Hollywood Studios and Production Companies Promise To Improve Transgender Representation In New Open Letter

Hollywood has penned an open letter to the LGBTQ community promising to improve transgender representation.

“The best storytelling is the diverse storytelling.” Those are the first words that start the open letter, published exclusively on Variety, GLADD, and 5050by2020 – an initiative that is working underneath the Time’s Up umbrella prompting networks and studios to provide more platforms for stories about and by transgender people. Now almost four dozen production companies, talent agencies, film studios and advocacy groups have announced their support according to Variety.

“We believe that we are at an unprecedented cultural moment — a moment when we can ask Hollywood to use its power to improve the lives of trans people by changing America’s understanding about who trans people are,” the letter reads in part. “We want to help you tell our rich and diverse stories, and we need your help to do it.”

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Production companies including, CAA, ICM Partners, UTA, WME, Ava DuVernay’s Array Alliance, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Norman Lear’s Act III, are among the companies that have signed off on the initiative. There is also a resource guide for companies to use when looking for trans talent.

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“Hollywood tells the stories that help people understand how to feel about themselves and how to feel about people around them who are different,” the letter reads. “As Roger Ebert said, film is an empathy machine. We know projects like ‘Ellen,’ ‘Will & Grace,’ ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ ‘Milk,’ and ‘Moonlight’ helped to break down stereotypes about gay and lesbian people, and the timeline for marriage equality would have been remarkably different without them. Women, people of color, people with disabilities, and diverse faith groups have made it clear they want more authentic stories about their lives in films and on TV. Trans people feel the same way.”