Ryan Murphy, television's ubiquitous show runner, doesn't have the cleanest record for representing women and minorities in a way that's particularly flattering, which we covered in detail here. American Crime Story aside, some of his biggest projects (American Horror Story and Glee) and even the lesser ones (Scream Queens) have some troublesome depictions of both demographics, especially when considering women and minorities are sorely underrepresented in media as it is. One way we might be able to fix that? Put more of them behind the camera.
It appears Murphy got the memo. Amid ongoing unrest about underrepresentation in Hollywood, Murphy has pledged to fill half the positions for television directors on his projects with women and minorities—a big move if he actually follows through. The Hollywood Reporterspoke with Murphy about the endeavor, which he'll tackle with his 20th Century Fox TV-based production company Half.
"I personally can do better," Murphy said. And it's true. If this project comes to fruition, it may coax others in similar positions of power to follow suit. Your move, Hollywood.