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LOS ANGELES – The Directors Guild of America today released a report analyzing the ethnicity and gender of directors hired to direct primetime episodic television across broadcast, basic cable and premium cable.
The DGA analyzed more than 2,600 episodes produced in the 2010-2011 television season from more than 170 scripted television series. The report showed that Caucasian males directed 77% of all episodes; Caucasian females directed 11% of all episodes; minority males directed 11% of all episodes and minority females directed just 1% of all episodes. Among one-hour series, Caucasian males directed 80% of episodes, and in half-hour series, Caucasian males directed 74% of all episodes.
The shows highlighted below are from major production companies ABC, CBS, Fox, HBO, NBC, Sony, Warner Bros. and other production companies whose shows appear on broadcast, basic cable and premium cable networks. They do not include series that have been cancelled. First-year shows are broken out separately because hiring decisions on first-year shows are often made differently than shows in their second seasons or beyond. Pilots are not included in the statistics. Shows that primarily hired only one or two directors for the entire season [Big Bang Theory; Eastbound and Down; The Game; How I Met Your Mother; It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia; The League; Louie; Retired at 35; Two and a Half Men] were included in the overall data, but are not singled out in the lists below.
DGA’s “WORST OF” Lists
Following are the shows with the worst records of hiring women and minority directors for the 2010-2011 television season:9 SHOWS HIRED NO WOMEN AND NO MINORITY DIRECTORS:
Title (Production Company) – Percentage of Episodes by Women or Minority Directors:
· Bored to Death (HBO) – 0%
· Burn Notice (TVM Productions/Fox) – 0%
· Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) – 0%
· Fringe (Warner Bros.) – 0%
· iCarly (Uptown Productions/MTV/Viacom) – 0%
· Justified (Woodridge Productions/CPT Holdings/Sony) – 0%
· Leverage (Leverage Productions) – 0%
· Victorious (Uptown Productions/MTV/Viacom) – 0%
· Weeds (Weeds Productions) – 0%16 SHOWS HIRED WOMEN OR MINORITY DIRECTORS FOR FEWER THAN 15% OF EPISODES:
Title (Production Company) – Percentage:
· House (NBC) – 4%
· The Office (NBC) – 4%
· CSI (CBS) – 5%
· Supernatural (NS Pictures) – 5%
· Good Luck Charlie (It’s a Laugh Productions) – 6%
· Army Wives (ABC) – 8%
· Boardwalk Empire (HBO) – 9%
· Bones (Fox) – 9%
· Cougar Town (FTP Productions/ABC) – 9%
· Desperate Housewives (ABC) – 9%
· True Blood (HBO) – 10%
· Dark Blue (Horizon Scripted Television) – 10%
· Castle (ABC) – 13%
· NCIS (CBS) – 13%
· Modern Family (Fox) – 13%
· Gossip Girl (Warner Bros.) – 14%The DGA noted that some series on the DGA’s “WORST OF” lists showed worrisome declines from their previous year hiring patterns. Burn Notice, House and Army Wives hired women or minority directors at significantly higher rates in 2009-2010 but failed to maintain the diversity of their hiring practices for the most recent television season.
DGA’s “BEST OF” List
At the same time, the following shows deserve to be highlighted for their more diverse hiring records in 2010-2011:SHOWS THAT HIRED WOMEN OR MINORITY DIRECTORS FOR AT LEAST 30% OF EPISODES:
Title (Production Company) – Percentage:
· The Middle (Warner Bros.) – 63%
· Hung (HBO) – 60%
· In Treatment (HBO) – 54%
· 90210 (CBS) – 45%
· Treme (HBO) – 45%
· The Good Wife (CBS) – 39%
· Drop Dead Diva (Woodridge Productions/CPT Holdings/Sony) – 38%
· CSI: NY (CBS) – 36%
· Private Practice (ABC) – 36%
· Rules of Engagement (Montrose Productions/CPT Holdings/Sony) – 35%
· Nurse Jackie (Nurse Productions/Lions Gate) – 33%
· Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 32%
· CSI: Miami (CBS) – 32%
· In Plain Sight (NBC) – 31%
· Mad Men (U.R.O.K. Productions/Lions Gate) – 31%
· 30 Rock (NBC) – 30%First-Year Series
Although the DGA study did not include shows whose first season of production took place during 2010-2011 in the “WORST OF” and “BEST OF” lists above, the DGA feels that it is important to call attention to those shows that have already exhibited unfavorable patterns in their first season with the hope that such attention will help encourage these series to consider more diverse hiring practices in the future.“WORST OF” First-Year Series
· Franklin & Bash (Woodridge Productions/CPT Holdings/Sony) – 0%
· Hot in Cleveland (King Street) – 0%
· Nikita (NS Pictures) – 0%
· Teen Wolf (On Site Productions/MTV/Viacom) – 0%
· Melissa and Joey (Prodco) – 3%
· Raising Hope (Fox) – 5%
· Breakout Kings (Fox) – 8%
· Harry’s Law (Bonanza Productions/Warner Bros.) – 9%
