Please read the following ten steps and sign below, indicating you’ve made this commitment to be an ally in the film and television industries.
Any person of any race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or background can make the pledge to be an ally. Many of us have proximity to privilege and whiteness in different ways. Anyone is susceptible to enacting or aiding in the same systems of oppression.
You can sign the pledge as an individual and/or as an institution.
IMPORTANT: Please also encourage your organization to fill out this short survey as a first step towards transparency. One person (ideally in leadership or HR) per organization should fill out the survey. The results of the survey will be published on this site.
Realize you don’t even know what you don’t know. Others’ lived experience is outside your lived experience and, due to the negligence of our industry, largely outside mediated experiences. You cannot do inclusion work, especially as a white person, unless you start from a place of ignorance. If you do this work assuming you are especially smart and uniquely qualified (intellectually or morally) to do diversity work: automatic disqualification. If instead you start with the attitude that you have so much to learn, then you can begin, with the understanding that you will always be learning. Daily learning is a key action that makes these other actions possible.
Accountability. As part of doing work in inclusion, you have to be able to say: “Thanks for the criticism. I have some growing to do,” or “I made a mistake.” DO NOT USE A PASSIVE VOICE or pass the buck to someone else. You will make mistakes and cannot make progress without it. Making mistakes and admitting them are the basics of being an ally. You will not be alone. Everyone makes mistakes because the problem of inequity is structural and collective, not individual.
Organizations have to invest in and facilitate transparent accountability that will lead to necessary outcomes. Admit harm and make up for it with funds and direct support, not empty words and gestures. You could decide not to take action, but then you cannot call yourself an ally. If you do, your hypocrisy will be noted. That, too, is accountability.
If you cannot begin with #1 and #2 above, the best way to be an ally is to cede power and resign.
Share funds and hire BIPOC in leadership positions. If you are willing to do #1 and #2 above, the way to be an ally is by sharing funds and hiring BIPOC in leadership positions, as well as creative decision making positions (e.g. programming and acquisitions). Once these BIPOC are hired, you must ensure they have the resources (staffing, funding, travel) to do their jobs well.
Transparency is the outcome of accountability and will lead to other necessary outcomes. The first step is to fill out this survey in which we see how many Black and BIPOC workers are in creative and financial decision-making positions.
The next step for transparency is ending NDAs (non disclosure agreements). BIPOC in the film and television industry are talking, and our stories are the same. NDAs are a way of keeping those stories from being told.
Accept criticism as necessary for change. We demand contractual protection for staff to be able to make criticisms of white-dominated work culture at institutions without fear of retaliation. This feedback is valuable, and should be welcomed. Right now HR protects the institution’s reputation, not the health of the institution nor the BIPOC who are most often making these criticisms. There needs to be a transparent plan in place for grievances to be addressed, without repercussions
Look beyond what is available from distributors, sales agents, and major festivals. Our industry is sinking under a culture of lazy choices made by rote. Do your job by digging deep outside normal channels. In your monthly or weekly roster of art works, is a WOC (woman of color) director always included? Move beyond representation, who is seen on screen. Ask who is telling the story? Is it their story to tell? Are films by and about BIPOC about “racism?” Or do they express diversity of emotion, experience, ways of living, and artistry? How are the artists making this work treated? Who is anointed and do they look like the same people who came before? The first narrative is the story about the artist and their work. How are you critically and creatively approaching these narratives? And first and foremost, who is your assumed audience? If the answer is white and middle class, stop and start again.
Stop tokenizing. Through isolation, tokenistic hiring creates a culture of fear, insecurity, and competition. There must be diversity within diversity. You cannot only hire one Black, one Latinx, one Indigenous, one Asian employee. One person cannot “represent” or speak for a culture. You must hire more than one, and find variety in location, age, disability, education, and specific bases of knowledge among your BIPOC staff.
BIPOC staff are not an insurance policy against anti-Blackness or anti-racism. Their mere presence doesn't guarantee that organizations are then doing good work.
