Contact and Links
If you have questions, would like to take our pledge, join
our survivor talent database, partner with us, hire us as
consultants to implement the steps in this toolkit, or hire
us to create custom trauma informed and survivor
centered trainings please contact us at:
HireSurvivorsHollywood@Gmail.com
Taking the Hire Survivors Hollywood pledge was an opportunity to dive deeper into intersectionality as a filmmaker and as a production company. Schoolhouse Pictures, at its core, thrives in constantly learning and evolving along with culture. Being a BIPOC filmmaker, I am very aware of my trauma and marginalization, so it made sense to me to team up with Hire Survivors Hollywood to create opportunities for another group of people that face retaliation and marginalization.
Trauma as a topic is a revolving theme in my work, whether it’s a comedy, horror, or a family heist story like our latest film “Thru The Rinse”. For me, the production has to have a sense of trust to make authentic and captivating moments on camera. It starts in casting, where we are already actively seeking to make our projects as diverse and inclusive as possible. So, making it known that we are creating opportunities for survivors seemed like a logical next step. Taking the Hire Survivors Hollywood pledge has rolled into conversations about intimacy coordinating, having someone for cast & crew to talk to onset in the case of triggering material, and other actions we can take to create a safe working environment for everyone.
I think filmmakers could view enacting this pledge, or any inclusion effort for that matter, as “more homework” but it’s actually a great filmmaking tool to help navigate vulnerable topics with a consciousness that breathes life into our work, the performances, the story, and hopefully, of course, our audiences as well.” –
Jason Avalos – Writer, Director, Actor, Founder of The Schoolhouse Pictures
Links
Website: HireSurvivorsHollywood.org
Instagram: @HireSurvivorsHollywood
Twitter: @HireSurvivors
Facebook: Hire Survivors Hollywood
Working with Hire Survivors Hollywood was straight-forward and simple. We met with Sarah early in the casting process to discuss the project at-large as well as key cameo roles we hoped to fill with name talent. It was an opportunity for Sarah to get to know our project a bit, and for us to ask questions about how we could actualize the pledge we’d made. It was a brainstorm, no wrong ideas type meeting that left us feeling inspired and excited to cast our film. When we hosted a table read for an early draft of the script, Sarah designed special character cards to blast on social media soliciting submissions for actors to participate in the read. We cast several survivors who saw her posts in our initial table read, and the read went quite well, giving us lots of momentum as we made final revisions before heading into production. When it came time to cast the rest of the film, we included in our breakdown a note about our commitment to Hire Survivors Hollywood’s pledge and encouraged actors to self-identify as survivors if they felt comfortable doing so.
I want to stress that we did not cast anyone in this film solely based on their status as a survivor. When we reviewed initial submissions, we noticed those who had self-identified and made sure to watch their reels. If they seemed right for the part we invited them to
tape. Once we’d received audition tapes from all the actors we reached out to, we made our lists and reached out to top choices just as we would with any other project. We did not refer back to their notes to see who was a survivor and who wasn’t. We did end up hiring several talented survivors, all of whom did a wonderful job on set and were a pleasure to work with. For us it wasn’t so much about opening doors to some people and not others, it was about widening the doorway so all kinds of actors with all kinds of career paths felt comfortable walking through the door. Sarah and Hire Survivors Hollywood were remarkably supportive of our film and casting process, and made no attempts to influence our final choices. Working with Sarah we felt supported and understood, without pressure or control being exerted upon us. Taking the Hire Survivors Hollywood pledge expanded our options in casting our film, making “A More Perfect Union” the best-cast film it could possibly be, and we will surely be taking the pledge with our future films.” – Ian Mark – Filmmaker, Pasadonuts LLC