· Hawaii Five-0 (Eye Productions/CBS) – 13%
Separately, the DGA congratulates the first-year shows, highlighted below, that have already demonstrated a commitment to diverse hiring practices.“BEST OF” First-Year Series
· Let’s Stay Together (Breakdown Productions/BET) – 100%
· Are We There Yet? (AWTY Productions) – 86%
· Pair of Kings (It’s a Laugh Productions) – 50%
· The Walking Dead (Stalwart Films/Stu Segall Productions) – 50%
· The Killing (Killing Productions/TVM Productions/Fox) – 46%
· Body of Proof (Paige Productions/ABC) – 33%
· Pretty Little Liars (Horizon Scripted Television) – 33%In the 2009-2010 television season, Caucasian males directed 75% of the episodes surveyed; Caucasian females directed 11% of episodes; minority males directed 12% of episodes; and minority females directed 2% of episodes. While the figures remained static for Caucasian females in 2010-2011, the percentage of episodes directed by minority men dropped (from 12% to 11%) and the percentage of episodes directed by minority women dropped by half (from 2% to 1%). The statistics seem to demonstrate that as a whole, most production companies have demonstrated little or no interest or effort in increasing diversity in their hiring practices from year to year.
Over the years, the Guild’s African American, Asian, Latino and Women’s Committees have held meetings and networking events with producers, networks and studio representatives to introduce talented directors to key producers and television executives.
At the urging of the Guild, several production companies established diversity programs designed to increase the number of women and minority directors and give them exposure to executive producers and others who hire. However, these diversity programs have borne disappointing results.
“It’s not enough to just give lip service to the idea of increasing diversity behind the camera,” said Paris Barclay, the DGA’s First Vice President and Co-Chair of the Diversity Task Force of the DGA National Board. (Barclay also served as an executive producer of In Treatment and is currently an executive producer for Sons of Anarchy.) “These programs are so far failing to live up to their promise. So we’re going to take the discussion straight to the people on each show who make the hiring decisions.”
The DGA negotiated a new provision in its most recent collective bargaining agreements, which took effect on July 1, which will allow it to meet directly with executives responsible for hiring at the individual show level. Now that the Guild has completed its analysis of diversity hiring practices in the most recent television season, the Guild is scheduling meetings with individual shows to address the problem.
“We are encouraging shows, production companies, and networks when they weigh in, to offer opportunities to up-and-coming directors from all backgrounds,” said Lesli Linka Glatter, Board Member and Co-Chair of the Diversity Task Force of the DGA National Board. (Glatter won a DGA Award last year for directing an episode of Mad Men and is currently a co-executive producer for The Playboy Club.) “We’ve heard the excuses from those responsible for hiring that they don’t want to take a chance on a new director. But the truth is that the industry hires new directors all the time; it’s just that most of them are white males.”
DGA statistics show that of the 130 first-time episodic directors hired in calendar years 2009 and 2010, 78% were Caucasian males, 13% were Caucasian females, 7% were minority males and 2% were minority females.
Barclay added, “The question each producer needs to ask is, ‘Am I the type of person who makes excuses or takes action?’”
The DGA compiled the statistics for this report from information provided by the production companies to the DGA pursuant to the requirements of the collective bargaining agreement for episodes produced during the 2010-2011 season, and then made its best effort to validate the statistics with the production companies directly by offering every production company the opportunity to review its own statistics. Some companies failed to verify their statistics.
DGA Report Assesses Director Diversity In Hiring Practices For Episodic TV
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BET – 100 % LMAO
Boggles the mind, especially with shows like True Blood and Fringe, weird to see them on this list. I will say that I tend to enjoy the shows on the 30% plus list than I do the Zeros. House? Leverage? No thank you.
I had the same reaction.
Perhaps this has more to do with the establishment of studios and networks not willing to try out “newbies”, that is, take on new talent, whether it’s a white male or a minority or a woman.
