Exclusive: Roadmap Writers presents its week-long celebration of Black History Month once again with their 3rd annual Black to the Future virtual event. This five-day event features panels with working screenwriters, film & TV executives, and literary representatives across the African American diaspora and Black experience in Hollywood.
Black to the Future is an extension of Roadmap Writers’ commitment to support and sustain diversity in Hollywood. Per Roadmap’s Director of Outreach and Diversity Initiatives, James Moorer, “Roadmap Writers has consistently held space for Black screenwriters since 2016 when we launched our Diversity Fellowship. Through our programs and introductions, we are committed to raising awareness, opportunity, and helping writers find a path to success. In its third year, Black to the Future is a celebration of inclusion and representation, and a beacon of hope for those yet to come.”
Panelists include Mika Frank (The Resident), Angela Harvey (Teen Wolf), Lamonia Deanne Brown...
Black to the Future is an extension of Roadmap Writers’ commitment to support and sustain diversity in Hollywood. Per Roadmap’s Director of Outreach and Diversity Initiatives, James Moorer, “Roadmap Writers has consistently held space for Black screenwriters since 2016 when we launched our Diversity Fellowship. Through our programs and introductions, we are committed to raising awareness, opportunity, and helping writers find a path to success. In its third year, Black to the Future is a celebration of inclusion and representation, and a beacon of hope for those yet to come.”
Panelists include Mika Frank (The Resident), Angela Harvey (Teen Wolf), Lamonia Deanne Brown...
- 2/5/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Few of the people of color invited to the executive table in Hollywood are in a position to greenlight projects, an NAACP-commissioned report by sociologist Dr. Darnell Hunt finds.
Hunt started with UCLA’s 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report documents, which saw film leads nearly triple for people of color and quadruple on the television side, but little growth for behind-the-camera talent. The report also found, “there were no Black CEOs or members of the senior management team at the major studios in early 2020, and only 3.9 percent of major studio unit heads were Black.”
To get more perspectives from the C-suite, Hunt, who is dean of Social Sciences and a professor of Sociology and African American Studies at UCLA, spoke to a representative sample of Black executives described as “highly accomplished, behind-the-scenes personnel” in the entertainment industry.
“Black executives did not have final say on the fate of a project,” the report states.
Hunt started with UCLA’s 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report documents, which saw film leads nearly triple for people of color and quadruple on the television side, but little growth for behind-the-camera talent. The report also found, “there were no Black CEOs or members of the senior management team at the major studios in early 2020, and only 3.9 percent of major studio unit heads were Black.”
To get more perspectives from the C-suite, Hunt, who is dean of Social Sciences and a professor of Sociology and African American Studies at UCLA, spoke to a representative sample of Black executives described as “highly accomplished, behind-the-scenes personnel” in the entertainment industry.
“Black executives did not have final say on the fate of a project,” the report states.
- 3/10/2022
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
The WGA West will host a Juneteenth panel discussion on Friday, June 19. “Though this day historically commemorates Black liberation and community,” the guild said, “members of all backgrounds are encouraged to join this important conversation on race and racism in America.”
The virtual panel, “Juneteenth 2020: From Pandemic to Protests,” will be moderated by Ali Le Roi, creator of Everybody Hates Chris and Are We There Yet? It starts at 2 Pm. Guild members can register here to take part.
Panelists include:
• Melody Cooper
• Berwick Mahdi Davenport
• Charles Murray (writer-producer)
• Janine Sherman-Barrois
• Rashad Robinson
The 90-minute panel is being presented by Shonda Rhimes and Glen Mazzara, co-chairs of the guild’s Inclusion and Equity Group, and by Committee of Black Writers co-chairs Michelle Amor and Hilliard Guess, and vice chair Bianca Sams.
The Inclusion...
The virtual panel, “Juneteenth 2020: From Pandemic to Protests,” will be moderated by Ali Le Roi, creator of Everybody Hates Chris and Are We There Yet? It starts at 2 Pm. Guild members can register here to take part.
