Netflix Inc.
NFLX -1.21%
creates a $ 100 million global fund to expand the reach of underrepresented communities looking to work in the entertainment industry, the streaming giant said on Friday.
The Netflix creative equity fund will have a Five-year period distributed to external organizations as well as internal company initiatives.
Netflix has not indicated which specific organizations it would support. Previously, she was involved in Project Involve and Ghetto Film School, nonprofits that provide scholarships and mentoring to filmmakers of all backgrounds.
The fund is the latest of several initiatives Netflix has launched to increase diversity in entertainment increase. Last year the company announced it would donate $ 5 million to organizations that support black artists, advocacy groups, and corporations.
« Getting better means creating even more opportunities for people from underrepresented communities to vote and address capacity and skill gaps with targeted training programs where they are needed, « said Netflix Co-Chief Executive and Chief Content Officer
Ted Sarandos
in a company blog post Friday.
In June last year, Netflix announced that it would move 2% of its cash holdings to banks and credit unions that serve the black communities, while Netflix is co-founder and chairman
Reed Hastings
and his wife
Patty Quillin
donate $ 120 million to Black Colleges Morehouse, Spelman, and the United Negro College Fund.
The attention paid to diversity by Netflix and other entertainment companies increased after the death of
George Floyd
while police custody in Minneapolis and protests against social justice across the country followed.
The new Netflix fund follows a study the company commissioned from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, a think tank affiliated with the University of Southern California, to explore the diversity of its content for films made in the US and Analyze television broadcasts. The study examined 126 films and 180 screenplay series in 2018 and 2019.
The report gave Netflix high marks for gender equality in its films and films. The number of women and girls in prominent roles onscreen matched the population and was ahead of industry trends. Behind the camera, Netflix was ahead of the rest of the industry among creators and writers, and on par with directors, the report said.
Netflix had a strong representation of black characters, the study said, but the streaming -Service fell short on LGBTQ and characters disabled.
Mr Sarandos said Netflix believes that increased efforts and continued collaboration with USC to track its progress will create « an enduring legacy of entertainment inclusion ».
Ref: https://www.wsj.com
