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Ava DuVernay and Peter Roth are partnering to diversify Hollywood

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Kent Nishimura-Los Angeles Times

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Filmmaker, Ava DuVernay and Warner Bros. Television chairman, Peter Roth have joined forces to bring diversity and change to Hollywood sets.

DuVernay’s non-profit company, Array Crew, and her team have put together a database of below-the-line talent solely to promote diversity and  bridge the hiring gap for women and people of color in the filming world. 

Array Crew is a division of DuVernay’s company, Array Alliance, where Array Crew is already in the soft launch stage. The database features 2,500 profiles that can be sorted by crew position, experience, location and more. 

Basically IMDb intertwining with LinkedIn; only for Hollywood. 

Due to Roth securing studio competitors such as Sony, Netflix and Disney, to sign onto and invest in the project, Array Crew is positioned to be a resource for executives and hiring managers throughout Hollywood due to the ongoing push for more inclusive crews.

The database is free to qualifying talents that have one verified credit and open to everyone, mainly the United States, but there are plans to expand it to the United Kingdom and Canada next year.

DuVernay spoke to Los Angeles Times stating that Array Crew is adamant about pressuring more companies to expand their horizons and hire from a pool of candidates that includes more people of color than current options do.

DuVernay noted that recruitment influences are not always the fault of executives’ decisions in charge.

DuVernay has always been about inclusion especially in the entertainment world. In 2016, she requested that she wanted all female directors to help with “Queen Sugar” on OWN where she was the executive producer for the show.

“Every single episode is directed by a woman. It isn’t something that we see hardly enough,” DuVernay says. “If Game of Thrones can have all men for the last 3 seasons, Queen Sugar can have all women and show what a fantastic show can be made from our hands and our minds.”

As of right now, DuVernay says the pandemic is the perfect time to advance diverse hiring practices and connect crew members with hiring managers.

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