Panelists include:
• Melody Cooper
• Berwick Mahdi Davenport
• Charles Murray (writer-producer)
• Janine Sherman-Barrois
• Rashad Robinson
The 90-minute panel is being presented by Shonda Rhimes and Glen Mazzara, co-chairs of the guild’s Inclusion and Equity Group, and by Committee of Black Writers co-chairs Michelle Amor and Hilliard Guess, and vice chair Bianca Sams.
The Inclusion...
- 6/16/2020
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
The Writers Guild of America West Committee of Black Writers has challenged Hollywood to revolutionize its hiring practices immediately in the wake of companies asserting support for the Black Lives Matter campaign.
“As Black Americans, professional screenwriters, and members of the Writers Guild of America West Committee of Black Writers, we are grieving, we are angry, and we are unapologetically demanding systemic change,” the letter began. “We read your statements on your commitment to Black lives and have been compelled by passion and duty as your peers to respond.”
The letter comes amid nationwide protests calling attention to police brutality and systemic racism. The Back Lives Matter movement regained momentum after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died on May 25 after a Minnesota police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes.
“We join you in conversation on how...
“As Black Americans, professional screenwriters, and members of the Writers Guild of America West Committee of Black Writers, we are grieving, we are angry, and we are unapologetically demanding systemic change,” the letter began. “We read your statements on your commitment to Black lives and have been compelled by passion and duty as your peers to respond.”
The letter comes amid nationwide protests calling attention to police brutality and systemic racism. The Back Lives Matter movement regained momentum after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died on May 25 after a Minnesota police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes.
“We join you in conversation on how...
- 6/12/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
In an open letter to Hollywood, the co-chairs of the WGA West’s Committee of Black Writers said today that they are grieving, angry and “unapologetically demanding systemic change” throughout the industry in the wake of nationwide protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“We need to revolutionize the way our industry hires writers,” – Michelle Amor, Hilliard Guess and Bianca Sams wrote. “The entertainment industry needs to implement forward-looking project development and staffing practices, including attracting, developing, mentoring, hiring, and retaining the next generations of diverse writers, directors, producers and executives, at all levels.”
Calling for action, not words, they told industry leaders that “either you commit to a new, institutionalized system of accountability with and to Black writers, or you prove that you’re putting on just another strategic, virtue-signaling performance deemed necessary to survive the times.”
Here is the letter in its entirety:
Dear Hollywood,
As Black Americans,...
“We need to revolutionize the way our industry hires writers,” – Michelle Amor, Hilliard Guess and Bianca Sams wrote. “The entertainment industry needs to implement forward-looking project development and staffing practices, including attracting, developing, mentoring, hiring, and retaining the next generations of diverse writers, directors, producers and executives, at all levels.”
Calling for action, not words, they told industry leaders that “either you commit to a new, institutionalized system of accountability with and to Black writers, or you prove that you’re putting on just another strategic, virtue-signaling performance deemed necessary to survive the times.”
Here is the letter in its entirety:
Dear Hollywood,
As Black Americans,...
- 6/12/2020
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
The Writers Guild of America West has issued an open letter from its committee of black writers, the first time the guild has released a statement specifically from one of its committees, that calls on Hollywood and the studios to do more than just issue statements of support and actually prioritize the hiring of black writers.
The three-page letter penned by Wgaw Committee of Black Writers co-chairs Michelle Amor, Hilliard Guess and vice chair of the committee Bianca Sams invokes “The Birth of a Nation” as a symbol of generations of oppression in Hollywood and cites a 2020 UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report that says black writers received only 5.6% of all the writing jobs among 2019 films.
“Some have tried to blame this on a shortage of Black writers, yet there are at least 808 self-identified Black writers in the Guild; we have been here, ready to work,” the letter reads. “We need to...
The three-page letter penned by Wgaw Committee of Black Writers co-chairs Michelle Amor, Hilliard Guess and vice chair of the committee Bianca Sams invokes “The Birth of a Nation” as a symbol of generations of oppression in Hollywood and cites a 2020 UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report that says black writers received only 5.6% of all the writing jobs among 2019 films.
“Some have tried to blame this on a shortage of Black writers, yet there are at least 808 self-identified Black writers in the Guild; we have been here, ready to work,” the letter reads. “We need to...
- 6/12/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
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