Analysis: Prospects for Hollywood diversity look bleak
The uproar over the lack of diversity in this year's Oscar nominations is unlikely to abate by 2017, according to a Paste BN examination of 184 movies to be released this year by 14 Hollywood studios.
The studios' officially announced movie slates indicate it will be another year with disappointingly few minorities in major roles — and only a handful of women in director's chairs.
Paste BN examined the credits for each movie, assigned points based on the number of women and minorities in the top spots, then issued a report card for each studio. The analysis did not assess the Oscar viability of these movies.
The grades weren't good. Most studios earned no better than a C. Four studios scored a B and one studio received an F.
The bottom line: fewer opportunities for female or minority directors and black, Hispanic or Asian performers to earn Oscar nominations, let alone win one.
"So maybe it's not as important as the civil rights movement, but it's almost as important," says Shawn Edwards, co-founder of the African-American Film Critics Association and film critic for a TV station in Kansas City, Mo. "Movies define our image and how our culture is perceived; they validate history. What does it say to historians 20, 40, 50 years from now? That this was what we thought was worthy on an artistic level?
"It's damaging, and it's important."
The #OscarsSoWhite debate could be with us again this time next year — a repeat of 2015 and 2016, when all 20 acting nominations for the Academy Awards went to white performers. Studios probably will acquire a few festival films — which tend to be more diverse — before awards season rolls around again. But that likely won't be enough to offset what's already in the works.
"Just about every studio and network I work with is always asking for more diversity — they want to see more diversity," says casting director Lana Veenker of Cast Iron Studios in Portland, Ore.
The industry, including Veenker, is trying through various means to do something about diversity — for instance, by widening the pipelines to jobs in the business to include more talented minorities and women.
But Hollywood is also trapped by its longstanding traditions, stereotypes and business models, says Jeetendr Sehdev, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California whose research includes diversity in Hollywood.
"Despite the perception of the entertainment industry as being highly creative, Hollywood culture is not that original. Most producers, writers, agents and directors are trying to copy the success of the previous project to reduce risk, looking for the next 'big' film or actor," Sehdev says.
"If they keep thinking like this, nothing will change."
Contributing: Jennifer Tonti and Bryan Alexander