An Open Letter to Hollywood [Video]

Our #ChangeHollywood Writers’ Room Database will help Hollywood leaders find the experts needed to inform authentic and anti-racist portrayals of Black people and communities.

Each expert is committed to racial equity and we have made every effort to ensure that these experts are capable of making a highly valuable contribution to the writers’ room. Interested in learning more about this initiative and our commitment to racial equity on and off-screen? Visit our database at changeindustries.org/changehollywood

Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)

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as an activist organization color of
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change saw a real problem in the
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industry we saw that for lots of
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productions the only people who were
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being
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consulted were people who are really
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actually doing harm in black communities
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instead of people with the direct
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experience of how to keep our community
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safe take one marker
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the writer’s room database was
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envisioned as a way to offset that
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imbalance to really make sure that
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there’s a range of people being
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consulted so we have a range of
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important storytelling my name is sunil
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nair i’m a tv writer and producer it’s
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so easy to accidentally be a part of the
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problem i’ve seen the results on the
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shows like revenge in csi miami that i
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did where i
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i have trouble seeing some of that
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content now because it’s really
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it’s fed into the problems of the
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narratives that tv tells all too often
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and that we’re still looking to break so
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that shows you the problem that there is
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the entertainment
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took precedence
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over
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the people who are creating the
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entertainment there’s responsibility to
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both get the stories right but then also
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to get right the people who are helping
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you tell all those stories we’re working
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with you my name is cheryl dorsey i’m a
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retired 20-year veteran of the los
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angeles police department my name is
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josie duffy rice i am a writer who
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focuses on the criminal justice system
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my name is dr ruth arumala and i am a
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board certified ob gyn i am an expert in
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women’s health wellness and beauty when
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we bring writer’s room consultants into
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a writer’s room we really can see a 360
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change in a story line they’ll maybe
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point out inconsistencies
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in how people are represented they might
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point out stereotypes they could even
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point out ways that the story is
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misrepresenting a community it can
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change the whole story arc or it can
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change something small it’s critical to
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realize we don’t know the stories of all
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the people that we’re trying to tell and
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to really reach out to those whose
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narratives are compelling and who are
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also telling us the stories in ways that
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you’re not seeing on tv because you know
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i’ve been for many years a part of the
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problem got a chance to work on the red
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line which is where i first worked with
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color of change because it was a show
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about the shooting of a of a gay black
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doctor in chicago by a white cop and
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sort of the aftermath for all of the
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people involved in that shooting and so
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we all when we started the show and we
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reached out to organizations we reached
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out to human beings we reached out to
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victims of police violence to just
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see if they were willing to share their
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stories with us so that we could make
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sure we were both being responsible and
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legitimate to the people whose stories
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we were representing on screen i started
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doing this work six or seven years ago i
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recently was a staff writer on a show
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called the premise and my episode is
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about the criminal justice system from
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movies to podcasts to other kind of
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creative productions that are made by
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people who maybe don’t spend all their
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time in the criminal justice system like
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i do they’ll often bring me in and ask
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me to
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kind of give them guidance about how
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they can more accurately portray what
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actually happens in the criminal justice
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system versus what you usually see on tv
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i spent 20 years on the los angeles
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police department being a black woman
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and a mother
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of four black men uniquely positions me
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to have a very different perspective on
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law enforcement work i would hope that
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having subject matter experts would
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somehow create an environment that is
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more conducive to black folks surviving
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police encounters black folks being able
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to engage in a respectful and healthy
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way where at the end of that encounter
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everybody gets to go home safely
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having someone like me who’s an expert
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that can bridge that gap from the story
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that you want to tell to the story that
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you should be telling is very very
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powerful i am a black woman i take care
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of black women i take care of all women
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but particularly i take care of black
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women and that can give us steps towards
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reducing health disparities that is so
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important because part of reducing
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health disparities is improving health
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literacy and we can improve health
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literacy by telling accurate stories
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this is the first database that really
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includes vetted individuals who you know
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will be able to work with your team it’s
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also the first list that’s really
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focused on racial justice and making
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sure that there is a diverse set of
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experts consulting with you on any story
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line that includes black people
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i think what color of change has done
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with the database is really remarkable
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and incredibly necessary because the
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other barrier for people who want to
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tell the right stories is how do i find
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the people who can tell these stories i
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think it’s a resource that is a gift to
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both
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my work and also much more frankly to
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hollywood and really gives an
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opportunity
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to
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open up access to
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two directors two writers to make sure
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that they’re really telling better
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stories if you work in hollywood and
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you’ve ever said black lives matter if
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you’ve ever put up a post about a
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movement for racial justice
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you’ve put your values sort of out there
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in words now it’s really time to put
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action behind those words writer’s room
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database allows you to start building
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stories that are more racially just that
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align with your stated values and that’s
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really what we want to see we can’t just
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talk we have to be about action

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This post was previously published on YouTube.

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