REBECCA YEE- PUSHING FOR DIVERSITY IN HOLLYWOOD

Posted by Vivek on April 26, 2011 | No Comments

We caught up with Rebecca Yee, during the recently concluded IFFLA. Rebecca is the National Director/Senior Equal Employment Opportunities Counsel of Screen Actors Guild Affirmative Action & Diversity. Rebecca advances SAG’s policy and advocacy of diversity and equal employment in the entertainment industry. She oversees EEO/ADA compliance, negotiation, enforcement and education of all SAG non-discrimination contracts while monitoring the casting and hiring practices of SAG employers. At IFFLA, Rebecca was on a panel discussing “Breaking Into the Industry: Opportunities and Challenges for South Asian American Filmmakers and Talent.”

Tell our readers about your role in SAG, as it relates to affirmative action?

Basically our Union is very member driven and compared to other unions we actually have a very diverse membership. And if you see the screen often, you will see performers of color, women, seniors, actors with disabilities, hence a wide diversity. It is our goal to ensure that we reflect an accurate portrayal of the American scene. So our goal is two fold, first to ensure that actors from groups that are not adequately represented on screen, get equal employment opportunities in the workplace, free from harassment, cause we monitor all the harassment/discrimination claims, so we want to ensure they are safe and are given the opportunities and during casting and auditions, there are no violations. Things that conform with our collective bargaining agreement. On the other hand we also work with these groups by creating initiative programs, policies to educate on the positive impact of diversity. There is a business necessity. So other than being the right thing to do, we also think this will benefit the production, and will increase the profits.

What got you into this line of work?

I am actually an attorney, a labor attorney. I specialize in employment law and labor law. I got a job in SAG, as a labor attorney and then after two years I was promoted into this position mostly because these are issues I care about personally, beyond my profession and I believe in the value of entertainment and media and how it influences many people  also how media impacts our society. So I think it is important to have a diverse representation of talent and portrayal and views on television. This is not just in the US, but it is Global.

What is your take on actors from lets say Bollywood?

I think Hollywood executives are becoming more aware of Bollywood, they know that there are a lot of productions coming out from that part. I was doing some research and there are two spikes in the increase of South Asian actors on TV, one was after 9/11 actually, for good or bad, cause they were creating a lot of negative and terrorist roles around them or stuff like that, but they were still getting jobs, even though they were not necessarily the roles they would have preferred to play. Then post Slumdog Millionaire we saw another spike in 2008 and that’s an international movie. Since then executives are seeing that this is something that audiences want to see. This resulted in more South Asians on shows on television. I think the film is still kind of slow but definitely in television there is a huge spike of South Asian performers.

What is causing this diversity?

I think ultimately our audiences are becoming more diverse. Immigration from Asian and Latino countries is increasing and they are consuming entertainment at a higher rate. I mean you look at the Commercials, they are really diverse. They have a whole array of different ethnicities and genders. It is primarily product driven, they know that these diverse consumers are buying the products. Hollywood is a little slow but they are beginning to get it. As an example Asian audience are young, they are affluent, highly educated and they watch a lot of television. We have a study that is called “From Dollars to Cents to Screen- Asian Pacific Islander Market report.” It shows that we did a survey of the general audience. Over 80% of those people said that they would support a film or show that has a leading character that is Asian and they would totally watch it. So there is definitely an untapped market, that Hollywood still hasn’t figured out. So I think the key is getting more Asians and South Asians in executive positions. There are a lot of South Asian writers and actors and directors, but you need those executives to make that push.

While nothing is perfect, the presence of a body like SAG, is a huge plus for the actors, especially when you compare it to actors union in other countries and geographies. Where do you see your department and SAG going in the years ahead?

I see it growing. I see that as our audience changes, as our member demographics change, the members are going to want more. They are not going to be wanting to be considered second rate anymore. We can only move forward if our members want it and I think our members do. Every year I see more of a demand. Every year I see an increase in members of different ethnicities and different backgrounds, so that is all a very positive trend signaling growth on both SAG and the resultant role my department will play in the years ahead.