On the Road to "Making Diversity Work"

By Greg Watkins
Photos by Robert Hale

Recently the DGA concluded the last of the "Making Diversity Work" mixers designed to create more opportunities for the Guild’s women and ethnic minorities members. These events kicked off with the "Making Diversity Work" forum sponsored by the African-American Steering Committee (AASC), and were followed up by "mixer" events featuring executives and show-runners from NBC, ABC and FOX. Each mixer featured informal networking, brief panel introductions, and 4-on-1 breakout groups for more structured networking. The coordinating of these events involved a joint collaboration of the AASC, the Latino Committee, and the new Asian/Pacific Islander Committee (APIC).

At the initial forum, DGA President Jack Shea set the overall tone when he said, "Diversity in hiring is not only the right thing to do, but it also makes very good business sense. [Promoting diversity] remains an essential directive for the Guild, and much needs to be done. The future of the DGA, indeed the future of the industry, lies in the expansion of opportunities for ethnic minorities and women."

DGA Third Vice President and AASC co-Chair Paris Barclay moderated the panel discussion. "This is the first event," he said, "the kickoff of an ongoing effort. We would like to be able to introduce the networks to more qualified DGA members who are ethnic minorities and women, and introduce our members directly to people who are in a position to hire them. To that end we went to each network head and asked them to host an evening, sometime before the new season gets entirely staffed up."

The format of the evening was to look at three "case studies" in which certain producers were having remarkable success with their own diversity programs. The first case involved the shows Moesha and The Parkers, represented by Lawrence Lyttle, President of Big Ticket Television, and Sara Finney, executive producer of The Parkers and co-creator of both shows. The second was represented by Steven Bochco, executive producer of NYPD Blue and City of Angels. The third case was ER, The West Wing and Third Watch, represented by Trent Jones, Senior Vice President of Current Programs at Warner Bros. Television and Andrew Stearn, Vice President of Television at John Wells Productions.

After discussing the case studies, representatives from the "Big Four" networks were asked to comment on the current status of their diversity programs. Last summer major agreements were signed between the networks and the NAACP to try to promote more diversity in hiring. This evening gave them the opportunity to talk about specifics of the plans — how they will be implemented, who will be in charge, and how people can take advantage of them.

Representing the networks were David Stapf, Sr. Vice President, Current Programming, CBS Entertainment; Ted Frank, Sr. Vice President, Current Series, NBC Entertainment; Susan Leeper, Vice President, Comedy Programming, Warner Bros. Television; and Lance Taylor, Vice President, Current Comedy Programming, FOX Broadcasting.

Barclay began the discussion by referring to the minority-hiring statistics from 1998 (the last period complete data is available), which indicate minority hiring went down that year in numerous DGA categories.

The grim statistics revealed that Latino directors were hit the hardest, followed by women directors, while African-American directors remained static. There were major hits in the categories of tape director and associate director. The only positive sign was a slight improvement in the hiring of 2nd ADs and Stage Managers.

According to Susan Leeper, things are changing at the networks. "I am very hopeful," she said. "I’ve never seen a reaction the way I have now at the network. It comes from the top. The commitment is there."

"Conversations [on diversification] have taken place before, but it seems that the tenor of them changed last summer [with the NAACP agreement]," said Lance Taylor. "There was a critical mass that somehow came together."

"One of the hardest things is trying to break in a new television director," said Lawrence Lyttle. He added that producers need to balance the desire to promote opportunity with the need to maintain a consistent style and quality in their shows. If there are too many different directors, the cast may start to put pressure on the producer because they want continuity. 

Continuing the momentum begun with the AASC forum, the next of the network mixers held at the Guild-featured representatives from CBS. David Stapf returned with other CBS executives including Josie Thomas, Sr. Vice President, Diversity; and Chris Davidson and Laurie Zaks, Vice Presidents, Current Programs. Also in attendance were show-runners from CBS’ series Becker, Bette, Diagnosis Murder, The District, Nash Bridges, King of Queens, JAG, Yes Dear, Family Law, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Fugitive, Judging Amy and City of Angels. AASC co-Chair Reginald D. Brown moderated the event.

The NBC mixer was moderated by Asian/Pacific Islander Committee co-Chairpersons Henry Chan and Wenda Fong and attended by NBC Entertainment executives including Ted Frank, Sr. Vice President, Current Series; Tom Cairns, Sr. Vice President, Employee Relations; Larry Hancock, Vice President, Prime-Time Series; Carl Beverly, Vice President, Creative Affairs; Cheryl Dolins and Bruce Evans, Vice Presidents, Prime-Time Series; and Jim McGee, Vice President, Production, NBC Studios. With them came show-runners from the NBC productions Law & Order, Deadline, Law & Order: SVU, Friends, Just Shoot Me, Providence and Will & Grace.

The FOX mixer was moderated by Ricardo Mendez Matta and Maria Jimenez Henley, co-Chairs of the Latino Committee. FOX’s Lance Taylor returned alongside Columbia-Tristar Television’s Sr. Vice President, Programming, Steve Tann and other FOX Broadcasting and FOX TV executives including Scott Vila and Danielle Gelber, Sr. Vice Presidents, Drama Development; Craig Erwich, Vice President, Current Drama Programming; Joel Hornstock, Sr. Vice President, TV Production; and Charlie Goldstein, Executive Vice President, Production & Finance. Also attending were representatives from FOX’s series The X-Files, Dark Angel, Titus, The Tick, Fearsum, Malcolm in the Middle, Mad TV, Lone Gunman, Don’t Ask, Ally McBeal and Boston Public. 

The last networking mixer featured ABC Entertainment and was moderated by Paris Barclay. Attending were ABC Entertainment co-Chairmen Stu Bloomberg and Lloyd Braun as well as ABC executives Kevin Brockman, Sr. Vice President, Communications; Suzanne Bukinik and Stephanie Leifer, Vice Presidents, Comedy; Thom Sherman, Vice President, Drama; Andrea Wong, Vice President, Alternative Series & Specials; and John Saade, Vice President, Specials. Representing the Touchstone Television wing of the family were Ted Kaye, Sr. Vice President, Production; Jason Saville, Vice President, Production; Julia Franz, Vice President, Creative Affairs; and Frank B. Gonzalez, Fellowships & Diversity Programs. Also represented were ABC programs Madigan Men, NYPD Blue, Geena, Wayne Brady, People Who Fear People, The Drew Carey Show, Wife & Kids, Gideon’s Crossing, Once and Again, Spin City, Politically Incorrect, Dharma & Greg and Two Guys and a Girl.

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