to make a difference in ending abuse, pushing back against retaliation, and healing from trauma.
Read The Hollywood Reporter exclusive on this amazing new film starring and co-written by Sarah Ann Masse. More announcements will be coming as the project gets closer to production.
“I wouldn’t say it is deliberately autobiographical, but there is a lot of me in this script, and it does tackle the ideas of celebrity, power, the press, the legal system and how survivors can come together to force change,” Masse tells The Hollywood Reporter. She adds that her collaboration with Polar on the movie’s script aims to “try and help survivors heal, help society understand what it feels like to live through abuse, come to terms with what has happened to you and take steps to tell your story and seek justice.”
3/11/20
Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison and Dame Magazine discusses the “Sacrifice of Speaking Up”
Today is an historic moment where one of the world’s most powerful men is finally going to prison and survivors everywhere are finally getting a small dose of justice. But, as we all know, the impact of sexual violence can be long lasting and wide ranging. Our found, Sarah Ann Masse, was interviewed in this piece by Tess Rafferty for Dame Magazine regarding career retaliation in the entertainment industry. and how we can put an end to it together
When we tell our stories, we change the culture that allows this to happen. And when we change the culture, men no longer have to worry about “not knowing how to act.” But we can do more than invent these remedies on TV. We can create them for real, too. But we need to do more than just admire those with the courage to come forward. We need to hire them. – Tess Rafferty
The Hollywood Reporter Draws attention to the need for Hollywood to do more in the wake of Weinstein’s conviction, including a mention of #HireSurvivorsHollywood!
This week, WIF held a special advance screening, as did our friends at Hire Survivors Hollywood. Its founder is a Weinstein survivor who spoke out about her experience after reading Kantor and Twohey’s reporting, and she has worked to encourage the entertainment industry to make workplaces and sets welcoming places for survivors of sexual violence. Hire Survivors Hollywood encourages those in positions of power in our industry to use its toolkit and take the pledge to #HireSurvivorsHollywood.
In August, Eric Weinberg, the co-executive producer of shows like “Scrubs,” and “Californication” was arrested by LAPD on 20 charges of sexual assault, including rape. Yesterday, he was arrested again and charged with 18 counts of sexual assault by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, and later released on $5 million bail, up from his previous bail of $3.225 million.
We are thrilled to share this excellent piece by Elizabeth Wagmeister, which was published in Variety today, covering some of HSH’s history, the work we have been doing these past few years, upcoming partnerships, and some of the projects that have taken our pledge and put it into action. We are looking forward to 2022 when we are confident many more projects and stakeholders will team up with us to create real, lasting change in our industry, making it a safer, more equitable, inclusive, and accessible space for all! Please read, share, and celebrate our partners and all the wonderful survivors who have benefitted from this work so far!
