The Heat: Diversity in Hollywood

The Heat

The Heat: Diversity in Hollywood

As Hollywood prepares to honor what the establishment there considers to be the best in film, at the 88th Academy Awards, a new report has put the so-called “Tinsel-town” and its lack of diversity in the spotlight.

The Bunche Center for African American studies at UCLA finds women and minorities in Hollywood are underrepresented industry-wide, both in front of the camera and behind it.

Hollywood studios haven’t been casting minorities—despite surveys showing viewers prefer films and TV programs that are “moderately diverse.”

A half-dozen studios, including Disney and Time Warner, helped pay for the report.

CCTV America’s May Lee spoke with Azie Tesfai, an Eritrean-American Actress. She also spoke with Tony Goldwyn, a Producer, Director and Actor.

The following guests joined The Heat:

  • Ana-Christina Ramon, the Assistant Director of the Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA and the co-author of the Hollywood Diversity Report.
  • Dan Pearson is the President of D4 Entertainment and recently signed with the U.S. TV network Showtime to produce a series on a mafia.
  • Roger Ross Williams was the first African-American director to win an Oscar for his film, “Music by Prudence” which won the 2010 Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject.