While many studios and production companies have recently begun scaling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, Greater & Grander Productions wanted to take this opportunity to strengthen our DEI practices in media creation.

In this new year, we are committed to the below practices whenever and wherever possible, in a manner that will lessen the ‘otherness’ of some inclusion practices.

Production Leadership

Greater & Grander pledges to make a good-faith effort to ensure that the Assistant Directing team is at least 50% women or femme-identifying individuals. A.D.s plan the filming schedule and work with the director, director of photography, and other heads of department to ensure an efficient shoot. In pre-production, they break down the script, analyzing it for what will be needed in terms of cast, locations, equipment, and crew. This will put more women on the path of leadership on a film set, including the First AD position, line producing, executive producing, and directing. This was accomplished on our feature film last year, BULLETS OVER ANTEBELLUM, where 100% of the AD team was women.

Speaking Roles for Actors

Greater & Grander pledges to make a good-faith effort to ensure that actors hired for speaking roles will be gender-balanced (at least 50% women or femme-presenting), and race-balanced (at least 40% BIPOC), in accordance with the U.S. census. This is inclusive of voice-over actors as well. Unless there is a specific narrative reason to not maintain these levels of representation in a project’s narrative, we will do everything possible to meet these goals so that our films accurately represent America, and the world we exist in. It is also important for actors to develop a career, and generate sustainable income while pursuing long-term goals in Hollywood, thus helping to eliminate a financial bias where only certain types of actors can afford to live in Los Angeles while pursuing acting full-time. These numbers will be updated periodically to reflect changes in demographics according to the U.S. census, and evolutions in gender representation.

We will also work to cast actors to play the group, ethnicity, and/or nationality they are a member of, eliminating whitewashing and harmful stereotypes.

Promotion Process

Greater & Grander pledges to make a good-faith effort to ensure that all promotional materials will use the images of the most bankable and noteworthy star, as well as a significant BIPOC cast member (if that is not the same person), to help with promotion of the film. This will include posters, teasers, trailers, social media, and public ads (bus stops, banners, billboards, etc.). Promotional materials are often a key part of promoting an actor’s career and talent, as well as the movie they are in. By featuring BIPOC actors on the movie’s promotional materials, it serves a dual benefit of exposing the film to a wider audience, increasing the diversity of the paying audience, and also increasing the prominence of those BIPOC actors for future roles in Greater & Grander projects, as well as the projects of other companies.

Greater & Grander also recognizes that often promotional materials are determined solely by the distribution company, and not the production company (Greater & Grander) but we, as a responsible production company, will make a good faith effort to advocate for our actors and BIPOC talent.

Extras & Background Actors

Greater & Grander pledges to make a good-faith effort to ensure that background actors and extras hired will be gender-balanced (at least 50% women or femme-presenting), and race-balanced (at least 40% BIPOC), in accordance with the U.S. census. Unless there is a specific narrative reason to not maintain these levels of representation in a scene, we will do everything possible to meet these goals so that our films accurately represent America, and the world we exist in. It is also important for background actors to develop a career, and generate sustainable income while pursuing long-term goals in Hollywood, thus helping to eliminate a financial bias where only certain types of actors can afford to live in Los Angeles while pursuing acting full-time. These numbers will be updated periodically to reflect changes in demographics according to the U.S. census, and evolutions in gender representation.

Interns & Production Assistants

Greater & Grander pledges to make a good-faith effort to ensure that all interns and production assistants hired, in addition to being qualified for the positions, will also be women, BIPOC, or members of at-risk groups. An inclusive company internship program will provide a company with access to top, diverse talent from a wide range of backgrounds, as well as a stronger and more refined company culture that embraces inclusivity and nurtures talent in the right ways. It will also help provide needed experience to interns, as well as value to their resumes, giving them additional advantages while pursuing long-term goals in Hollywood, thus helping to eliminate a financial bias where only certain types of individuals can afford to live in Los Angeles while pursuing a full-time career in Hollywood.

When financially feasible, Greater & Grander will begin paying its interns as well.

Development Process

To ensure we are providing adequate representation, every film we evaluate for development will begin with asking these key evaluation questions based on industry-accepted standards.

1. Russo Test: Does the story contain a character that is identifiably L, G, B, or T; and is that character NOT solely or predominantly defined by their orientation or gender identity; and is the character tied into the plot in such a way that their removal would have a significant effect?
2. Bechdel Test: Is there at least one scene where two female characters talk to each other, about something other than a man?
3. Sphinx Test: Is every character proactive in the story, and not reactive?
4. Latif Test: Does the story feature two named BIPOC characters with lines of dialogue, who are not romantically involved with each other and don’t talk about comforting or supporting a white character? 
5. Magic Minority Test: Does the supporting minority character have a past or backstory, appear to have a motivation that is NOT helping the broken white person, and are NOT defined as wise/magical/‘close to the earth’?
6. DuVernay Test: Do the BIPOC characters have fully realized lives rather than serving as scenery in white stories?

These questions will be placed on the Greater & Grander coverage template for readers to provide their evaluations in a Yes/No format. A no in any of these categories is not an automatic rejection but will be a sign of the overall DEI composure of the script/material, and those DEI notes will be provided to the writer.

These tests and evaluations will be updated periodically to reflect changes in industry and cultural standards and evolutions in representation.

Development Team Members

In addition to the materials, Greater & Grander as a production company develops lists of actors, writers, and directors to maintain a database of talented writers and directors they can potentially collaborate in the future.

Greater & Grander pledges to make a good-faith effort to ensure that lists for talent partners will be gender-balanced (at least 50% women or femme-presenting), and race-balanced (at least 40% BIPOC), in accordance with the U.S. census.

This pool of creative professionals can be a valuable resource when seeking fresh and diverse perspectives for projects.

These lists are also beneficial by identifying individuals with expertise in particular genres or styles, they can ensure a better fit between the creative vision and the project’s requirements. Inclusion and diversity in the entertainment industry are important. Lists can include writers and directors from various backgrounds, ensuring that projects consider a broader range of perspectives and voices. This is especially helpful when tracking emerging talent. Production companies use these lists to keep track of emerging talent in the industry. This helps them identify rising stars and gives them the opportunity to work with promising newcomers before they become highly sought-after.

On any Greater & Grander produced series, where there is more than one director, an important goal is to ensure the episode directors will be gender-balanced (at least 50% women or femme-presenting), and race-balanced (at least 40% BIPOC), in accordance with the U.S. census.

Overall, these lists serve as a valuable resource for production companies to foster creativity, efficiency, and collaboration in the entertainment industry.

Lessons Learned

A lessons learned approach being a successful strategy to running any company, Greater & Grander will periodically produce evidence-based reports on the performance of media projects helmed by or starring women or BIPOC individuals, as well as other DEI initiatives we undertake. Given the cost of such studies, these reports will be performed as soon as it is financially feasible.

A key portion of these reports will be the updated processes and procedures we will implement going forward, regularly auditing and adjusting pay practices to ensure equity.

Mediators

To avoid a toxic workplace environment, either on set or in the office, mediators will be employed to resolve any crucial issues between team members, including Above The Line talent.

Additional Processes & Procedures

• Implement mandatory diversity and inclusion training for all employees. Include topics such as unconscious bias, microaggressions, and cultural competency.
• Utilize blind recruitment techniques, such as anonymized resumes, during initial screening.
• Use inclusive language in job descriptions to attract a diverse pool of candidates.
• Establish partnerships with organizations that support underrepresented talent in the industry.
• Ensure that production spaces and events are accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Do you have your own thoughts? Let us know in the comments! Or join our community of successful creators on Patreon!

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