New Show With 99% Minority Cast & Crew Shows Importance of Minority Creators
INTERVIEW ON THE PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW, MEDIA PARTNER OF THIS SITE.
Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed filmmaker Warren D. Robinson (image below).
African-American showrunners on television are increasing but still rare. What is proven is that when you have minority showrunners your behind the scenes crew tends to be more diverse, as was the case for entertainment executive, producer and attorney Warren D. Robinson and his new show Bury the Hatchet. “Our crew was 99% people of color and about 50% women, so I’m very proud of that.” Robinson says. “It wasn’t intentional,” he continues, “I simply hired the best person for the job, but like all producers I reached out to my circle and took recommendations and so we ended up with a highly diverse crew.” Robinson admits he wasn’t even aware of the racial makeup of his crew when he started filming. “Believe it or not, I didn’t notice our crew was 99% people of color until our 2nd day of filming. One of my producers came up to me and told me how much it meant to them to be on a crew like this and that despite a decade of experience in the industry they had never been on a professional set this diverse. That’s when I looked around and said, wow! It was a very proud moment for me.” Robinson says this level of diversity is essential, “Network executives are quick to deny minorities opportunities based on lack of experience. Well in my little way I’m glad I could help some talented minorities increase their experience so they can hopefully go on to get bigger and better opportunities.” Bury the Hatchet was produced for Gray Media Group and is premiering Tuesday, March 28th at 8:00pm in Gray’s home market of Atlanta before a larger rollout later this year. For more information on the show, including updates on airings in your local market visit www.warrendrobinson.com or @burythehatchetshow on social media.
According to a statement, “Entertainment executive and producer, Warren D. Robinson believes that when organizations are willing to have open and honest conversations about race and their own bias they can commit to meaningful change. We have seen this recently in the form of Hollywood award shows, particularly, the Grammys and the Academy Awards (Oscars). The Recording Academy and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have both taken concrete steps to diversify their ranks and address inherit biases in their voting processes. As a result we have the most diverse crop of award winners/nominees, respectively, we’ve ever seen. Contrast that with the scandal and production shutdown currently at CBS’s The Talk, which resulted because a co-host was unable to properly engage in a conversation about race, address her own bias and commit to doing better. ‘The key part to every conversation’ Warren says, ‘starts with listening. Listening and hearing are different and if you are unable to listen then you are unable to have a conversation.’
“Warren D. Robinson, is an avid and accomplished entertainment executive, motivational speaker, host, life coach and award winning producer who created the wildly popular series, Buried by the Bernards, which is currently streaming on Netflix.
“Warren has served as an entertainment consultant, manager and producer, facilitating, appearing and negotiating high powered deals on behalf of his clients in front of such companies as: Warner Brothers, BET, CNN, Freemantle, Best Buy, TV ONE, Netflix, Lifetime, Fox News, WE TV, E!, NBC Universal, Viacom and more. In addition, Warren’s entertainment prowess includes coordinating, partnering and/or producing events for: legendary actress Pam Grier, Taraji P Henson, Gabrielle Union, Vivica A Fox, Soul singer Eddie Levert (of the O’Jays), Comedian Mike Epps, Angie Stone, Flavor Flav, the Indianapolis Colts, Donna Joyner-Richardson, Stephanie Mills, Erykah Badu and Tom Joyner among others. Warren graduated from Indiana University (B.A.-Political Science) and Howard University School Of Law (J.D.).”
Learn more about Warren D. Robinson and his work here.
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LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN ITS ENTIRETY HERE
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