Images, Movies And Race: Increasing Diversity In Hollywood

Rev. Al Sharpton, right, and activist Najee Ali lead a rally prior to the Academy Awards ceremony, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles in support of the nationwide tv tune-out protesting the lack of diversity in Hollywood. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Rev. Al Sharpton, right, and activist Najee Ali lead a rally prior to the Academy Awards ceremony, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles in support of the nationwide tv tune-out protesting the lack of diversity in Hollywood. Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo
Rev. Al Sharpton, right, and activist Najee Ali lead a rally prior to the Academy Awards ceremony, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles in support of the nationwide tv tune-out protesting the lack of diversity in Hollywood. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Rev. Al Sharpton, right, and activist Najee Ali lead a rally prior to the Academy Awards ceremony, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles in support of the nationwide tv tune-out protesting the lack of diversity in Hollywood. Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo

Images, Movies And Race: Increasing Diversity In Hollywood

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This year’s Academy Awards became the center of a call for greater diversity in Hollywood. 

For the second consecutive year, no African-Americans were nominated for an Academy Award in any major category. The absence of black nominees spurred an international social media campaign called “#OscarsSOWhite,” which placed greater scrutiny on the issue of diversity in Hollywood. 

For Worldview’s occasional series, Images, Movies and Race, film critic Milos Stehlik of Facets Multimedia, talks with Ira Deutchman, an independent film producer, distributor, marketer and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

In his recent article, Oscars So White: 8 Ways to Fix the Academy Diversity Problem, Deutchman gives some short and long term solutions to the historic and structural problems of the Academy regarding people of color.