In our push to #HireSurvivorsHollywood we must always be cognizant of the many power imbalances that exist within our industry. Race, gender, sexuality, disability, and so much more are used to silence, intimidate, and abuse people within the Hollywood system. We stand in solidarity with our underrepresented colleagues in the fight for justice, inclusion, accessibility, equity, and safety.
Below you will find some information regarding that fight, not just in our industry, but in the world. Additionally, our friends at The Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity , #PayUpHollywood, Storyline Partners, and ReFrame, are doing some excellent work within the entertainment industry so please check them out!
We are constantly learning and growing in our efforts to be as intersectional, accessible, and inclusive as possible so if you have additional resources or information you would like us to share please email us at HireSurvivorsHollywood@protonmail.com
Black Lives Matter
We will not stand by as Black people are murdered and brutalized. We truly believe #BlackLivesMatter and we will do whatever we can to fight against racial injustice and to become anti-racist in all our words, actions, and deeds.
There is also a strong tie between police brutality and sexual violence which we believe needs to be discussed and dismantled. We will not stand for retaliation against anyone who chooses to speak truth to power.
By creating better representation on camera and off, and in the stories that get told, Hollywood can help change the outdated, harmful, fallacious stereotypes attached to Black people that contribute to hate, violence, and othering of Black people in our country.
Brown Girls Doc Mafia
Black Women Film Network
Black Filmmaker Foundation
How To Support Black Filmmakers
Survived and Punished
Communities Against Police Brutality
We As Ourselves
Stop Asian Hate
A horrific surge in violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) is happening across the US. We must all unite to condemn racism and #StopAsianHate. We must also recognize that the exoticization and sexualiztion of Asian women is a prevalent, racist, dangerous stereotype which is still very present in our industry and contributes to violence against the AAPI community. We must demand better representation to help end those stereotypes. The AAPI community is not a monolith and Hollywood needs to vastly improve representation and storytelling to better reflect the realities of those experiences instead of perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
What you can do to fight violence and racism against Asian Americans
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities
Stop AAPI Hate
Donate to help Asian communities
Center for Asian American Media
Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment
Asian American Film Lab
Latinx/Latine Representation
We proudly stand with the hundreds of Latinx/Latine entertainment industry professionals fighting to #EndLatinxExclusion in Hollywood. The Latinx/Latine community makes up 18.3% of the U.S. population but that’s not reflected in film and television. And, often “Latinx/Latine representation” in our industry looks like old, harmful stereotypes being played out again and again. True representation means telling stories that go far beyond outdated, dangerous stereotypes and show us the width and breadth of experiences of those within diverse Latinx/Latine communities.
#EndLatinxExclusion
Nosotros
Latino Filmmakers Network
Untitled Latinx Project
Indigenous Representation
Representation of authentic Indigenous people’s stories is almost nonexistent in Hollywood. We stand with #NativesInChargeOfTheirNarrative fighting to give an authentic voice to American Indian and Indigenous cinema. Additionally, Indigenous women and girls go missing and are murdered at an alarming rate and we must continue to speak out, loudly, about this epidemic until it is ended. Once again, there is no one “Native American Experience” and there are 574 federally recognized Indian Nations (variously called tribes, nations, bands, pueblos, communities and native villages) in the United States. Our entertainment and media must start reflecting that diversity.
Red Nation Film Festival
Sundance Indigenous Program
NDN Collective
Native Women’s Wilderness
LGBTQ+ Representation
Less than 1% of characters in the top movies of 2019 were trans. When LGBTQ+ people, especially trans folx, are hired and empowered to tell their own stories, it can improve how they are viewed and treated globally. We proudly stand with the LGBTQ+ community and believe that #TransRightsAreHumanRights. As an initiative that advocates for support of survivors of sexual violence, it is important to acknowledge that those in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly Trans people, are often targeted by sexual abusers. It is also important to recognize that, while progress has been made, harmful stereotypes are still often presented on screen.
Trans Film Center
Transgender Media Portal
Free The Work
OUT Fest
Middle Eastern Representation
In 2017, MENA Arts Advocacy did a study on the representation of Middle Eastern/North African characters in Hollywood and found that 92% of all scripted shows had absolutely no MENA representation. Among the few that did, 78% of characters from the Middle East or North Africa were portrayed as terrorists, agents, soldiers or tyrants. This kind of stereotyping and racism is unacceptable, and we must all work toward undoing the harm it’s caused while creating more accurate, authentic portrayals of Middle Eastern people BY Middle Eastern people.
MENA Arts Advocacy
Arab Cinema Center
Disability Representation
Despite the lack of representation of disabled characters in media (2.1% in film and TV according to GLAAD’s annual report), another issue that cannot be dismissed is “cripping up”, the practice of a non-disabled actor playing a disabled character. It doesn’t get any better behind the scenes where less than 1% of writers in writers’ rooms or in the Writers Guild are disabled. We stand with the Nothing About Us Without Us movement to more accurately, and diversely, portray disabled people in media.