I guarantee all the WORKING DIRECTORS have been working for quite some time, and aren’t new to the game. And this is important to keep in mind when reviewing these numbers. Because for a long time white men dominated producing, directing, and writing, sure. Most businesses outside of our industry – hell, just about all of them, were that way too. However, Hollywood is a funny little island unto itself, and Hollywood, unlike most other industries, hasn’t changed. And it all goes back to networks and studios being afraid to take on anyone or anything “new”. That’s what it is. So of course minorities and women may have a tougher time, because THEY WEREN’T ESTABLISHED 25 YEARS AGO — and awful Hollywood hates taking “risks” or “chances” (they see ANYTHING new as a risk).
With this, why don’t new, exciting young writers get staffed or get to pitch their unique ideas over “veterans” (some of which have awful track records)? Because at least the veterans HAVE records, and this makes Hollywood execs feel comforted, because they don’t want to take a risk. So the veterans, who are old white men, remain, and the newbies — likely minorities or women, who only recently (past 2 decades) have been seen as equal to white men — don’t get a shot, not because of the color of their skin or what’s between their legs, but because they’re new.
I hate this system.
Excellent points you make. It really is a system and Hollywood is gun-shy about taking chances or sticking with decisions when there is not immediate success.
But, women and minorities WERE established 25 years ago. The DGA just didn’t track the numbers back in 85-86, but there were plenty of minority directors (Georg Stanford Brown comes to mind — he’s been directing episodic television since the late 70s and even won an Emmy for his work on Cagney & Lacey in the mid 80s).
Also, as the report pointed out, “DGA statistics show that of the 130 first-time episodic directors hired in calendar years 2009 and 2010, 78% were Caucasian males, 13% were Caucasian females, 7% were minority males and 2% were minority females.” So, even when Hollywood does take a chance on new talent, the demos aren’t different than the demos for “veteran” talent.
The operative, though, is not figuring out why diversity isn’t happening. That’s a time-burner. Direct and transparent action needs to be taken now to correct the disparities, both behind the camera and in front.
I am a “working female director” who cut my teeth on multiple episodes of MIAMI VICE, CRIME STORY, WISEGUY and 21 JUMP STREET. More recently SUPERNATURAL, PARENTHOOD, BLUE BLOODS, NCIS: LOS ANGELES and IN PLAIN SIGHT.
Directing is the last bastion of this kind of sexism and discrimination; if figures like this were published in the fields of law or medicine, there would be an outcry and, most probably, a class action suit.
Discrimination is rampant and, as this report shows, has escalated since Michael Mann “took a chance” on me two decades ago. In my experience, it is not the networks or the studios who don’t want to hire women; most of the executives I know push producers and showrunners to hire women and minorities. Producers and showrunners hire the people they’re comfortable with, often their buddies who return the favors when they are producing shows of their own.
It is no accident that shows like THE KILLING and THE GOOD WIFE have better track records hiring women — with VEENA SUD on THE KILLING and BROOKE KENNEDY on THE GOOD WIFE, the showrunners are female and therefore make a conscious effort, walking the walk.
My work has always been regarded as excellent on action-driven shows as well as actor-driven shows. If you look at my work you would no idea what color my skin is or “what’s between my legs.” I hope that the DGA can put some teeth behind this report and that showrunners and producer will wake up to the fact that a good director is a good director.
But isn’t Weeds run by Jenji Cohen? She had O%. That’s pathetic.
this could not be more true.
I was gonna say you left out the fact that people like Stan Lathan have been around for over 30+ years directing. I tend to see more minority directors in film than television and it might have to do with the fact that most of the minority directors rarely get to helm the pilot.
I also want to mention that 100% diversity is not the way to go either. This is also a very unbalanced study because typically television seasons have themes, especially on the 10-13 episode cable shows.
We might need to see the numbers over a two year period.
For someone to have been established as a director 25 years ago, he’d have to be about 50 years old right now. Are most TV directors over 50?
Excellent report.
Odd that “Hot in Cleveland” does not have any female director representation and the entire cast is female. That is similar to The Golden Girls.
Almost every episode has been directed by two people, so it was supposed to be exempt. In any event, you’ll notice that the writers are largely women, and on a show like this, that takes precedence.
Haha – don’t expect “Franklin & Bash” to change their white boy only rule; by far the most obnoxious fraternity I’ve ever been around (even worse than Entourage).
This is a pretty irresponsible report for throwing in terms like “Best of” and “Worst of” without any sort of control statistics.
