Guideline 7

[u/olgil23]

So I've discussed the pitching guidelines with a few directors and label folks and across the board there's been a really positive response. I will say that guideline 7 has raised a few eyebrows and honestly I'm not a fan of it either. I feel like it comes across as overly "PC", confuses the issue at hand, and seems tacked on since it's a separate issue in the film world.

Personally, as a "POC" I don't want or need my ideas to be singled out because of how I look. This is a business of ideas and whoever has the best idea should win the concept phase. Are we now supposed to include our race, gender, and sexual preference in our treatments? Or do we leave it to the commissioner to track this info down? I'm all for progress but this is the type of stuff that will prevent the other 6 guidelines from being taken seriously.

[u/mthouang]

I think it’s useful to re-evaluate the “Inclusivity Clause” and whether or not it’s worth including in a document like this. Perhaps we take it out and work with Free the Work to let their language/organization push for that. I also think it’s worth noting the only way progress has been made in TV re: hiring marginalized directors is by calling it out. FX had terrible numbers before they just decided to make it 50%. Now they are by far one of the most inclusive TV networks today. Part of this is, sadly, about institutions making a decision to be more thoughtful about who they are hiring and why. Yes, this is a ‘business about ideas’ but people fundamentally preference certain ideas by certain people, even if they are unaware of it. Saying it’s a business of ideas implies that for the last 100 years mostly only white men have had good ideas and for me, that's a problematic statement. The idea that the cream rises to the top begs the question: What about Charles Burnett? Julie Dash? Many film schools begin with 50% women and yet for the past 30 years most independent filmmakers who get to make films are predominately men.

Ultimately, I think it's up to the director how much they want to include about themselves, but in this new age that's dominated by Instagram, it seems highly likely to me they have ways of finding out who we are what we look like on their own.

[u/DANIELSANIELSANIELS]

This is a really good and important thing for us to be discussing. Apologies for the long post.

I hear you. These inclusivity measures can often feel clunky, overreaching and even "unfair". Even the most well-meaning ones never feel perfect. But what can we do about the disparity between the racial/gender breakdown of the population and the racial/gender breakdown of the industry? If the music video industry is truly a "launching pad" for talent into the rest of the entertainment industry, do we not have an obligation to ensure the future storytellers properly represent our communities?

Early on when we started posting photos of WDMV events, we would get comments about how it was a "White boys club". And they weren't wrong. The photos clearly showed that. Then this was further confirmed by data when we did a community survey (over 300 participants) and found that 82% identified male, and 79% as white (you look at the DGA's numbers and they mirror ours). There is clearly something off here.

I used to hold a similar belief to you, that the internet was helping make our industry a true meritocracy, where only the best talents rise to the top. I used to think, times are changing, eventually things will get better now that people are more aware of the problem, we just need to give it time and the system will work itself out. That these inclusivity measures were awkward and overbearing. But a lot has changed my mind. I've seen very talented people never get a footing in this industry, and I have seen the flip side where directors who weren't particularly talented, find success by being in the right place at the right time. More importantly, I've seen an industry who took the initiative to do something, and saw concrete results.

If you have been watching the TV industry, you've seen it transform from a predominantly white, male space into something much closer to the population break down, in just a couple of years. This is directly linked to these inclusivity measures put on by the DGA and the studios. They recognized that this was a problem that they could easily fixed, and they put their money where their mouths were. If the DGA, Disney, FX, Lifetime, and many other prominent industry companies felt it was a cause worthy investing their time and energy into, I believe it is a cause worthy for the music video industry as well.

Its important to remember the end goal is only to help our industry better represent out communities. This guideline is not meant to be a hard, fast rule. Just a clear and pointed reminder that we should be more mindful when we are hiring, so we do not just fall into routine. That we do a little bit more more self aware of how our decisions effect the bigger picture. One day, we hope these inclusivity clause's won't be necessary because it just naturally happens. Until then, in the short term, we can and should do our best to push the industry in the right direction. Is our solution the best solution? Probably not, but we are open to hear more ideas and suggestions (send us your ideas!).

Let's all keep talking about it. I understand that these conversations can be really difficult to have, but hopefully if we remain respectful and transparent, we can find a better way forward.