A+E Networks, Amazon Studios, Banijay Americas, Warner Bros. Discovery Join ‘Coded For Inclusion’ Diversity Hiring Initiative

Denise Petski
·3 min read

A+E Networks, Amazon Studios, Banijay Americas and Warner Bros. Discovery have all signed on to Coded For Inclusion, an initiative that aims to disrupt biased hiring systems in the industry by providing their productions access to the leading industry hiring platform, Staff Me Up.

The effort, launched last year to address diversity shortcomings in Hollywood, is endorsed by Color Of Change and led by organizations including Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society Fellowship, Hue You Know, AMC Networks and Endeavor Content.

More from Deadline

The idea of the initiative is to remove barriers to entry for job seekers from historically excluded groups, including BIPOC, Women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and active military/veterans, to ensure studios and production houses have a direct pipeline to candidates. The additional partnerships with A+E Networks, Amazon Studios, Banijay Americas and Warner Bros Discovery will support further expansion into scripted production.

“We’re thrilled to welcome A+E Networks, Amazon Studios, Banijay Americas, and Warner Bros. Discovery on board. It is our goal with these partnerships to increase the visibility of job opportunities in the industry while providing productions an easily adaptable infrastructure to diversify their talent pools and break down the barriers of entry into Hollywood,” said Daniel Rosenberg, Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Alliances, Staff Me Up.

“A+E Networks has long been committed to diverse representation in all roles – in front of and behind the camera – and we’re excited to uncover and be paired with underrepresented talent through Staff Me Up,” said Karen Gray, CHRO and Chief Diversity Officer, A+E Networks. “Our content across all of our platforms will be enhanced by this innovative solution that is helping the industry move forward.”

“Our support of Coded For Inclusion is aligned with our commitment to a more inclusive Hollywood, one that reflects the diversity of our world today,” said Latasha Gillespie, head of global DEI at Amazon Studios, Prime Video and IMDb. “To foster high performing and inclusive sets, we need to attract and hire the best talent. We are thrilled to extend this resource to our creative partners so they have improved access to high caliber, talented individuals.”

“At Banijay Americas, we are focused on building partnerships that translate into real jobs and meaningful change in the industry—those that help us deliver on our commitment to reflecting the rich diversity of our audiences both onscreen and behind the scenes on our sets,” said Karla Pita Loor, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Inclusion and Social Responsibility, Banijay Americas. “We are proud to broaden our work with Staff Me Up by investing in the Coded for Inclusion initiative, powered by Hue You Know and Color of Change, to ensure ongoing growth of the hiring platform as well as expanded access to the most highly skilled talent in the business.”

“Warner Bros. Discovery is proud to partner with Staff Me Up and support the Coded for Inclusion project. We believe that every role on a set contributes to the product and it is why we are committed to diversifying the people powering our content behind the scenes in order to be the most representative of the audience,” said Samata Narra, Senior Vice President, Equity and Inclusion, Content, Warner Bros. Discovery.

Staff Me Up has more than 380,000 crew profiles listed on its hiring platform, including over 100,000 who represent underrepresented groups.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.