Warner Bros. and HBO adopt company-wide inclusion policy
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LOS ANGELES — Six months after Frances McDormand introduced the world to the concept of an inclusion rider in her Oscars speech, Warner Bros. and its sister companies are announcing a company-wide commitment to diversity and inclusion, becoming the first major entertainment company to do so.
WarnerMedia says Wednesday that it is pledging to use its “best efforts” to make sure that diverse actors and crews are considered for film and television projects at all stages of the production process going forward and to work with directors and producers with similar goals. WarnerMedia companies include Warner Bros., HBO and Turner.
The first production to fall under the policy will be the Michael B. Jordan film “Just Mercy,” which begins shooting this week under the direction of Destin Daniel Cretton. Jordan was an early advocate of the idea of inclusion riders at his production company, Outlier Society, and helped craft the framework for WarnerMedia.
“Inclusivity has always been a no-brainer for me, especially as a black man in this business. It wasn’t until Frances McDormand spoke the two words that set the industry on fire — inclusion rider — that I realized we could standardize this practice,” Jordan said in a statement. “The WarnerMedia family has introduced an approach that accomplishes our shared objectives, and I applaud them for taking this enormous step forward.”
