A Disney executive said the company has passed on “well-written” television shows that did not meet its inclusivity and diversity standards.
Dana Walden, Walt Disney Television’s chairwoman of entertainment, said that the network declined to pick up a show about a white family in which diversity would come from the supporting characters.
“That’s not going to get on the air anymore because that’s not what our audience wants,” Walden told TIME contributor Janice Min at an April panel discussion hosted by Chapman University and Glamour. “That’s not a reflection of our audience, and I feel good about the direction we’re moving.”
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ABC, which is owned by Walt Disney, unveiled diversity standards in September, which are intended to make the company’s content as “inclusive as possible,” according to Simran Sethi, the company’s executive vice president of development and content.
“We want to take this moment to evaluate systems and habits in an effort to remove barriers to access and opportunity.” Sethi wrote in an email to producers, showrunners, casting directors, and executives. “It’s important for us to look around the room, see who’s not there, and then take the steps to not only bring them in, but also set them up for success.”
Among other standards, the guidelines include requirements for 50% of actors and 50% of characters on ABC programs to represent “underrepresented groups.” The document outlines similar standards for directors, producers, writers, and other crew members.
Walden also announced that Hulu, an online streaming service that Disney acquired a majority stake in after purchasing 21st Century Fox, will debut programming specifically created for ethnic minority audiences. The effort, led by Tara Duncan, the president of Freeform, will feature content created by minority “storytellers” and will be “curated by executives of color [and] high-level leaders” at Disney.
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In the wake of the death of George Floyd and the nationwide Black Lives Matter marches that followed, television networks have made concerted efforts to increase programming targeted at ethnic minorities and to increase minority representation in casts and production staffs.
For the 2021-2022 television season, CBS pledged to spend 25% of its development budget on productions created by people of color. By the 2022-2023 season, the network aims to have 50% of the staff in its writers’ rooms identify as people of color.
