Diversity

Hollywood Inclusive 0009 — Kanye Meeting with Trump, Breakthroughs in Inclusiveness, and Does Liberal Hollywood Think Racism Is Solved?

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:13:17 — 101.6MB) | Embed

guest Moira Griffin (@MoiraGriffin) Senior Director of Diversity Initiatives at Sundance Institute.

  • segment 1, Post-election Race & Politics (0:00): We haven’t had a chance to chat since the election, so we chat a little about race and politics in our country today.
  • segment 2, Guest Interview (35:42): Moira tells us about her career in film production, festival curation, and now working at Sundance Institute to help us hear all the voices.
  • segment 3, Progress in Inclusiveness (59:37): We share three stories (hijab, OshKosh, Santa) about recent breakthroughs that will have us seeing some individuals who’ve been previously interrupted.

Join the conversation!  Ask us questions. Tell us where we’ve got it wrong.  We’re on  Twitter: @kirkwrites79 and @digitalderon.

Hollywood Inclusive 0008 — Dr. Strange Director Answers ‘Whitewashing’ Criticism, Lil Wayne, Hollywood’s Paper Consumption

Episode 0008 -- Hollywood Inclusive
Episode 0008 -- Hollywood Inclusive

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:24:46 — 119.0MB) | Embed

guest DMA (@PlanetDMA)

  • segment 1, Story of the Week — Dr. Strange (0:00): Marvel’s Kevin Feige states a new commitment to diversity in comic book movies.  Dr. Strange director Scott Derickson gave an interview to Daily Beast about how he was TRYING to be sensitive to the audience in portrayal of Asian characters, but in doing so made a choice to delete an opportunity for an Asian actor.  DMA questions #WhoWasInTheRoom when approving that decision.
  • segment 2, Guest Interview (23:47): DMA tells us how she shifted from her studies in politics and how it led her into the entertainment industry, then into software, and from there back into entertainment.
  • segment 3, State of the Industry — Casting on Network TV (47:14): An appraisal from USA Today gives grades on cast diversity to each of the major networks, and concludes that money still drives decisions.  Plus, Variety published a piece this week discussing how casting directors now feel pressure to represent today’s America.
  • segment 4, What Pissed You Off? — Celebrities & Politics (1:05:55): Lil Wayne and Susan Sarandon shot their mouths off this week.  Should anyone care?
  • segment 5, Hurray for Hollywood — iPad Script Tracking (1:15:46): A writers assistant has come up with script draft management software that will save tons of paper in the television production process.

Join the conversation!  Ask us questions. Tell us where we’ve got it wrong.  We’re on  Twitter: @kirkwrites79 and @digitalderon.

Hollywood Inclusive 0006 — Representation Numbers, Lena Dunham, & #OscarsSoDiverse

Hollywood Inclusive, Episode 6
Hollywood Inclusive, Episode 6

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:06:58 — 92.4MB) | Embed

guest XAVIER BURGIN (@xlnb)

  • segment 1, Story of the Week — Diversity Studies (0:00): We discuss the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism’s annual report on representation in film for 2015, plus the Director’s Guild’s study on television gender and ethnic hiring practices.  So, we know there’s a problem; what’s the solution?  Do “diversity programs” work?
  • segment 2, Guest Interview — Xavier Burgin (25:06): We talk to Xavier Burgin about his short film work, and about how long-form tweeting helped him build an audience that will ensure his future filmmaking success.  Plus we hear about the time that he challenged Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer on Twitter, and the conference call the three of them had the next morning.
  • segment 3, Hurray for Hollywood — #OscarsSoDiverse (55:31): An Indiewire.com article predicts that “2017 will be the most diverse awards season in decades.”  Following the #OscarsSoWhite online protests in early 2016 — response to the fact that ALL TWENTY acting nominations went to white performers — we discuss whether we can share IndieWire’s optimism.

Join the conversation!  What’s your opinion? Where are we right, where are we wrong?  We’re on  Twitter: @kirkwrites79 and @digitalderon.

Today’s “I’m one of the voices” intro recorded by Cameo Wood, @cameo.  Visit her latest project, realartists.film, @RealArtistsFilm.

Hollywood Inclusive 0001 — Kenya Barris, Ava Duvernay, & Welcome!

hollywood-inclusive-0001-wide
hollywood-inclusive-0001-wide

Podcast: Download (Duration: 43:47 — 60.7MB) | Embed

Welcome to our first ever episode! Kirk & Deron want to invite you to the conversation.

  • Segment 1: Black-ish creator Kenya Barris recently told reporters, “I will be so happy when ‘Diversity’ is not a word.” (Jezebel article)  We discuss why we agree, and why we kept that word out of the title to our podcast.
  • Segment 2: Deron & Kirk introduce themselves, and discuss their motivation in creating this podcast together.
  • Segment 3:
    • Hurray for Hollywood! —  Ava Duvernay is set to become the first female director of color to helm a $100M movie.  (Vanity Fair article)
    • Tools, Tips, & Trends — Upcoming writers preparing to write a spec episode, comedy is the new drama.  (Vulture article)

We want to hear from you!  Go up to the ‘Participate’ tab at the top of this page for ways to communicate with us, or find us on Twitter: @kirkwrites79 and @digitalderon.

Today’s “I’m one of the voices” intro recorded by Laura Sommers.  Visit her Seed & Spark campaign.

Copyright 2024 © Deron Sedy