Ava DuVernay launching company to diversify Hollywood crews

Ava DuVernay and Peter Roth, a Warner Bros. Television chairman, are poised to launch Array Crew, a company aiming to diversify crews on Hollywood film sets using an advanced database.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, DuVernay said Array Crew will pressure companies to hire from a pool of candidates that includes more people of colour than current options do.

“This is the time. We’re in the gap. And so our goal is to provide this tool so, “No, no, no, don’t, no, you’re not going back, we’re not gonna let you … keep moving,” she said.

Referring to Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, which boasted a diverse cast and crew, the director revealed she was inspired to review the way she seeks out crew members.

“I’m not saying you have to hire the woman or the person of color, but you’ve got to interview a woman or person of color; you can’t just bring all your friends, all your white men friends from the other show," DuVernay insisted.

"You’ve got to show me that for every single position on your crew on your department, that you have looked at someone else that you haven’t looked at before,” she added.

DuVernay noted that recruitment biases are not always the fault of executives in charge.

"Maybe it’s not all, “I’m trying to keep you out.” It’s just, you don’t know how. You don’t know where to look. You don’t know who to ask," she suggested, pondering: "Maybe the fight is to help them; help them understand how to do it."