The top screenwriters/filmmakers in Hollywood are overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male. This is not a cause of the lack of black actors in lead roles, but it is symptomatic of the same underlying problem.
In principle, the reason we should care about this is that it gives us less good TV and movies than we would otherwise have. In practice, though, I suspect most people don’t care about that. The real reason we should care is that it’s unfair to the talented people who are kept out of Hollywood by this system. And if you want to know why there aren’t more black actors in lead roles, you have to start with why there aren’t more black writers and directors.
If an aspiring filmmaker or writer has an idea for a movie or TV show, how does she get it made? Not by writing a screenplay and trying to sell it; that almost never works. Rather, she finds someone who can get it made (a “producer”), and works with them on developing her idea into something that can be sold.
In practice this usually means working with a producer who has had some success in the past—ideally someone who worked on one of the few hits in recent years that was similar to what she wants to do.
During the 1980s, Eddie Murphy was the biggest star in movies. He was also among the top-paid actors, commanding $7 million per film.
That’s not so unusual; what is unusual is that Murphy did not get paid a lot more than his co-stars, even when he was the only big draw. In “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984), for example, his take was about 10 times that of co-star Judge Reinhold, but that ratio is lower than what most top actors command. In films such as “Trading Places” (1983) and “Coming to America” (1988), his salary was comparable to that of his co-stars.
Murphy’s approach reflected a reality: Top screenwriters and filmmakers, who are usually white, can attract audiences more easily than top black actors can. When studios were casting “Coming to America,” they were willing to pay Murphy $2 million because they knew a movie with him in it would make money. They were only willing to pay his co-star Arsenio Hall $200,000 because they weren’t sure whether a movie with him in it would make money.
In what appears to be the first major Hollywood studio deal for an original script written by a black screenwriter, Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired “Another Happy Day,” a dark comedy by Sam Levinson that will be produced by Scott Rudin.
The story centers on a large family gathering on the occasion of the wedding of one of the sons. The movie explores the dynamics of such family events, especially when they involve divorced parents and their children.
Levinson’s father is Barry Levinson, best known for directing “Diner,” “Rain Man” and “Wag the Dog.” His mother is Valerie Curtin, who co-wrote with Barry Levinson films such as “Tin Men” and “Avalon.” Sam Levinson made his feature film directing debut last year with “Beautiful Ohio,” a coming-of-age story set in the Midwest in 1969.
This article is not about the Oscars and it’s not even about films—it’s about the lack of blacks in upper-echelon jobs in Hollywood. The statistics are startling.
A vast majority of films—85 percent, according to a recent study—do not include any black characters in speaking roles. In those that do, the most common jobs for blacks are “janitor, maid, prostitute or criminal.”
The most common jobs for whites? Doctors, lawyers, professors and CEOs.
The small number of blacks who manage to crack this world often end up working on films with relatively low budgets and smaller audiences.
The top 10 grossing films of last year starred only one black actor (Will Smith). And yet, despite these odds and the fact that there are fewer black filmmakers than ever before working in Hollywood, a lot of really great films have been made over the past few years by black actors and directors. Here are just a few of them:
Including at least one or two Black actors in films and television shows has become a common way of dodging accusations of racism and maintaining diversity. While it is important to have Black actors represented in films, it’s also imperative that we are given stories about our lives, not just the white people who we are friends with and love.
We don’t want to be your sidekick; we don’t want to be the only character who is written into your script/storyline just so you won’t be called racist. We want to be the leading actor, the star of our own film, because that is what we deserve. But more than that, we need to see ourselves on screen because we have been conditioned to believe that unless there is a white person involved, our stories aren’t worth telling.
It’s time for us to tell our own stories. It’s time for us to stop waiting for someone else to give us permission and a chance. We are fighting for confirmation of what we already know: Black people belong on screen not because anyone feels like giving us a chance but because progress demands it.
The first time I applied to Y Combinator we got turned down. The second time we got in. There was a big difference between the two applications, which was the person who wrote them. The first one was written by me. The second by Paul Graham and Robert Morris.
There are people who can write applications like that, and people who can’t. If you’re a good enough writer to be able to write an application like that, there’s no point in reading this essay, because you already know what’s in it. What follows is for everyone else.
If you’re a startup founder and you have someone good to write your application, stop reading now and go do that instead. If not, read on.
The biggest mistake founders make in their applications is trying too hard to sound impressive. They don’t understand that we already know they’re impressive; if they weren’t impressive they wouldn’t be applying to YC. So all they need to do is sound like themselves—sound like someone we’d want to spend time with for the next three months if we fund them.
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” – Mark Twain
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” – Mark Twain
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” – Gene Fowler
“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison
“I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.” – Harper Lee
“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” – W. Somerset Maugham
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