Behind the Scenes: The State of Inclusion and Equity in TV Writing

• In 2019, the Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity (TTIE) surveyed current TV writers to delve deeper behind the scenes into issues of representation, inclusion, and equity in television writing. Our goal was to discover barriers that underrepresented writers face in entering and advancing within the industry and to better understand the relationship between underrepresentation and inclusive story content.
• In addition to our analysis of the survey data, we aimed to provide substantive recommendations to industry leaders as well as tools for underrepresented writers to be successful in their TV writing careers.
• This year’s Behind the Scenes Report attempts to further understand the barriers that underrepresented writers continue to face, address how the pandemic has affected TV writers’ careers in the last year, and dive deeper into the process of creating more authentic and inclusive content. As we did last year, we intentionally aim to discuss issues of representation, inclusion, and under- or overrepresented writers, as opposed to issues of diversity.
• Although 2020 brought on a monumental social movement that drove Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion initiatives, following the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, the push to diversify writers rooms and address racial issues may be missing the mark. As our survey found, of the 37.9% of writers who witnessed problematic content in their most recent writers room, many of those who pushed back on problematic content or storylines were negatively impacted. In fact, underrepresented writers were found to be twice as likely as overrepresented writers to be fired, reprimanded, or not asked back to their shows. Even though risk was lower, it still exists for overrepresented writers, many of whom also pushed back on problematic content. This type of support from overrepresented groups highlights what it means to be an active ally to underrepresented communities. In other words, pushing back on problematic storylines about underrepresented communities is one of many ways to be actively inclusive and supportive of other marginalized communities.
• To truly create inclusive television, underrepresented writers need to be staffed in writers rooms as well as hired for paid development. Since last year’s survey, it seems that writers rooms are now being staffed with more women and BIPOC writers than before. Although this seems promising, the data may be somewhat skewed by “clustering,” where shows that focus on underrepresented communities are staffed primarily with writers from that community. Additionally, many rooms still do not include any Disabled, Deaf, LGBTQIA+, or age 50+ lower-level writers. As we move up the ranks, even fewer head writers (comedy/variety), story editors (animation), and showrunners (drama/comedy) are from underrepresented communities. This means that the increasing diversity we see behind the scenes is concentrated at the bottom of the staffing ladder. Top slots, where power resides, continue to be filled by overrepresented writers.
• Underrepresented writers not only face barriers to finding opportunities, they later struggle to be heard and valued once in the writers room. As reported by our survey, underrepresented writers were talked over almost twice as often as their overrepresented colleagues and were more likely to have an idea rejected that was later accepted when pitched by someone else. This leaves underrepresented writers in positions marred by bias and tokenization. As we have found in previous years, many underrepresented writers continued to be discriminated against and harassed or bullied by colleagues. Underrepresented writers were almost one and a half times as likely to experience discrimination or sexual harassment than their overrepresented counterparts. Most women stated they had experienced gender/sexual discrimination or harassment. Despite some respondents saying that overt sexual harassment has become harder to get away with following #MeToo and #TimesUpHollywood, covert forms of harassment and bullying are creeping into the workplace, especially with the shift to virtual rooms. As we will see detailed in this report, some writers have difficulty distinguishing between what is indeed considered discrimination and what has been normalized as humor or play.
• It is very clear, after this year’s report, that the television industry continues to be a place where individuals from underrepresented communities strive to achieve, yet due to barriers, struggle to succeed and advance their careers. Not only does this restrict underrepresented writers’ growth within the industry, it also limits the ability of studios and networks to produce the inclusive content that today’s television audiences demand. In looking to the future, it is imperative that the industry takes heed of diversity and inclusion recommendations in order to keep up with the demands of an increasingly diverse and inclusive society.

“Our data shows broad appeal across audiences for inclusive content on TV. Not only are viewers turning to television with the expectation to have their own identity groups represented, the content we consume is also a way to explore cultural experiences different from our own. Expanding diverse representation on screen is one part of meeting that demand. Ensuring we can move beyond stereotypes or tropes for diverse talent also requires we continue to diversify who writes–and edits–the story.” – Charlene Polite Corley, VP Diverse Insights & Partnerships at Nielsen.

Top Findings

• 73.7% of women respondents reported having faced gender/sexual discrimination or harassment.
• 58.6% (57.4%)¹ of underrepresented writers have experienced discrimination or sexual harassment, 1.5 times the rate of overrepresented writers (39.7%).11.9% of underrepresented writers who reported incidents of discrimination, bullying, and/ or harassment were fired.
• Inclusion seems to be improving for BIPOC and women writers. Nevertheless, 93.0% of writers said their most recent writers room had no Disabled or Deaf writers, 79.6% had no lower-level writers age 50+, and 25.3% had no LGBTQIA+ writers.
• Representation at the upper levels is still lacking, with 97.4% of writers reporting that their most recent writers rooms had no upper-level Disabled or Deaf writers; 56% had no LGBTQIA+ upper-levels; and 34.4% had no BIPOC upper-levels.
• 35.8% (34.3%)² of underrepresented writers had to repeat staff writer level positions, while only 24.2% of overrepresented writers had to do the same. While this remains a troubling disparity, this number has improved since last year’s report, which showed 49.2% of underrepresented writers and 34.6% of overrepresented writers repeated staff writer positions.
• While 25.0% of writers were praised and/or promoted for pushing back on problematic content, 10.5% were reprimanded and/or fired or not asked back. Furthermore, negative consequences for speaking out against problematic content were not distributed evenly across under- and overrepresented groups.
• Underrepresented writers were twice as likely to be penalized via the aforementioned mechanisms for speaking out against problematic content (12.4%)³ compared to overrepresented writers (5.1%).

Top Recommendations

• Collect, track, and review inclusion and equity data for all TV writers rooms, as well as within the ranks of non-writing producers, executives, and representatives. In addition to race/ethnicity and gender, this data should also include the LGBTQIA+, Disabled, and Deaf communities, as well as those with large body types and lower-level positions filled by individuals age 50+. This data should be made available, in full transparency, on an annual or bi-annual basis.
• Fully fund a neutral, 3rd party reporting system for bias, discrimination, and harassment that prioritizes and protects victims. Formalize and enforce penalties for offenders.
• Review and eliminate bias and/or discrimination in staffing, development, pay equity, and career advancement.
• Hire underrepresented writers at all levels for skill sets independent of their identities.
• Fire/stop hiring toxic and abusive showrunners, producers, and executives and/or learn to identify and solicit information to determine if new hires are problematic.
• Increase the number of underrepresented professionals in industry leadership roles (e.g. showrunners, upper-level writers, agents, managers, and production company, network, studio, and streaming platform executives – especially those with greenlighting power).
• Mandate management training for gatekeepers and individuals with oversight and supervisory responsibility, including but not limited to showrunners, upper-level writers, producing and episodic directors, non-writing producers, and executives.
• Mandate implicit bias, anti-discrimination/ harassment, and cultural sensitivity training for all writers rooms, showrunners, producing and episodic directors, non-writing producers, and creative/casting/production executives.
• Provide all writers rooms, writers in development, and creative executives support for stories about underrepresented communities that fall outside the expertise of the content creators on any given project. Please see the TTIE #WriteInclusion: Tips for Accurate Representation factsheets for more information.
• Provide paid development opportunities so lower income writers have an equal opportunity to develop content.
• Expand and fully draw upon educational and mentoring programs to support underrepresented TV writers at all levels.
• Provide a living wage for writers room support staff so individuals whose incomes are not subsidized by higher income families/partners can accept these positions.
• Create and communicate a clear path toward advancement for support staff.