Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Building a Legacy of Inclusion: Results From Our First Film and Series Diversity Study

26/02/2021

Back to All News

Building a Legacy of Inclusion: Results From Our First Film and Series Diversity StudyTed Sarandos

Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer

Social Impact

26 February 2021

GlobalUnited States

The Netflix Fund for Creative Equity will invest in the next generation of underrepresented storytellers

Listen to the audio version here

When we launched our first TV shows in 2013 like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, we aspired to tell stories that weren't available elsewhere. Not only in terms of the variety we offered, but also the people and cultures we brought to the screen.

As we expanded into films and documentaries, we continued to push boundaries - celebrating firsts with talent from traditionally underrepresented communities like Laverne Cox, Rachel Morrison, Yance Ford, and Dee Rees. Stories like Dear White People, When They See Us, Atypical, Master of None and Nanette resonated with audiences who rarely saw themselves on screen. We thought we were making progress but were we really, and was it enough?

To answer that question, we asked Dr. Stacy L. Smith, the founder and director of USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, to study our US commissioned films and series over a two-year period from 2018 to 2019. She and her team are renowned for their work in this field, including the Inequality in Popular Films reports, which examines portrayals of gender, race, LGBTQ+ identities and disability on screen across our industry.

The resulting USC Annenberg report, out today, analyzes the makeup of Netflix's on screen talent as well as our creators, producers, writers and directors. (Read the executive summary here and the full report here). We've released this report in the interests of transparency. Because without this kind of information its very hard to judge whether were improving or not. And the report makes clear that while Netflix has made advances in representation year-over-year, we still have a long way to go.

Across 22 inclusion indicators for film and series, 19 showed an improvement year-over-year. We are outpacing the industry in hiring women and women of color to direct our films, and women creators to bring our series to life, and we have achieved gender equality in leading roles across our films and series. We have also exceeded proportional representation of Black leads, co-leads and main cast across the two years that were examined. But not all racial/ethnic groups saw their representation increase during the period of the study. For example, we still have notable representation gaps, relative to the US population, in film and series for Latinx, Middle Eastern/North African, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities. And we still have work to do in increasing representation of the LGBTQ community and characters with disabilities.

Dr. Smith's years of research - including this new study - confirm that inclusion behind the camera exponentially increases inclusion in front of the camera, and that both depend on ensuring that the Netflix executives commissioning these stories are also diverse. We recently released our first Inclusion Report about Netflix's employee population. Over the years, we've seen that to drive real change, we need to approach our work with an inclusion lens. That means asking more questions like: whose voice is missing? Is this portrayal authentic? Who is excluded? This lens directly impacts who is being hired both above and below the line as well as the stories we make for our members.

Doing better means establishing even more opportunities for people from underrepresented communities to have their voices heard, and purposefully closing capacity and skill gaps with training programs where they are needed. So we are excited today to announce the creation of the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity. We will invest USD $100 million dollars over the next five years in a combination of external organizations with a strong track record of setting underrepresented communities up for success in the TV and film industries, as well as bespoke Netflix programs that will help us to identify, train and provide job placement for up-and-coming talent globally.

Illustrations by Ndubisi OkoyeThe new fund complements other investments we've been making to find and train new, young talent. Like our commitment to the Ghetto Film School, Film Independent's Project Involve, Firelight Media and Black Public Media to help foster Black creators. And the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival's Latinx Inclusion Fellowship Series, which mentors Afro Latinx directors. We've also supported these efforts outside the US. In Canada we created a mentorship program with imagineNATIVE to support Indigenous directors, producers, and screenwriters, like Kiley May. We've also been working to develop training programs on our series like Top Boy in the UK and 3% in Brazil, which both invited diverse aspiring directors on set to shadow the filmmaking process.

We're committed to continue our work with Dr. Smith and USC, and will release a report every two years, from now through 2026. As Dr. Smith told me, she's not aware of another quantitative study that has this degree of nuance - setting a high bar for the wider industry as an internal audit is a critical first step toward inclusive change." We'll also look to do similar studies in other countries around the world. Our hope is to create a benchmark for ourselves, and more broadly across the industry.

