The entertainment industry is not diverse. This much is obvious. As reported by the Screen Actors Guild, the The Biz employs more than 72% White and 62% male on-camera talent (SAG reports), numbers that do not remotely reflect the populations of entertainment hubs Los Angeles and New York City where people of color and women constitute more than half of all residents (source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Estimates).  Behind camera employment numbers are equally uninspiring. What can we do about it? As explored in What The ... Productions 2009 documentary Getting Played (coming December 2009), the strongest solution is twofold: 1. Employment discrimination laws must be adjudicated as applicable to entertainment workers. For on-camera talent - the most controversial of employees who seek redress - the Bona Fide Occupational Qualification delineated by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) projects the most promising application. In sum, unless the discrimination in question is "reasonably necessary to the normal operation" of the production in question and "the essence of the business operation would be undermined if the business eliminated its discriminatory policy.", it is legally impermissible. No longer would financial interests motivated by supposed consumer preference (not a legal defense to discriminatory conduct) be beyond the law's reach. Unless the messaging of the creative project is intended to make a statement about, e.g., racism, no longer can producers defend discriminatory casting where the race of the characters is not essential for the project. 2. The public will have to engage in boycotts of entertainment products that discriminate. In the spirit of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, consumers need to keep their dollars from the pockets of producers and production companies that habitually discriminate. If, for example, as a consumer, you are interested in seeing Sony Pictures' "21" - a film that employed White acter Jim Sturgess to portray Asian-American Jeff Ma's "real life" story of gambling - instead of putting the fee of a full price ticket with this production and the theaters that display this work, wait until the movie is cheaper as a DVD rental or borrow it from your local library or don't see it at all. Wondering how to get a heads up about that movie you're thinking of seeing? Websites like imdb.com (Internet Movie Database) are excellent resources to preview films - any film. If you don't think the cast matches the synopsis, stay at home. In the same vein, why buy a product advertised with discriminatory media? .. and don't forget, stage performers are also fighting for Equal Employment Opportunity, so check out the background on that play before you buy a seat.

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BFOQ! the bona fide occupational qualification - bringing equality to the entertainment industry

The entertainment industry is not diverse. This much is obvious. As reported by the Screen Actors Guild, the The Biz employs more than 72% White and 62% male on-camera talent (SAG reports), numbers that do not remotely reflect the populations of entertainment hubs Los Angeles and New York City where people of color and women constitute more than half of all residents (source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Estimates).  Behind camera employment numbers are equally uninspiring. What can we do about it? As explored in What The ... Productions 2009 documentary Getting Played (coming December 2009), the strongest solution is twofold: 1. Employment discrimination laws must be adjudicated as applicable to entertainment workers. For on-camera talent - the most controversial of employees who seek redress - the Bona Fide Occupational Qualification delineated by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) projects the most promising application. In sum, unless the discrimination in question is "reasonably necessary to the normal operation" of the production in question and "the essence of the business operation would be undermined if the business eliminated its discriminatory policy.", it is legally impermissible. No longer would financial interests motivated by supposed consumer preference (not a legal defense to discriminatory conduct) be beyond the law's reach. Unless the messaging of the creative project is intended to make a statement about, e.g., racism, no longer can producers defend discriminatory casting where the race of the characters is not essential for the project. 2. The public will have to engage in boycotts of entertainment products that discriminate. In the spirit of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, consumers need to keep their dollars from the pockets of producers and production companies that habitually discriminate. If, for example, as a consumer, you are interested in seeing Sony Pictures' "21" - a film that employed White acter Jim Sturgess to portray Asian-American Jeff Ma's "real life" story of gambling - instead of putting the fee of a full price ticket with this production and the theaters that display this work, wait until the movie is cheaper as a DVD rental or borrow it from your local library or don't see it at all. Wondering how to get a heads up about that movie you're thinking of seeing? Websites like imdb.com (Internet Movie Database) are excellent resources to preview films - any film. If you don't think the cast matches the synopsis, stay at home. In the same vein, why buy a product advertised with discriminatory media? .. and don't forget, stage performers are also fighting for Equal Employment Opportunity, so check out the background on that play before you buy a seat.