THR: Just 4.8 Percent of TV Writers Are Black, Study Finds

[Deepwater]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/just-48-percent-tv-writers-are-black-study-finds-1053675

Those writers were predominantly staffed on shows led by black showrunners, who represented just 5.1 percent of the pool. Two-thirds of those series had five or more black writers in their rooms, although all had multiple white writers as well. By contrast, 69.1 percent of white-led writers rooms had no black writers at all.

No Hulu series employed a black writer, while every show on AMC, Showtime and TBS had zero or just one black writer, as did 23 of 25 CBS series and 14 of 15 CW series. According to the report, having just one black writer in the room is seldom enough to affect change. Hunt interviewed five such writers, who said they felt alienated or unsupported in the workplace.

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Link to the actual study cited: https://hollywood.colorofchange.org/?utm_source=2017_11_1_hw_article

Yikes @ Hulu

How to read the chart:

The first column is color coding the amount of shows that have X amount of black writers. So pink is 0 black writers, light pink is 1 writer, light blue is 2-4 writers, and blue is 5+ writers. Using Netflix as an example, 26 Netflix shows have 0 black writers, seven have 1 black writer, two have 2-4 black writers, and 1 has 5+ black writers.

The second column is also a bit confusing but it's using the same color coding. For netflix, 43% of shows have 0 writers of color, 27% have 1, 16% have 2-4, and 14% have 5+ writers of color. Same thing with women

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[Slayven]

Over all those numbers are depressing. But at least Netflix is putting in the work

 

[kbear]

Just based on the fact that 12% of the U.S. population is black should mean at least 1 in every 10 writers should be black. Good on Netflix and ABC.

 

[Christian]

It's probably like rap music, ya know? The white ones just have more to say.

 

[AnansiThePersona]

Netflix out here hold it down

 

[Cream]

I'm in that 4.8%

 

[Kuro]

That chart is insanely confusing to me.

 

[ahoyhoy]

That chart is insanely confusing to me.

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Yeah they're trying to portray way more data than they need to.

 

[Bony Manifesto]

That chart is insanely confusing to me.

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God, I'm glad I'm not the only one!

 

[pokeystaples]

That chart is insanely confusing to me.

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Same. It seems unnecessarily confusing, but it looks damn cool.

 

[Instro]

Just based on the fact that 12% of the U.S. population is black should mean at least 1 in every 10 writers should be black. Good on Netflix and ABC.

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In theory yes, but it depends if that ratio holds true in states where Hollywood studios would be most heavily recruiting I suppose.

 

[Aureon]

I have no goddamn clue what the chart is trying to say.

 

[Alternade]

Seems right when 95.2% of TV is white

 

[Deepwater]

The first column is color coding the amount of shows that have X amount of black writers. So pink is 0 black writers, light pink is 1 writer, light blue is 2-4 writers, and blue is 5+ writers. Using Netflix as an example, 26 Netflix shows have 0 black writers, seven have 1 black writer, two have 2-4 black writers, and 1 has 5+ black writers.

The second column is also a bit confusing but it's using the same color coding. For netflix, 43% of shows have 0 writers of color, 27% have 1, 16% have 2-4, and 14% have 5+ writers of color. Same thing with women

 

[Deleted member 6230]

In theory yes, but it depends if that ratio holds true in states where Hollywood studios would be most heavily recruiting I suppose.

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Yeah. If theyre recruiting writing talent in the coastal cities + Atlanta where more black people happen to live then that 12% population stat isn't anything to really go by

 

[Aceun]

It's fascinating that network TV (ABC, NBC, CBS) are all doing better at this than their Cable counterparts. Kudos to Netflix for always striving for diverse content and taking risk. Hulu should be in the same boat as Netflix, but sadly this isn't the case.

 

[Slayven]

It's fascinating that network TV (ABC, NBC, CBS) are all doing better at this than their Cable counterparts. Kudos to Netflix for always striving for diverse content and taking risk. Hulu should be in the same boat as Netflix, but sadly this isn't the case.

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To quote a wise old man "Hulu only exists to keep content off Netflix"

 

[Deleted member 18514]

Where is BET? Do they have any scripted shows? Presumably they would trend heavily the other way but It'd be nice to know for sure.

Going forward what is the best course? Dedicated "ethnic" outlets (BET, Telemundos, etc) or continue to try to break into an increasingly splintered "mainstream media" market?

 

[Kaitos]

Like half of our staff is POC.

The real scary stat for this would be if you cut out any lower level writer and just did upper levels.