Think Tank For Inclusion & Equity Releases Third Annual Report On Inclusion & Equity In TV Writing

Launched with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media on May 4

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Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

May 04, 2021, 07:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, May 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity (TTIE), a consortium of working television writers and collaborative project of WIF, is releasing its annual "Behind the Scenes: The State of Inclusion & Equity in TV Writing" report, this year in partnership with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. This is the only research of its kind, directly surveying working TV writers around issues of career advancement and authentic storytelling.

In its third year, the report also addresses how the pandemic and social justice movement impacted TV writers' careers this past year; key findings include:

73.7% of women experienced gender/sexual discrimination or harassment, especially covert forms with the shift to virtual rooms.
Representation at the upper levels is still lacking with 97.4% of writers reporting no Disabled or Deaf writers; 56% had no LGBTQIA+ writers; and all-white writers room leadership is still quite commonplace.
Almost 40% of underrepresented writers attribute their first jobs to spontaneous social interaction and water cooler conversations. Due to the pandemic, those opportunities were minimal, which could negatively impact the careers of emerging writers.
BIPOC writers saw an increase in staffing and development meetings due to the social justice movement of 2020-2021. However, decision-makers wanted more of the "same" problematic stories, not "better" or "more inclusive" stories.

The report launches Tuesday, May 4 at 12:00 p.m. PT at a research presentation and panel discussion which is open to the public. Opening remarks will be given by Academy Award®-winning actor Geena Davis and TTIE Co-Founder/Co-Chair Tawal Panyacosit, Jr. ("Life After First Failure"). Panelists are:

Steven Canals, Emmy®-nominated and Peabody Award-winning Co-Creator, Executive Producer, Director, and Writer of FX's groundbreaking drama "POSE,"
LaToya Morgan, Founder of TinkerToy Productions and Co-Creator of the upcoming HBO Max series "Duster,"
Y. Shireen Razack, Co-Executive Producer of "New Amsterdam" on NBC and Co-Founder / Co-Chair of TTIE, and
Melinda Hsu Taylor, Showrunner/Executive Producer of The CW's "Nancy Drew."

Following the event, press are invited to a Q&A at 1:00 p.m. PT on May 4. Access the full report here or on the TTIE website.

SOURCE Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media