Evaluate the success of programs in new ways, not just numbers of attendees, but depth of reach. Merely counting numbers of attendees at events or participants in programs obscures the ways in which such spaces actively exclude BIPOC outside of “specialist” activity. How are the behaviors of your programmers and funders and ‘core’ audience contributing to a lack of repeat engagements (a better measure for meaningful change)? How do barriers to participation keep such numbers static over multiple years? How are you capturing qualitative data on BIPOC experiences both past and present? Are you ready to hear the ways that the events and initiatives you create alienate as well as welcome? What does engagement for BIPOC look like medium- and long-term for all your initiatives?
Pay BIPOC fairly (equivalent to white colleagues and predecessors) and pay BIPOC for any Diversity and Inclusion education work needed for colleagues, board, public, and audiences. BIPOC are hired as professionals in their field. Their knowledge is more than their cultural background. The burden of representation and ensuring diversity does not fall to them. If your staff does not yet have adequate numbers of BIPOC, the emotional drain of placing BIPOC staff in a tokenistic position could be compensated with PTO (paid time off).
Remember that racism is a byproduct of colonial capitalism, in which lives, labor, land, and resources were stolen. Generational wealth was robbed and replaced with inherited trauma. No racial equality can be made without being aware of wealth inequality. How can you help? Hire (and pay fairly) or wire (money). Right now tokenism can exist and persist in part because of the lack of autonomy and mobility produced by this lack of generational wealth that is, again, the root cause of racism.
Pledge Signatories
Last updated 11:45AM EST, 03/09/2021
Individuals
Jeffrey Abramson, Consultant (Producer / Strategist)
Stuart Adelberg, Avon Theatre Film Center (Executive Director)
Melanie Addington, Oxford Film Festival (Executive Director)
Tracy Alves, William F. White International Inc. (Director, Strategic Partnerships & Engagement)
Zia Anger, Independent (Filmmaker)
Olivia Antsis, Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival (Executive Artistic Director)
Emily Apter, Maysles Documentary Center (Cinema Programmer & Development Associate)
Hillary Bachelder, Backbone Films (Director)
Miranda Bailey, Cold Iron Pictures (CEO Producer); The Film Arcade (Partner); TheCherryPicks.com (CEO & Founder)
Barbie Banks, Ragtag Film Society (Co-Custodian)
Justine Barda, Seattle International Film Festival (Senior Programmer)
Beth Barrett, SIFF (Artistic Director)
Emily Bauman, Cincinnati Art Museum (Film Programmer, Moving Images)
Brian Belovarac, Janus Films / The Criterion Collection (Theatrical Distribution)
Laure Bender, Sundance Institute (Coordinator, Impact, Engagement, & Advocacy)
Bret Berg, American Genre Film Archive (Theatrical Sales Director)
Brooke Bernard, Belcourt Theatre (Development Director)
Samuel Bertino, Film Streams (Membership Coordinator)
Adam Birnbaum, Nova Theatre Circuit (Film buyer / Consultant); Avon Theatre Film Center (Director of Film Programming)
Tyler Boehm, Sobini Films (Vice President)
Kelsey Bosch, Walker Art Center (Moving Image Department Coordinator)
Dan Brawley, Cucalorus (Chief Instigating Officer)
Gavin Briscoe, Magnolia Pictures (Print Traffic Manager)
Ariel Brownstein, Pickford Film Center (Development and Membership Manager)
Mia Bruno, Fourth Act Film (Owner)
Andrea Canales, FilmBar (Film Programmer)
Clare Canzoneri, SIFF (Digital Marketing Manager)
Chloé Carcamo, Austin Film Society (Events & Rental Coordinator)
Heather Cassano, Spin One Films (Filmmaker)
Taylour Chang, Honolulu Museum of Art / Doris Duke Theatre (Curator, Film and Performance)