How many POTENTIAL directors are caucasian, female, or minority? What’s the breakup of people who applied for these jobs? If there are 2 minority/female directors and 98 “majority” directors applying for TV directing jobs, then 2% would be a good number. If it’s 50/50, then 30% would be a bad number.
Certainly 0% (and I’d even argue 100%) should be on a “Worst of” list if you’re measuring diversity, and maybe 30% really is the breaking point of equal employment for minorities and women, but you wouldn’t know it by reading this report.
Jeremy has an extremely good point. Kind of stupid “best/worst” list.
This is a very good point. I am a sitcom writer who has always heard how they don’t have enough black writers. So I worked on a show that sought out black writers and there just weren’t that many quality ones to find. OR even newbies with some promise.
Go to the good writing programs in film school and see who wants to do these jobs. I’m not stupid, I know there is some lack of diversity in TV and film but I also think that the percentages for different races wanting to be in the biz may not mirror the racial breakdown of our population. Just because there are 10% of a certain race in the population doesn’t mean 10% want to do writing. Or directing.
Hey Bitter J,
The reason it may be hard to find minority writers is because minorities want to go into fields where they have a chance of GETTING HIRED! If it looks like it’s an industry or field where they will be shut out or getting hired is as rare is getting hit by lightning and winning the lottery on your birthday, they aren’t going to pursue it. If the industry gave the impression that it was actually open to hiring minority writers, then more would go into the writing programs. As for “quality” writing, that never kept any of the white men who wrote for Entourage from getting hired.
Agreed! I’d love to know how many groups Bitter J belongs to where he’s the only white person in the room. A monolithic race/gender culture creates a hostile — or at least off-putting — environment.
The proof is in the number of successful black stand-ups in relation to black sit-com writers. Ambitious people do indeed want to go where they can succeed.
…so, some of the best stand-ups of all time have been black, some of the most successful comic actors of all time have been black, yet somehow, there just aren’t enough black comic writers for sitcoms? I’m sorry, sweetie, but that just doesn’t make any sense.
The industry is locked into cliques as homogenous as any high school lunch table. Unless industry folk actively seek out a diverse crew and staff it’ll be extremely slow to change, to it’s detriment. Viewership continues to decline, yet it’s still the 1950′s in Hollywood.
Jeremy wrote: “What’s the breakup of people who applied for these jobs? If there are 2 minority/female directors and 98 “majority” directors applying for TV directing jobs, then 2% would be a good number. If it’s 50/50, then 30% would be a bad number.” Directors are being invited to direct, they don’t “apply” for a directing job.
Depressing. As a manager who reps several female directors, I can personally attest to the frustrations encountered.
What is even more distressing is that some of the low percentage shows are run by female showrunners (Jenji Kohan/Weeds;Carol Mendelsohn/CSI)and many production companies and nets have women in decision-making positions.
These woeful stats are corroborated by other studies–notably this recent one re: features from San Diego State U:
THE CELLULOID CEILING: BEHIND-THE-SCENES EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
IN THE TOP 250 FILMS OF 2010
•Executive Summary
EXCERPT
In 2010, women comprised 16% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. This represents a decline of 1 percentage point from 1998 and is even with 2009 figures.
Women accounted for 7% of directors in 2010, the same percentage as in 2009. This figure represents a decline of two percentage points from 1998.
This study analyzed behind-the-scenes employment of 2,649 individuals working on the top 250 domestic grossing films (foreign films omitted) of 2010 with combined domestic box office grosses of approximately $10.5 billion.
I applaud the Guild’s efforts to improve these statistics, but it’s got to start with an attitude shift on the part of the producers. Most of you have heard the famous and funny anecdote: Ginger Rogers did exactly what Fred Astaire did–except backward and in heels.
So, what gives? !
Shame! Hollywood an equal opportunity industry, I doubt it!
out of the 70-80% noted, it be interesting to ascertain what the breakdown in percentages are for:
jewish caucasian males verses non-jewish caucasian males
jewish women verses non-jewish women
it is appalling that there really is a lack of diversity and if you look at those who are categorized in the caucasian male and female groups who are actually jewish vs. those who aren’t then the numbers are quite revealing.
I believe in equal opportunity for all races, cultures, and religions, but sadly, this is not the case in hollywood because if you’re not jewish, sadly your opportunity becomes quite limited and your voice – muted.
More TRUE diversity please.
