DeVon Franklin (Courtesy photo)

In the wake of a devastating hack attack at Sony Pictures coupled with the revealing stagnation of diversity lacking behind the camera, on screen and in the boardroom at mainstream networks the Multicultural Committee at the CAA and the National Urban League hosted a panel discussion on the Progress Report: African Americans In Hollywood at the Ray Kurtzman Theater at CAA.

The venue quickly reached capacity giving way to a packed overflow room of people who wanted to hear the thoughts of featured insiders: Ashley Holland (TV Literary Agent, CAA); DeVon Franklin (CEO, Franklin Enterprises); Nolan Rollins (President, LA Chapter of National Urban League); Stephanie Allain (Director, LA Film Festival); Niija Kuykendall (VP of Production, Warner Brothers) and moderator Rand Getlin (NFL Insider, Yahoo Sports).

 The conversation took a look into the representation of African Americans in Hollywood and examined Hollywood’s response to Black culture. In between the titles and job descriptions, Nolan Rollis, President of LA Urban League, brought clarity to a blurred vision during his opening remarks, “Inspiration is about us owning our current position. Our society was capitalistic before compassion. We need to have an economic conversation. Understand not pretending and price our ideas. The beautiful thing about democracy is that it has no limits. In the Civil Rights Movement it was about freedom and jobs. We did good on freedom but not jobs.”  

This statement kick started the core elements of the conversation: access and opportunity, which in turn led the panelist and audience to evaluate the value of ownership, creativity and distribution. “In the ownership is where we haven’t seen the having a mindset of asking, how can I control ‘that’ and diversify the ranks of the decision makers who control the system? We should lean on each other and be the authority in our workplace.” says, DeVon Franklin, CEO, Franklin Entertainment. 

            Niija Kuykendall of WB, expressed the effects and responsibility of being the only Black person sitting at the table with decision makers. “My company is in the business to make money,” professed Kuykendall. She dually noted her passion for conveying a good story relies heavily on marketing and advertising where there is also a dire need of Black voices from an executive level. Agreeably, this lack of diversity shapes the conversation and allotment of proper resources.

 

Stephanie Allain (Courtesy photo)

Other ways to solidify cross-cultural appeal oppose to the continuum of contrived stereotypes of African Americans is to “claim more for ourselves and stop frequently grasping at low hanging fruit” said Ashley Holland of CAA. In other words, don’t be afraid to set your goals extremely high. Holland encouraged an ambitious audience, many of which were scouting for their next project and seeking constructive navigation tools in order to be successful in the entertainment industry to “Find and know your tribe” stand out and be authentic.

Stephanie Allain, Director of LA Film Festival encouraged attendees to, “Pick a lane, practice, stay and be good. Do not let the hype of headlines dictate where you see opportunity and other’s don’t.” This was not the only comment that stood out by Allain. She informed the crowd that she was mentored by Amy Pascal, the former co-chair of Sony Pictures who stepped down after facing humiliation over her private emails, containing racially insensitive jokes about President Obama were leaked to the public. Granted, the moderator was insightful, Getlin, for whatever reason, totally missed the ball when it came to following-up on such a statement because it directly coincided with the moral issues of leadership, accountability, internal and systematic racism under the broad umbrella we call diversity.

Needless to say, this conversation proved that Black people directly affiliated or indirectly impacted by the industry will never lack in the production of talent. More so, African Americans are tired of being bombarded with contrived stereotypes that define Black culture. Holistically, are we willing to think and act beyond motivational moments to achieve true collective wealth and power?

Overall, the progress report of African Americans in Hollywood is still underway and will be determined by those committed with integrity to train, recruit and build a sustaining partnership pipeline with major studios, boutique agencies and independently.