Gabe Chicoine, Austin Film Society (Marketing Associate)
Rebecca Richman Cohen, Racing Horse Productions (Filmmaker)
Camellia Cosgray, Ragtag Film Society (Co-Custodian)
Collete Costa, Gold Town Theater (Manager / Owner)
Lauren Coughlan, TIFF (Programming Coordinator)
Brenda Coughlin, Sundance Institute (Director, Engagement & Advocacy)
Philip Cowan, The Grand Cinema (Executive Director)
Benjamin Crossley-Marra, Janus Films (Theatrical Distribution)
Austin Culp, Austin Film Society (Director of Marketing)
Gina Cuomo, Denver Film (Director of Operations)
Hussain Currimbhoy, Master Mechanic Films AB (Director / Producer)
Adrian Curry, Kino Lorber (Design Director)
Christopher Day, Northwest Film Forum (Managing Director)
Olena Decock, Hot Docs Festival (Industry Programmer)
Jason Denholm, Loft Cinema (Director of Theatre Operations)
Lawren Desai, a/perture cinema (Executive Director and Curator)
Caitlin Drzewiecki, Freelance (Operations Director / Film Festival Consultant)
Ira Deutchman, Freelance (Producer / Consultant / Teacher)
Liza Domnitz, Tribeca Film Festival (Senior Programmer)
Gina Duncan, BAM (VP, Film and Strategic Programming)
Virginia Durost, Hollywood Theatre (Director of Operations)
Brady Dyer, Austin Film Society (Communications Manager)
Wesley Emblidge, Coolidge Corner Theatre (Marketing & Education Manager)
Philipp Engelhorn, Cinereach (Executive Director)
Moisés Esparza, Media Arts Center San Diego (Exhibitions Manager)
Jessie Fairbanks, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (Director of Programming); DOC NYC (Programmer)
Leslie Fields-Cruz, Black Public Media (Executive Director)
Rebecca Fons, FilmScene (Programming Director); The Iowa Theater (Development and Programming Director)
Isabel Fondevila, Roxie Theater (Director of Programming)
Adrienne Frank, Jacob Burns Film Center (Programming Coordinator)
Maxyne Franklin, Doc Society (Director)
L Fried, Seattle Art Museum (Digital Designer)
Brittany D. Friesner, Indiana University Cinema (Associate Director)
Josh Gardner, The Film Lab (Founder / Programmer)
Amélie Garin-Davet, Cultural Services of the French Embassy (Film Program Officer)
Lindsey Gerhard, Pickford Film Center (Marketing Manager)
Michael Gibbons, Creative Capital (Director of Marketing & Communications)
Leah Giblin, Cinereach (Head of Grants)
Kelley Gibson, Cultural Alliance of York County (President)
Beth Gilligan, Coolidge Corner Theatre (Director of Development and Marketing)
Deborah Girdwood, Walker Art Center (Moving Image Program Manager)
Alicks Girowski, Hot Docs (Volunteer Manager)
Stephanie Gozali, Coolidge Corner Theatre (Development Officer)
Paige Grand Pre, Jacob Burns Film Center (Digital Marketing Associate)
Doug Gray, Austin Film Society (Station Manager, Austin Public)
Jessica Green, Houston Cinema Arts Society (Artistic Director)
Jesse Greendyk, Austin Film Society (CDO)
Rachel Gregg, Big Sky Film Institute (Executive Director)
Zack Hall, Belcourt Theatre (Programming and Education Coordinator / In-House Media Producer)
Rachel Hart, Amherst Cinema (Outreach Manager)
David Hatkoff, NewFest: NY's LGBTQ+ Film and Media Organization (Executive Director)
Sarah Harris, AFI Festivals (Senior Programmer)
Crystal Hartford, Film Streams (Assistant General Manager)
Andy Helmkamp, Milwaukee Film (Cinema Operations Manager)
Ryan Hill, ArtsQuest (Programming Director)
Ned Hinkle, Brattle Theatre (Creative Director)
Maori Karmael Holmes, BlackStar Projects (Artistic Director & CEO)
Kent Hu, Lionsgate Films (Manager)
Vivian Hua, Northwest Film Forum (Executive Director); REDEFINE magazine (Editor-in-Chief)
Dan Hudson, Grand Illusion Cinema (Lead Programmer); National Film Festival for Talented Youth (Executive Director)
Akila Ingvoldstad, Milwaukee Film (Membership Coordinator)