Taken together, we believe these efforts will help accelerate the change that Dr. Smith has so long advocated for - creating a lasting legacy of inclusion in entertainment. We are still in the early stages of a major change in storytelling - where great stories can truly come from anywhere, be cr
LINK: https://about.netflix.com/en/news/building-a-legacy-of-inclusion...
See more stories from netflix

North America Stories

22/09/2026

ESPN, Precision Lasers Light Up NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas

The annual preseason content-gathering event brought 36 NHL players to Las Vegas, where ESPN used 2.5 kilowatts of laser power and a motion-control camera syste...

22/09/2026

Neumann Introduces KK 104 A and KK 105 A Wireless Capsule Heads

Neumann has introduced the KK 104 A (cardioid) and KK 105 A (supercardioid) wireless capsule heads, succeeding the KK 204 and KK 205. The new capsules are compa...

22/09/2026

NFL and TMRW Sports Announce Pro Flag Showcase During Super Bowl LXI Week

The NFL and TMRW Sports have announced a new annual Pro Flag Showcase to be held during Super Bowl LXI week in Los Angeles. The event will feature top flag foot...

22/09/2026

Washington State University Unveils New Daktronics Video Board and Audio System at Gesa Field

Washington State University has unveiled a new end zone video display and audio ...

22/09/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Disney's Dave Johnson on ESPN's New 4K HDR Distribution Pipeline and What It Means for Super Bowl LXI and Beyond

Disney's SVP of Live Operations and Engineering details the technology behin...

22/09/2026

Cosm Promotes Mazen Alawar to SVP of Marketing, Alexis Scalice to VP of Cosm Studios

Cosm has announced two senior promotions. Mazen Alawar has been promoted to SVP,...

22/09/2026

Mississippi State University Extends Camera Relationship with KOKUSAI DENKI

Mississippi State University's University Television Center has purchased four KOKUSAI DENKI SK-UHD7000-S2 cameras since 2024, with plans to add two more, a...

22/09/2026

Net Insight Appoints Christine Kjellvard as Interim CFO

Net Insight has announced that Christine Kjellvard will assume the role of interim Chief Financial Officer on November 1, 2026. Kjellvard has previously held in...

22/09/2026

Net Insight Launches Zyntai TimeNode Access PTP Grandmaster for Edge Sites

Net Insight has announced Zyntai TimeNode Access, a compact PTP Grandmaster designed for distributed edge sites. The product carries secure, precise time across...

22/09/2026

The Weight Explores the High Cost of Freedom in the Depression Era

Sam Hazeldine, Austin Amelio, Padraic McKinley, Julia Jones, and Ethan Hawke attend the premiere of The Weight at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park...

22/09/2026

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance We're excited to share an important update about the future of Apogee plugins. Apogee plugins are moving to Pl...

22/09/2026

SipRadius honored with a Technology And Engineering Emmy...

Parkland, Florida, US, September 22, 2026: SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, has been honored wit...

22/09/2026

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, brows and ears

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, bro...

22/09/2026

Chile's TV+ Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design

Chile's TV Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments URSA Broadcast G2 brings versatility...

22/09/2026

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments Image courtesy of Deposit Photos Business and ...

22/09/2026

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music Festival

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music F...

22/09/2026

New TVU Pocket Offers Broadcast Features In Phone-Sized Unit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Operative Launches Unified Platform for Advertising and Broadcast Management

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Element Launches New TiVo-Powered Smart TVs in the U.S.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

NOAA Taps Tomorrow.io for Improved U.S. Weather Forecasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Gray Media Promotes Tim Maloney to GM and Director of Sales at WBKO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Reports: Paramount Reaches Settlement with State AGs in Antitrust Suit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

New Research Lays Out Streaming Services Best Defense Against Churn

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Sinclair Expands The National News Desk

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Paramount Settles Antitrust Lawsuit over WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

U.S. Broadband Industry Investment Hits $92.6 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

NVIDIA Isaac ROS 5.0 Advances Agentic, Open Source Robotics Development

To build and deploy sophisticated robotics applications that can perceive, reason and act in dynamic environments, developers need new physical AI models and to...

21/09/2026

Manifold Taps Ryhaan Williams for North America COO Post

Manifold Technologies, developer of software-defined, FPGA-accelerated infrastructure for live production, has named Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer...

21/09/2026

SNS Wins IAMT Best Journal Article Award

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them,...

