Bringing Systemic Change to Entertainment Webinar Takeaways

tEQuitable hosted a candid and collaborative conversation about bringing lasting systemic change to content development by creating content and productions that prioritize fairness.

Panelists:

• Julie Ann Crommett, Fmr VP Multicultural Audience Engagement, Disney

• Alicin Reidy Williamson, Chief Inclusion Officer, Endeavor

• Brickson Diamond, CEO of Big Answers & Chair, Blackhouse Foundation

• Lisa Gelobter, CEO & Founder, tEQuitable

Here are 3 things you can do to bringing systemic change to your productions:

1.Set the Tone

Document and promote your core values during production. Creating a fair on-set culture requires holding cast, crew, and leadership accountable to those values from the beginning.  

Food for Thought: 

• When were your core values created? Do they need to be refreshed?  

• Where are your core values published? On your website? Are they expressed during hiring or on production (i.e. call sheet, mentioned during production kick-off, emphasized by producers, etc.)? 

• Have you set applicable KPIs for your producers and other leadership to uphold core values?  

2.Put tools and resources into place 

Look for tools that reinforce and uphold fair standards and prioritize the well-being of everyone on set.  

Food for Thought: 

• Do you have a clear and defined process for how the cast, crew, and leadership can address misconduct on-set? Is this process made clear to production staff before and during the project?  

• Do you have resources and tools available to production staff where they can find support, get advice, or utilize a sounding board for situations that are uncomfortable but don’t necessarily rise to the level of a formal complaint? tEQuitable is a great example of this.  

• What are your safety guidelines for nudity and intimate love scenes? What accommodations are you making for those with different physical or cognitive abilities?  

3.Create measurable fairness standards 

Map out your production system on paper to explicitly identify what is lacking and what needs to be improved upon. Track, measure, and evaluate these standards.  

Food for Thought: 

• What metrics are important for you to know and will help you improve your production from beginning to end? Don’t ignore the data.  

• How will you know when you are succeeding or failing? Are your standards specific? Time-bound? Flexible for each project?  

• Are you hiring the right people to tell different and authentic stories? Are you tracking your hiring? How are you introducing new crew members to your productions, including post-production? 

• How are you thinking about the career progression and promotion for employees and making sure they are moving into positions of authority? Evaluate not just diversity in recruiting, but also in your promotion and how you staff more senior levels. This will have an impact on who the decision-makers are in the room long term.   

• Share your learnings from project to project so the same mistakes aren’t repeated, and best practices are established.  

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