Allison Inman, Belcourt Theatre (Education and Engagement Director)
Jake Isgar, formerly Alamo Drafthouse (Film Programmer)
Jonathan Jackson, Milwaukee Film (CEO)
Beth Janson, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (CEO)
Jay Jasinski, Freelancer (Digital Marketing)
Oliver Johnson, The Grand Cinema (Graphic Designer)
Ryan Kane, GKIDS (Manager, Distribution)
Nicholas Kemp, Kino Lorber (Director of Theatrical Marketing)
Sara Kiener, Cinereach (Head of Distribution)
Daniel Larios, Sundance Institute (Assistant, Documentary Fund)
Kerstin Larson, Milwaukee Film (Programming Director)
Toby Leonard, Belcourt Theatre (Programming Director)
Arin Liberman, Ragtag Film Society (Co-Custodian)
Wendy Lidell, Kino Lorber (SVP, Theatrical and NonTheatrical Acquisition and Distribution)
Elle Long, Belcourt Theatre (Membership and Administrative Coordinator)
Todd Looby, BendFilm (Executive Director)
Maria Lopez, NC Museum of Art (Manager of Film Programs)
Maggie Mackay, Vidiots Foundation (Executive Director)
Mary Magsamen, Aurora Picture Show (Curator)
Conner Makenzie, Film Darlings (Co-Founder)
Rachel Manning, Bullock Texas State History Museum (Film Programs Manager)
Dylan Marchetti, Variance Films (Founder / President)
David Marriott, Arbelos Films (Co-Founder)
Nick McCarthy, NewFest: NY's LGBTQ+ Film and Media Organization (Director of Programming)
Elise McCave, Kickstarter (Senior Director, Film)
Donte McFadden, Milwaukee Film (Community Programming and Education Coordinator)
Caitlin McGrath, Old Greenbelt Theatre (Executive Director)
Lela Meadow-Conner, Film Festival Alliance (Executive Director)
Gary Meyer, EatDrinkFilms (Editor / Publisher)
Leah Meyerhoff, Film Fatales (Founder)
Emma Miller, Concordia Studio (Development Executive)
Matt Molloy, Lark Theater (General Manager/Film Programmer)
Chris Moore, The Media Farm (Managing Director)
Mae Moreno, Belcourt Theatre (Programming and Marketing Coordinator)
Frank Mosley, Freelance (Director / Producer / Actor)
Alexandra Moss, Freelance (Documentary Producer)
Danielle Mouledoux, The Avalon Theatre (Marketing Manager)
Lucy Mukerjee, Tribeca Film Festival (Senior Programmer)
George W. Myers, Amherst Cinema (General Manager)
Diarah N'Daw-Spech, ArtMattan Productions / ADIFF (Co-Founder)
Karina Nagin, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (Executive Director)
Andrew Neel, Radiant Films International (Acquisitions & Sales Coordinator)
Celine Negrete, Onyx Theatre (General Manager)
Rachel Malia Newkirk, Freelance (Programming and Social Media Specialist)
Rachel Manning, Bullock Museum (Film Programs Manager)
Brian Newman, Freelance (Consultant)
Tara Violet Niami, Freelance (Cinematographer)
David Ninh, Kino Lorber (Director of Press & Publicity)
Bryce Norbitz, Tribeca Film Institute (Director, Scripted Programs)
Brigid Alice O'Shea, DOK Leipzig (Head of DOK Industry); Documentary Association of Europe (Co-Founder)
Cara Ogburn, Milwaukee Film (Artistic Director)
Joanne Parsont, California Film Institute (Director of Education)
Makenzie Peecook, Art House Convergence (Events and Operations Manager)
Imke Poeschel, Karlstorkino (Executive Director)
Evan Powell, MadRiver Pictures (Production & Development Coordinator)
Inney Prakash, Freelance (Film programmer)
Christopher Racster, Consultant (Media Arts Non-Profit)
Dana Reinoos, Milwaukee Film (Grants Coordinator & Executive Assistant)
Madagan Riley, Magnolia Pictures (Coordinator)
Eva Rinaldi, Sundance Institute (Director, Community Programs)
Michael Robinson, Houston Cinema Arts Society (Marketing and Communications Manager)
Kate Rogers, Freelance (Programmer)
Katie Ryder, New Orleans Film Society (Development Coordinator)
Amanda Salazar, SFFILM (Programmer); Northwest Film Forum (Programmer)
