Fact after fact keeps pointing to the obvious: Hollywood is not diverse enough. The latest issue involves Oscar nominees for 2015 films, following up a similar problem in 2014 — white-only nominations. It’s discouraging and highly disappointing to see these results — and even more frustrating to realize how behind the 8-ball our industry is when it comes to reflecting a diverse society.
While the current discussion centers around increasing minority representation within the Academy and the studios, these steps alone will not suffice. The most important change that must be made is financial.
I find it odd that the topic of financial risk has not entered the discussion. If studios and financiers continue to believe that casting talent or hiring crew with non-Caucasian ethnic backgrounds or women will materially affect their bottom line, then the change we seek will not be actualized.
So, why do studios and financiers believe diversity hurts the bottom line? One simple reason: foreign sales. The sad truth is that overseas distributors do not want to buy films with non-Caucasian stars, or they will pay significantly less.
As a producer, I find it continually frustrating to bump into stereotypes and stubborn viewpoints from potential financiers and foreign sales companies. I dream up exciting projects with diverse casts and crews — and fight hard to get my films made with these creative teams. I won’t cave. But it’s very challenging because of a truly uncooperative group of buyers and financiers.
Honestly, if the American market was sufficient to recoup a film’s budget, this problem would be way easier to resolve. There is almost no pushback from studios, distributors or financiers when it comes to the American audience’s interest in non-Caucasian or women talent.
But it’s almost impossible to recoup a film’s budget from America alone. Personally, I do a significant amount of work in China (as do many Hollywood producers and studios nowadays). I remember a conversation I had a few months back — we were discussing the potential lead of a film in development, and, when we proposed a specific African-American actor, the Chinese financier blatantly said “we need to cast a white guy — Chinese audiences don’t want to watch a black lead”. One could hear a pin drop in that room.
Instead of backing down, I spent the next 10 minutes explaining why the actor we were discussing was best for the role — and that young Chinese audiences can be influenced by marketing. That we can change things if we focused on it — even though that wouldn’t be the “easy way”. Fortunately, my Chinese financier was open minded and agreed to go ahead — but that’s rare.
It’s the same with foreign sales companies that sell to Europe and other countries in Asia, Latin America, Russia, and other key territories. These buyers rank talent and the value of your film is based on their rank — which directly affects the revenue stream for the movie.
So, what can we do?
First, we need to face up to these facts and include them in our discussions. I am frankly shocked that no one has mentioned this in any trade articles I have read — prompting me to write this blog.
Second, as an industry, we need to promote non-Caucasian talent worldwide. We need to work together to market them — and increase their value overseas. This should be an industry-wide effort, where all studios, guilds and even the media create an industry-wide organization funded across the board that is dedicated to this marketing effort.
Finally, we need to educate our partners, even if the initial response is negative and the convenient reaction is to take the path of least resistance. Yes, business means prioritizing the goal of your financial partners, but it also means compromise on all sides. We filmmakers have compromised for too long — let’s put in the effort to show that non-Caucasian and female talent, both in front of and behind the camera, can move the needle in every territory and with every audience worldwide.
We’re creative people — let’s use that creativity for positive change.
