The Hollywood Reporter just released their 20th anniversary edition of their 35 under 35 list—the annual summary of the best young executives in the biz—that beleaguered assistants tape to their cubicles, as they count all the papercut scars they amassed creating Halloween decorations for their boss' kids.
Asians, hispanics and white people.
To try to be black and in the business is a joke anymore. And I don't look at it from a "woe is me" perspective, because I believe the door swings both ways. The biggest problem I take from this is the idea that like politics, it has been seen as exclusionary for SO LONG, that when career choices are being made, going through the bullshit one is guaranteed to face when working one's way up the ladder is unpalatable at best.
The problem is that if this is the truth, then it guarantees a lack of representation on screen as well.
We have one black showrunner right now, and it's Shonda Rimes. Where are the black agents, managers and executives? It's a vital question, because as long as we hope and ask for fair representation on screen, there MUST be that sort of representation behind the scenes, where frankly, it really matters.