Jennifer Samani, New Orleans Film Society (Development Director)
Rana San, Northwest Film Forum (Artistic Director)
Bojana Sandic, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (Programming Director)
L. Mattock Scariot, Poppy Jasper International Film Festival (Director)
Marion Schmidt, Documentary Association of Europe (Co-Founder)
Jenn Shah, Hot Docs Festival (Director, Sponsorship Marketing)
Courtney Sheehan, Context Moves (Founder)
Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Requisite Media, LLC (Independent Director)
Stephanie Silverman, Belcourt Theatre (Executive Director)
Melissa Silverstein, Women and Hollywood (Founder and Publisher)
Radheyan Simonpillai, NOW Magazine / CTV (Culture Writer / Film Critic)
Paul Siple, Northwest Film Forum (Communications Manager)
Pam Sporn, Grito Productions (Director / Producer)
Patti Stirk, SMALL STAR Art House (Owner, Programmer, Operator)
Abby Sun, The DocYard (Curator)
Jessica Davis Tagg, Indiana University Cinema (Events and Operations Director)
Clemence Taillandier, Freelance (Theatrical booker)
Michelle Talibah, New Door Creative (Curator / Director)
Valerie Torres, Freelance (Exhibitor Relations & Marketing Consultant)
Tanya Tran, The Grand Cinema (Marketing Manager)
Tony Trachsel, Proludio (Operations Manager)
Rachel Traub, Concordia Studio (Director of Development)
Barbara Twist, Film Festival Alliance (Director of Membership)
Frances Underhill, Human Rights Watch Film Festival (Manager)
Laurence Unger, Houston Cinema Arts Society (Executive Director)
Paula Vaccaro, Pinball London Ltd (Producer / Writer / Impact Strategist / Educator)
Molly Veh, Milwaukee Film (Milwaukee Filmmaker Alliance Manager)
Tom Vick, Smithsonian Institution (Curator of Film, Freer and Sackler Galleries)
Cindy Wall, Belcourt Theatre (Communications and Marketing Director)
Ariel Wan, Freelance (Marketing Consultant)
Ryan Watt, Indie Memphis (Executive Director)
Mara Webster, In Creative Company (Co-Founder)
Chris Mason Wells, Kino Lorber (Director of Theatrical Sales)
Chris White, American Documentary | POV (Executive Producer)
Madeline Whittle, Film at Lincoln Center (Programming Assistant)
Taylor Whritner, Austin Film Society (Development Manager)
Kelly N. Wiggin, Roxie Theater (Operations Manager)
Brody Willis, Blanket Fort Films (Executive Director)
David Wilson, True/False Film Fest (Interim Artistic Director)
Charles Wright, Austin Film Society (Engineer & Studio Operator)
Hannah Wold, Denver Film (Manager of Grants and Fiscal Sponsorship)
Organizations
All Ages Productions
Alliance for Action
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Anthology Film Archives
a/perture cinema
Arbelos Films
Aurora Picture Show
Austin Film Society
Avon Theatre Film Center
Belcourt Theatre
Blanket Fort Films
Brattle Film Foundation
Cincinnati World Cinema
Cinemapolis
Cinereach
cinéSPEAK
Cucalorus
Dance Camera West
Doc Films
Doris Duke Theatre / Honolulu Museum of Art
EAVE
European Film Market
Farsi Cinema Center
Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase
Film Festival Alliance
Film Forum (NYC)
Houston Cinema Arts Society
Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commission
Indie Memphis
Inside Out LGBT Film Festival
Intermission Film
International Wildlife Film Festival
Media Arts Center San Diego
Milestone Films
National Film Festival for Talented Youth
New Orleans Film Society / New Orleans Film Festival
NewFest: NY's LGBTQ+ Film and Media Organization
Nightlight Cinema
Northwest Film Forum
Oxford Film Festival
Pinball London Ltd
Poppy Jasper International Film Festival
Roxie Theater (SF)
Roxy Theater (Missoula, MT)
SMALL STAR Art House
Still Point Pictures
The Future of Film is Female
The Texas Theatre
The Other End Inc.
Variance Films
Vidiots Foundation
Wicked Queer: Boston's LGBTQ Film Festival