Hollywood Inclusive

Guest Moira Griffin (producer, Senior Director of Diversity Initiatives at Sundance Institute) discusses how she connects people in her network to forward their careers and the mission of inclusiveness, plus her Mom’s while-in-labor dash to cross the border before delivery.  We talk politics, and we take some lessons from some happy recent stories in inclusiveness.

Guest DMA (executive consultant, former VP of Development at BET, speaker, author) tells us how she went from political science student to runway model to reality TV producer to software creator to Content, Branding, and Organizational Development Executive.  We visit a USA Today report card of TV network diversity, and we discuss whether celebrity political endorsements carry any weight.

Deron and Kirk share how they have BOTH gone to the ER in recent months on heart attack scares.  We talk some of our favorites in the new season of TV.  And we run through headlines involving Tim Burton, FOX News, Marvel Comics, and a live-action Mulan adaptation.

Guest XAVIER BURGIN (writer, director, and Twitter power user) tells us about how his need craft story lead to a colossal twitter following, and about his online encounter with Lena Dunham & Amy Schumer.  We discuss an article proclaiming the #OscarsSoWhite movement to be at an end, and we look at some studies that say not so fast.

Guest EVETTE VARGAS (showrunner of Dark Prophet on Amazon Prime) discusses her Hollywood path to 360-degree video and virtual reality with us, plus the role of athletes in social issues after Richard Sherman truncates a press conference, and should we celebrate the most diverse Emmy's ever?

San Francisco news anchor owns confesses his own racist moment despite his biracial family.  Is this a “brave” action?  And do we focus on the right issues when controversy arises?  Speaking of which, has the media done a good job covering Colin Kaepernick’s actions?  Does new legislation to prevent online databases from listing an actor’s age help protect their right to work, or just embolden actor vanity?

Is the female reboot a good thing?  Can comic book fans and internet trolls make room for gender and race changes in their movies?  Is the specific targeting of Leslie Jones a race thing?  And Kirk & Deron share their tips for writers to help encourage diversity and inclusion.

Deron and Kirk talk about alleged criminal acts of celebrities.  How does the media cover them? How should we as audience members feel?

Kirk and Deron say hello to you, our audience, and invite you to participate in the conversation about improving Hollywood & media efforts to involve all people.  We talk about a comment from Kenya Barris about the word ‘diversity,’ and discuss Ava Duvernay becoming the first woman of color to win a $100M+ film project.