The reason there are so many Jews in the industry is that we were historically discriminated against in so many other professions. The beginnings of the film industry coincided with a wave of Jewish immigrants looking for jobs and being told, “No Hebes need apply.” When television got started, colleges and professional schools were still capping admissions on Jewish students. For decades, if you were smart, talented, ambitious, and Jewish, Hollywood was the only American industry that offered an open door and an unblocked path to the top. So don’t blame us! Blame your great-grandparents for not giving our great-grandparents jobs!
As for you personally, if that chip on your shoulder is showing in meetings, it’s no surprise you’re not getting work. I wouldn’t try to run in a Democratic primary in Boston and complain there are too many Irish!
“curious” you make a great point. It would be interesting to see those break out percentages.
Maybe they should do a comparison on percentage people in Hollywood who are hired that have criminal records vs rehab stints? Where’s that study?
This is a useless survey. The industry is difficult to get a job in, no matter the race or gender. End of story. You can either cling to these types of surveys to make an excuse for your lack of success or you can keep networking, and especially, hope for alot of luck. That’s often what it comes down to. Do not under-estimate the power of your own attitude.
Can someone confirm the rumor that Warner Bros TV pays the minority director direct and it is not charged to the indiviudal production? This then would skew some statistics.
razoredge
THIS IS WHY I CHAMPION AND CHEER WOMEN/DIVERSITY DEALS THAT GET POSTED ON THIS SITE!!!
There are few deals that go to women/diversity and this is yet another example of that. This must change. BREAK DOWN THE WALLS!!!
Out of curiosity, the report would be a lot more substantial if the DGA released the overall demographic breakdown of episodic directors in their membership.
It’s the fundamental key to ascertaining the true level of discrimination going on here. If white men only make up 40% of the membership and are getting 75% of the work, then there’s obviously a problem. If they comprise 80% of the membership, well, that’s a different story
The percentage of the membership is actually irrelevant, as you do not need to be a member of the DGA to be hired to direct an episode. You must BECOME a member once you are hired, but it’s not a prerequisite. DGA membership or lack thereof has not stopped producers from hiring writers on staff to direct, or actors, or script supervisors — producers can choose to employ whomever they like, and obviously, they are doing just that.
@factchecker: Amen. Thank you for pointing that out. It’s a complete distortion to make the case that DGA membership is a requirement to be hired..as you so cannily noted, there is no resistance to promoting from within shows (d.ps, writers, actors, etc)
And to the ‘anon’ poster who says it’s a ‘useless’ survey, and ‘just have a good attitude’..please. When the numbers are this stark, you really think becoming Pollyanna is going to make the difference? Yes, of course having a positive outlook is important but no amount of networking is going to trump this sort of bias.
This is a systemic problem that must be confronted, as other posters have said, head on.
sheesh
I am a caucasian, non-jewish director who has been trying to break into episodic television directing for over 7 years, and I have been told on many occasions I cannot be hired because I’m a white male and the studio “mandate” is to bring on more diverse directors.
I’d be curious to know what the diversity breakdown of the entire entertainment industry is. What is the religious and cultural diversity breakdown of the talent agencies and studio executives? Maybe they should be “mandated” to become more diverse as well.
Reverse discrimination is just as bad as discrimination of any kind. We should not single out any gender, race or culture to “be hired” or not “be hired.” The caucasian directors who make up the greatest percentage of working directors have been directing for a long time and are extremely dedicated and skilled at their craft. Their years of dedication and commitment should be rewarded with work. Their jobs should not be taken away just because they are caucasian.
Diversity and tolerance are what make our country great. It’s also what makes our industry great. Hollywood is very tolerant. It is accepting of race, gender, sexual orientation and religious view points.
It is a difficult business we all have chosen to undertake. So, yes, let’s be conscientious and work for diversity and balance, but let’s not eliminate anyone from the talent pool because of their gender, religion or race. We all just have to work hard, stay positive and create opportunities. This is the wild west! There is no direct path to our chosen fields of endeavor. But if we hone our skills their will be room for all of us.
A good friend and mentor of mine once said to me “We should be finger-printed for doing what we do for a living!” It was his beleif that our work is fun and we should be thankful we get the opportunity to do it everyday. Here here!
I’m going offline now…I need to get some “fun” done.
“reverse racism” in Hollywood? Please. Look around. Facts and stats don’t lie.
@ searcher: if you were truly talented no studio would turn your down. You’d be sipping Perrier in your mansion while your personal chef prepared your vegan gluten free sushi.
If you need to believe that an imaginary studio mandate is keeping your broke then treasure your fantasy.
