The Oscar-nominated movie "Lion" is based on the memoir of Saroo Brierly, whose unbelievable life story was compressed into a two-hour film by screenwriter Luke Davies; UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center issued its annual report on diversity in Hollywood, making a strong case that on-camera diversity is directly linked to box office and ratings success; the WGA honored the screenwriters of "Moonlight" and "Arrival" at its award ceremony this past weekend.
Diverse film and TV casting makes economic sense, study says
Diverse casting leads to higher ratings and increased ticket sales, but women and minorities are still underrepresented in film and TV, according to a new report on Hollywood diversity.
The report from the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA looked at the 2014-15 television season and the top grossing 200 film releases in 2015.
The researchers found that women and minorities did make some gains in certain Hollywood jobs. Despite losing ground in fields such as film directing and writing, minorities were better represented in lead film and TV roles, and as scripted show creators. And women made progress in almost every employment area.
But across the board, women and people of color remain woefully underrepresented on pretty much every front.
The "2017 Hollywood Diversity Report: Setting the Record Straight" is the fourth report from the Bunche Center, which is led by UCLA sociology professor Darnell Hunt. He spoke with The Frame's John Horn.
Interview highlights:
On the report's finding that diversity makes economic sense:
Movies that, on average, look like American society — that is to say, with casts from somewhere between 20 to 40 percent minority — those films on average have the highest box office sales. And in broadcast TV, it's even more pronounced. We found that for viewers 18-to-49, TV shows with casts that were from 41-to-50 percent minority had the highest ratings. And then among specific households, for African Americans and for whites, majority-minority cast shows on average had the highest ratings. So, clearly, diversity sells. I think diverse audiences want to see their stories reflected, they want to see characters they can identify with. And right now, people of color make up nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population, and even a larger share of TV and movie audiences because they watch more TV and buy more tickets per capita than do others.
On the reasons why movie studios aren't making more movies like "Hidden Figures" and "Fences," which feature diverse casts and are succeeding at the box office:
The issue is the same old issue that people have been complaining about for years: Hollywood is just not structured to take advantage of today's market realities. And what I mean by that is, we're looking at studios and TV networks where, in the executive suites, 90-something percent of those executives are white men. If you look at the talent agencies, who are the gatekeepers in the process, who package 90-plus percent of all TV shows — put those packages together with the lead talent, with the writers and showrunners — most of those agents are white and male and most of their talent rosters are white. And so you have a situation where, even if they wanted to do better, the way they're structured, it's hard for them to do so because they haven't been very good at bringing in people of color and women who have the sensibility to develop the stories and the ideas that are more likely to resonate with today's diverse audiences. And so instead what we get are a handful of diversity initiatives that give opportunities to maybe 10-to-15 talented writers of color and women. When in fact, having an impact on the industry as a whole, it's just not happening. We're tinkering around the margins as opposed to dealing with the core problem.
On whether more diverse studio and network moguls could begin to change the numbers:
I think that's going to help. I mean, look at Channing Dungey at ABC [a female African-American executive]. I think that was an important move at ABC. If you look at ABC's broadcasting, their slate of programs is arguably the most diverse on television, and I think that that's really the future. So I think that other studios and networks need to follow that example and mix it up a little in the executive suites.
To hear the full interview with UCLA's Darnell Hunt, click the blue player above.
Dramatizing the already dramatic story that inspired 'Lion'
Among the movies being recognized at the Oscars this weekend is the feature film, "Lion."
It’s nominated for six awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (for Luke Davies), and Best Actor for Dev Patel who plays Saroo Brierley as an adult.
"Lion" is based on Brierley's memoir, “A Long Way Home.” When he was five years old, he was separated from his family on a train and found himself totally alone, hurtling across India. He ended up being adopted by an Australian couple who raised him in Tasmania. In his 30s, he goes on a mission to find his biological family.
Davies and Brierley recently visited The Frame's studio to discuss adapting the story for the big screen.
Interview Highlights
On why Saroo retraced his journey with Davies:
BRIERLEY: It's not fictional, it's factual. I think what's so great about it is that I wanted to take Luke back to India and go through the journey of everything that's happened with my Mom, to the place that I was born, talking about everything.
On the importance of motherhood to the film:
DAVIES: Garth [Davis, the film's director] said something to me at the very beginning of the process when he and I were literally sitting down with a whiteboard for a week. We sat there beginning to map out the structure of the film. He said, I see the two mothers as the spiritual pillars that hold this film up. Between those pillars, Saroo's urgent journey passes. And the movie is about him very much. But the spiritual foundation of the film is about them, the mothers. That gave me a sense of what I was trying to aim for in writing the screenplay — to keep the mothers very much afloat. The unconditional love of the mothers, the bewilderment and loss of Kamala waiting for 25 years. Again, it was that moment where I met Kamala — Saroo's biological mother — in the research trip and watched her weeping and felt all of her emotions and suffering and grief. I knew how the film had to feel at the end. I knew how the reunification scene had to feel. It had to be triumphant and transcendent. So I had something to aim for and it was because the mothers were at the heart of the film.
On the arguments over how to tell Saroo's story:
DAVIES: From my perspective it was like asking permission from Saroo in advance. It was like letting him know that we would be forced to take certain liberties and that it might feel weird because it's your life and it's not your life. At some levels I hoped that it was okay that, in real life, Saroo basically drove two or three girlfriends completely bonkers with his obsessive searching, which was five years, not the two that we compress into for the movie. For the purposes of the film, I think Saroo accepts that it's better and easier to cast one girlfriend — the Rooney Mara character, Lucy — rather than make the film really busy with relationship breakups and starting and falling in love again.
On how "Lion" showed an ignored part of the world:
DAVIES: The story is so profoundly moving and at the same time deeply improbable. Twelve months ago, when we were starting to see rough cuts, there was that moment of like, We've done a good thing! This is a good film! But it was still not back then a feeling that we'd be sitting here with Oscar nominations. It was still, American audiences? Subtitles? Five-year-old non-professional actor carrying the film? We were just happy that the film felt beautiful and good. The rest of it — this is a really pleasant surprise for me and I hope for you too, Saroo.
BRIERLEY: It resonates in everyone in some ways from every nation and culture. There are [someone] I was talking to two days ago and she told me that her father has never cried. He's about 82 years of age and sat there watching this movie and he was in absolute tears. You know why? Back in the days when the war was going on in Vietnam and he came to the U.S., this particular scene of being lost and losing your family reminded him of what actually happened to him. He lost his family as well. There are so many stories that are coming through on my Twitter of people resonating so well because they feel this has happened to them, but they've never been able to talk about it.
On the reactions from Saroo's family:
BRIERLEY: They were captivated because there's a difference between reading and drawing pictures up yourself. Your visual sense just gets so over the top when you see a film that you end up going numb. When my mom saw it, she was just over the moon. When my friends saw it — and they've all sent me messages, like, Saroo, you're an absolute testament to the human spirit. This movie is just amazing. We're so sorry that we didn't know about this.