LOS ANGELES — The Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at the University of California Los Angeles has released a new report that basically confirms what we already know: minorities continue to lag far behind their White counterparts in securing jobs as actors, directors and top-level executives in Hollywood.
Their findings were revealed in the 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report titled, “Flipping the Script,” the second in a series of detailed reports that examines diversity within the Hollywood entertainment industry.
Researchers analyzed 200 theatrical film releases in 2012 and 2013 and all broadcast, cable and digital platform television programs from the 2012-13 season, in an effort to document the degree to which women and minorities were present in front of and behind the camera.
They found that minorities write 10 percent or fewer of episodes on nearly two-thirds of broadcast-scripted shows. White actors occupy more than three-quarters of digital-scripted shows and dominate broadcast-scripted roles, while minorities were underrepresented by a factor of nearly 6 to 1 among lead roles in all broadcast-scripted shows.
But the most glaring form of underrepresentation has been among Hollywood executives. During the same time period, film studio heads were 94 percent White and 100 percent male, while film studio management was 92 percent White and 83 percent male. Television network and studio heads were 96 percent White and 71 percent male, while television senior management was 93 percent White and 71 percent male.
“It is the best of times and the worse of times,” said Robert Townsend, an actor, producer and director best known for his movies Hollywood Shuffle and The Five Heartbeats, a popular 1991 musical drama.
Townsend appeared last week on a panel about diversity in Hollywood at the annual meeting of the National Council of Black Studies, which gathered in Los Angeles.