Yeah, they won’t buy your script because you’re a “white male.” Thanks for that, I needed a good laugh.
Diversity must be a dirty word in the business. It is still a business of not what you know, but who you know. The fact that white males and white females are the majority players, one wonders why other equally qualified talented and creative people are not given a chance to show what they can do.
Diversity is something executives look forward to talk about, but when it comes time to put the rubber on the road, gutless executives are nowhere to be found. But let them hear of a seminar or conference on diversity, and sure enough, the corporate minority spokespeople are out there representing their lily white organizations. As long as minorities are absent from decision making position within the industry, diversity will always be a nice way get away from the office and try to convince the press that everyone believes in diversity. “It is good business…we can always use good mail room directors and writers.”
How is this relevant? Talent isn’t any specific color or set of genitals. Waste of time.
Funny now i know the reason why, we are these female shows?
I feel bad for all of the white men itching to direct BET’s “Let’s Stay Together.” Maybe that show will finally open its doors next year.
That’s it, Alex? Just BET? One channel out of hundreds that serve the African-American community. Can you name another, you simpleton? Of course not because that’s the only and BET should employ the thousands of talented directors, writers, producers, and actors that don’t get jobs on the hundreds of channels that clearly DO NOT EMPLOY THEM. So take your little passive-aggressive, snarky, childish, racist comment and cry to your mama.
Ben, I fear you missed the intended humor of my comment. Obviously, it was meant in jest. I mean, how many white men could possibly be itching to direct Let’s Stay Together? (kidding, kidding! relax.)
All I meant was to point out how depressing it is that one show out of hundreds had all black directors. I was going for funny and sardonic as opposed to passive-aggressive, snarky, childish, and racist. Ah well…
QUICK FACT: 79.96% of the US population is white. But then again, 50% of the population is female.
I believe in diversity. As has been said here already, I think it’s important to look at the demographics of qualified applicants for the position. If 75% of applicants are white males, then it makes sense that 75% of directors are white males. But considering the demographics of the nation, it seems unlikely that something like %85 of applicants were male and another %85 were white. The DGA hasn’t really published the whole picture, but that picture is still pretty clear.
In a town where it’s less about your skill and more about who you know, it’s not necessarily surprising. Perhaps this can’t be changed for demographics of “veteran” directors, as said earlier. But we can definitely make a difference with new directors that are hired.
As for the anti-Jewish comments throughout this thread: I highly doubt that it’s hard to get a job as a non-Jew. Please show me a video recording of someone saying to you, “Sorry, you’re uncircumcised, so I can’t hire you.” Because then you’ve got a serious case. There a lot of Jews in Hollywood, because Jews STARTED Hollywood. But there are PLENTY of gentiles working in Hollywood. The statistics of how many Jews there are vs. Jews working might be interesting, and it might be true that Jews get a fair amount of work compared to their presence here, but I highly doubt that it’s “impossible” to get work as a non-Jew. Or maybe they just don’t want to hire you because they can sense your latent antisemitism. Tolerance for ALL, remember?
Interesting thread with many useful perspectives.
Another observation to note is that the very few tv programs that features characters of Asian descent beyond the token stereotyped roles. (Hawaii Five-O, Nikita) are not regarded very highly in the report.
It is a valid point that the number of so-called “qualified” directors MIGHT be limited, there are definite enough qualified directors of Asian descent to direct on these TWO shows.
At least the Asian communities have Ken Mok to lead the way!
It would be interesting to hear the comments and/or spin from the networks – along with the various media advocacy entities such as the Marilyn Tokuda (from East West Players) and Guy Aoki (from MANAA)-led Asian Pacific American Media Coalition – especially considering the recent and dismal “Media Report Cards” given the networks.
Include “GAYS” and “JEWS” as minorities.
Problem solved. You’re welcome.
It’s not just directing. Can’t wait to see how many minorities show up at the Emms (that aren’t seat fillers). Huge bastion of racism. As a black woman, just getting above a production coordinator has been like moving a freaking mountain; yet some clown like Snoop Dog, who fulfills every racist caricature, is landing deals for garbage.
The measure of hiring is based on the percentage of membership in the DGA. I remember several years ago, when tracking these statistics that all of the percentages were abysmal….except white males, of course. However, at that time, Asian and Pacific Rim members had been employed at a rate of 3% (in ALL categories) that is incredibly low, but at that time, they made up only 3% of the DGA membership. For that group, at that particular time, the problem was less about employment rates and more about the fact that there were too few Asian and Pacific Rim members admitted to the Guild.