How Pervasive Is White Domination of TV Writers’ Rooms?

FEATURING DARNELL HUNT – Our perceptions are shaped by who we interact with but also what we see around us. Television shows have great power to influence American attitudes – for good or ill. And so writers rooms, where content is created, characters and plot points are dreamed up, are powerful spaces, particularly at a time when new spaces and funding have opened up on online streaming outlets.

But a new study confirms what many have known for years: Hollywood’s writers rooms are dominated by white men. In a city like Los Angeles, where people of color are nearly 60% of the population, they are nearly absent in writers’ rooms. Even though the city is more diverse than ever, even though there new and expanding platforms for diverse content, breaking through the race barrier in the writer’s room remains a challenge.

The study in question was commissioned by the group Color of Change.

Read the new report, ‘Race in the Writer’s Room’, commissioned by Color of Change, HERE, and for more information visit www.bunchecenter.ucla.edu.

Darnell Hunt, Dean of Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at UCLA. He is also Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA. He is also a Professor of Sociology and African American Studies. He is known for his annual Hollywood Diversity Report.