This week, studio network executives, writers, directors, producers, and TV content creators are gathered in West Hollywood for the Hollywood Creative Forum (HCF) to share inclusion strategies and to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work throughout the changing media and entertainment landscape.
What Is HCF?
Produced by the Walter Kaitz Foundation—which raises funds through its robust grants program for initiatives and organizations dedicated to DEI—the HCF is over 10 years old and is a networking experience designed to help diverse creatives and creators get a break in the business by directly connecting them with content and talent acquisition executives from television and streaming networks, studios, and production companies.
Why It Matters
In following with the cable industry and the Walter Kaitz Foundation’s dedication to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, HCF recognizes there is a critical need to increase the representation of women and people of color at all ranks throughout the TV and film world in order to ensure that each person's voice is heard.
- The Forum aims to elevate the perspectives of groups of people that have historically been underrepresented while at the same time encourage them to tell their stories—in their words—on screen.
- An important way to do this is through providing those critical mentorship opportunities and professional development avenues that open doors for aspiring and budding diverse professionals in TV, film, and entertainment.
What's New
- This year’s HCF theme, “Staying Focused,” will explore keeping diversity and inclusion top of mind and consistent both on screen and behind the camera.
- The new agenda format aims to foster private working conversations for executives on how to integrate DEI strategies into their workplace planning—including their talent, content, and culture processes—while holding a separate session for talent on how to create the best content assets for today's marketplace. The Forum will also provide sessions for the two groups to come together for in-depth panels and networking.
- Network executives, including from TV One, Disney, NBCUniversal, and REVOLT TV, will lead panels on topics ranging from how to make a script stand out in today's competitive marketplace, content monetization shifts, how to make DEI central to the new content landscape, tips and tech of the trade, to the role of talent teams, guilds and industry organizations in elevating diverse talent.
Fostering Diversity Year-Round
The HCF is just one initiative that the Walter Kaitz Foundation and the cable industry spearhead throughout the year in their mission to integrate DEI throughout the business and to make strides behind the scenes and on the screen.
- The annual Kaitz Dinner—the industry's largest fundraiser and promoter for DEI—will take place on September 20.
- The industry's Diversity Week, an annual curated gathering that aims to create career-enhancing access and opportunities for women and diverse professionals, will also return the same week.
- WICT and NAMIC, industry associations that are helping to move the needle on diversity in the internet and television world, also support women and diverse professionals through their numerous programs and professional development initiatives throughout the year.
Read more about the cable industry's commitment to diversity here.