‘Diversity’ jobs give minority TV writers a leg up
We gots to increase diversity on screen as well, as the CW will with Maggie Q starring in "Nikita." (Image by Getty Images North America via Daylife)
After meetings, here’s what network and studio execs tell my agents and manager they like about me: I have life experience. I’m charming. I’ve got stories. I’d be great in a room.
Oh: and I’m a minority female.
Affirmative action is alive and well in the TV industry, at least on the writing side, at least at the networks. Let’s talk about the diversity writer.
That’s right. It’s a thing, like the baby writer (which I’d also be). A diversity writer is an entry-level TV staff writer whose salary is paid for not by the show but by the network. The show-runner gets a staffer for free; the network boosts its employee racial mix. Win-win, right?
No? Before you squawk, let’s take a look at the numbers to assess the problem.
Diversity in TV writing — as in many professions, including the one I came up in, journalism — is pathetic. The Writers Guild of America West found in this 2007 study that minorities account for 10% of staffed TV writers. One out of 10, though non-whites make up a third of the American population. Salaries lag, too:
The overall median earnings for minority TV writers in 2005 was $78,107, compared to $97,956 for White writers.
So is affirmative action the answer? Sorry to break it to you, but if diversity is the goal, then the answer is yes. As I reported in this TIME magazine article, recent studies show that nothing else works. Diversity training; sushi Mondays at the company cafeteria; corporate films where blacks and whites shake hands: all a big, fat waste of time. To diversify staffs, employers have to set a quota.
It’s an icky word, right? Quota. If I were hired on a TV show, I’d most likely be fulfilling just that. Do I give one hot damn? Nope. I know I can bring it. If that’s my way in, I’m taking it.
Here’s why diversity in TV writing matters (gimme a sec while I dust off my soapbox): my life and race and background inform my point of view. It’s not just important but vital for our nation’s favorite medium to reflect the experiences of its brilliant spectrum of people, not just of a chosen few who happen to have attended the right schools and know the right people.
Still, you can trust Hollywood to add a cynical twist to a well-meaning system. One network executive revealed to me a little-known downfall of diversity jobs: once you get one, it’s hard to get out. Networks only pay the salary of a diversity writer at the staff writer level, so instead of promoting the writer at the end of a year, as is the usual course, show-runners often keep the writer in place. Or they can the writer, making him or her start over at another show, as, yep, the diversity writer. I bet that explains the income disparity, as salaries are union-mandated for each job title.
Studies find that the only other truly successful path to diversity in organizations is mentorship. The networks, including ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, have set up fellowships and workshops aimed at minorities, which I think is a good step (hit the links for application information).
I’ve got a better idea: it’s time we minorities took Hollywood. Go write your kick-ass original show to shop on spec. Don’t leave it to someone else without your life cred to tell your story. Don’t let your people get relegated to character descriptions like “hot Asian babe.” And don’t listen to the folks who tell you, “That’s not how we do it, son.” We’re the future. We ought to write it.
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The problem is the nature of how business is done, not how many minorities are hired. Ever wonder why Hollywood puts out such repetitive dreck? It’s because they’re not hiring from a diverse pool of people.
This is the business of telling stories. The appeal of those stories will be wider with more writer diversity.
I’m amazed that they have to make a concerted effort to smash what amounts to an old boys club. You’d think that profit motive alone would make such measures worth doing. –But apparently not.
I originally heard the complaint with regard to military advancement, but it seems to be consistent across a number of pyramid-based management structures: the people who remind middle managers of themselves get promoted to middle management, the people who remind the upper managers of themselves get promoted from middle management to upper management, and the owners want to see their clones as owners of the future.
Unfortunately, until there is a financial incentive to change, there won’t be change. And as you pointed out, without effective mentoring, visionary alternative candidates (I won’t say minority candidates only, here) can’t learn the ropes well enough to independently prove there’s a possibility of success.
I would be curious to know how a writing team is treated with regards to diversity. For example, if the team consisted of a white male and an Asian female, would the team be viewed as having “the best of two worlds” or vice versa?
Interesting article – I believe a recent episode of 30 Rock included a storyline that centered around Twofer and the fact that his paychecks were a different color than the other writers on staff because his salary wasn’t paid by the show. I didn’t realize how true that really was…
When I told my husband about this, he was incredulous: “Like the ‘30 Rock’ episode?” It does sound like comedy. Which begs the question: would my paychecks be yellow?
In response to another comment. See in context »Ha, exactly! (And sorry to detract from the serious nature of your article with my own desire to turn everything into comedy…)
FYI – The aforementioned 30 Rock episode is still posted on Hulu (http://www.hulu.com/watch/143509/30-rock-lee-marvin-vs-derek-jeter) in case you need to watch it for “research.”
In response to another comment. See in context »AMEN! We cannot sit around and hope that someone else is going to pay us to write about our life experience. Why would they? We have to write about our own life experience and sometimes that means working together on spec. Yes producing shows for free just so that they can start happening! Also I think that we have to stop making films/TV shows that only speak to being of one minority group. Our power is making and telling stories that are truly diverse. That means you have a Black character, an Asian character, a middle eastern character, a latino character, and yes a caucasian character. But you don’t stop there, you include gay, lesbian or transgender, maybe someone has a disability oh and nothing against baby Jesus, but they cant all be Christian. I am just sayin’.