A Conversation With TIME’S UP: Making the entertainment industry more inclusive

Topics of safe work environments, women filmmakers and diversity initiatives in the entertainment industry were examined during the conversation between the School of Dramatic Arts and TIME’S UP Thursday.

Entertainment Industry Director Ngoc Nguyen and TIME’S UP Senior Program Manager Michelle Jones Simms offered wisdom and advice to students covering everything from confidence to being a male ally. 

TIME’S UP is a movement that was founded in Jan. 2018 by over 300 women in the entertainment industry. Pursuant to combatting sexual harassment, TIME’S UP works to create fair, secure and dignified work environments for women of all kinds. 

Ngyuen and Jones Simms were introduced by Megan Colligan, current member of the TIME’S UP entertainment board and the School of Dramatic Arts Board of Councilors, who has been working in the entertainment industry for over 25 years. Colligan stated that her work on TIME’s UP has been some of the most rewarding she’s ever done.

“I’ve spent over 25 years in the entertainment industry and watching the organic development of [TIME’S UP],” Colligan said. “And watching the things that I sort of fundamentally believed in manifest themselves and watch rooms full of women share experiences [and] put names to behavior that they no longer were willing to tolerate.”

Nguyen discussed the 4% challenge, which is an initiative that advocates for women directors. Through a study conducted by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative in 2017, the foundation learned that only 4% percent of the directors of the decade’s thousand highest-grossing films were women. Nguyen notes the importance of this initiative in increasing representation of women in leadership roles. 

To continue building more support for women in the industry, Nyugen also discussed a public service announcement launched last year, with support from Google and YouTube, that highlights below the line roles and other viable careers available to women. 

TIME’S UP conducted a study with Dr. Stacy Smith that highlighted the need for women, specifically women of color, in leadership roles.

“One of the key findings of the study was if you had a woman, and particularly a woman of color on the programming staff, it elevated the number of underrepresented films across the board for filmmakers,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen and Jones Simms said this was critical in creating space at the table for women of color in the industry. 

Additionally, Jones Simms examined a two-year pilot program called “Who’s In The Room.” The program includes many components from mentorship, production, budgeting, training to even money management. It was inspired by the questions of who’s in the room and who’s able to get a seat at the table. Within eight to nine months of the program’s start, they had 91% of the individuals in the program get a new job. 

“We decided that we wanted to create pathways to leadership for our next generation of individuals who are in that executive and producer pipeline, so that they can be creating stories and content that will look like the basis that we see here today but also most importantly that will shape the stories of people around us in our communities,” Jones Simms said. 

The conversation eventually shifted to the impact of coronavirus on work environments. Jones Simms discussed how companies are now addressing many of the issues — such as caregiving needs and the impact of household dynamics on one’s work — now that we are working from home. 

“For us, the TIME’S UP overall mission is safe, fair and dignified work,” Nguyen said. “Our three primary [goals] with safety, insisting that everyone’s safe at work; equity, which leveling the playing field for women; then power, which is disrupting the status quo.” 

Nyugen continued the conversation by advising the audience to be intentional and nurturing with your relationships. She emphasized the importance of creating an ecosystem of people you can trust, along with finding a mentor. 

“[Be]really intentional about who you’re bringing in, [be] intentional about having different voices, different perspectives, different lived experiences because that will only make your creative outlet that much more interesting,” Nguyen said.

The discussion concluded with a Q&A where students asked a variety of questions that touched on topics such as acting and production advice and gaining a seat at the table. 

At the end of the webinar, each audience member received a copy of TIME’s UP Foundation resources for USC School of Dramatic Arts students, including their Guide to Working in Entertainment and data from their Inclusion Initiative.