21/09/2026

MLW Announces Streaming Deal with Tubi for Weekly FUSION Series

Major League Wrestling (MLW) has announced a streaming distribution agreement with Tubi for its weekly series MLW FUSION. Beginning September 17, new episodes w...

21/09/2026

Adam Smith Named Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer at Disney Entertainment

Disney Entertainment has announced that Adam Smith has been named Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer, with responsibility for Disney and Hulu including product, engi...

21/09/2026

United Airlines and DISH to Offer Live Football on Starlink-Enabled Seatback Screens

United Airlines and DISH have announced an agreement to bring live professional ...

21/09/2026

SES to Provide Satellite Distribution for JioStar Channels Across India

SES and JioStar have announced a multi-year agreement under which SES will provide satellite distribution services for JioStar's television channel portfoli...

21/09/2026

Detroit Red Wings Announce Detroit SportsNet Broadcast Details for 2026-27 Season

The Detroit Red Wings have announced details for their inaugural season on Detro...

21/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America

Manifold Technologies has appointed Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer for North America, effective October 1, 2026. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Wi...

21/09/2026

DAZN Pick Up L.A. Kings DTC Streaming Rights; ABTV Will Continue as Local TV Home

Angels Broadcast Television (ABTV), the local television home of the Los Angeles...

21/09/2026

Inside ESPNs US Open Effort: Embracing the Cloud and a New 20,000 Sq. Ft. Broadcast Center

The 2026 US Open Tennis Championships marked a year of change with respect to TV...

21/09/2026

Behind The Mic: Andrs Cantor Joins Netflixs FIFA Womens World Cup Commentary Team; Doc Rivers Joins NBC Sports NBA Coverage

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...

21/09/2026

From Graphic Novel to 30-Minute Animated Film: What I Learned Building an AI-Assisted Production Pipeline

From Graphic Novel to 30-Minute Animated Film: What I Learned Building an AI-Ass...

21/09/2026

Liam Hopkins Builds Recording Studio with Blackmagic Design

Liam Hopkins Builds Recording Studio with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton September 20, 2026 0 Comments Video complements audio production with music v...

21/09/2026

Why Deploying Physical AI at Scale Demands Safety at Every Layer

Physical AI is moving rapidly from research to large-scale deployment. By 2035, ABI Research projects an installed base of 49 million level 3-5 autonomous vehic...

21/09/2026

From Enablement to Execution, Egypt's AI Ecosystem Reaches Production Scale

Today, Egypt's AI builders gathered in the Grand Egyptian Museum for a reception that highlighted the nation's rapidly growing AI ecosystem - spanning A...

21/09/2026

NVIDIA Launches DSX Ready to Qualify Power and Cooling Products for AI Factories

Every AI factory needs power and cooling that fit its computing architecture. As AI infrastructure expands, power, cooling, water, site and grid constraints are...

21/09/2026

AI Security Is an Engineering Problem - How to Solve It at Every Layer of the Agent Stack

AI security is an engineering problem. That means defined security requirements,...

21/09/2026

5 Companies Using NVIDIA AI for Clean Energy

Clean energy isn't hard to come by, but the pace of large-scale adoption has historically been slow due to bottlenecks - including out-of-date infrastructur...

20/09/2026

COW Jobs: Video Editor, Motion Designer - Remote, PT, 6 Months

COW Jobs: Video Editor, Motion Designer - Remote, PT, 6 Months Brie Clayton September 20, 2026 0 Comments Video Editor + Motion Designer (Remote | PT ...

19/09/2026

Two High Profile Professional Sports Franchises Renew cre...

Two High-Profile Professional Sports Franchises Renew creative.space Contracts with DigitalGlue NFL team and Major League Soccer Club cite ease of use, secure ...

19/09/2026

Limited Edition Audio releases VoxSplit Pro for overlapping dialogue separation and cleanup on macOS

Limited Edition Audio releases VoxSplit Pro for overlapping dialogue separation ...

18/09/2026

IBC 2026 Tech Moves Beyond the Gloss and Into the Rack

IBC 2026 Tech Moves Beyond the Gloss and Into the Rack If you spent any time in the halls of the RAI this year, you noticed a clear shift in conversation. The c...

18/09/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 31: Seattle Mariners Tim Walsh - Creative Content in the Emerald City

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...