Ben Affleck, Matt Damon's Production Company Adopts Inclusion Rider
Following Monessen High graduate Frances McDormand's acceptance speech at the Oscars, more and more celebrities are now jumping on the inclusion rider bandwagon. The most recent of them are Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, whose production company Pearl Street Films is now adopting the inclusion rider.
On Monday, Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni announced on Twitter that Pearl Street Films would adopt the inclusion rider. The announcement was followed by another tweet by "Bridesmaids" director Paul Feig, saying that his company would also go forward with the inclusion rider for all his film and television productions.
Pearl Street Films' adoption of the inclusion rider clause is in line with USC's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. For two years, the production company has been working toward addressing the issue of representation in Hollywood with Annenberg's guidance. This started when Damon's show "Project Greenlight" came under fire for allegedly choosing to highlight projects helmed by white directors.
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Back in July 2016, around the time when J.J. Abrams and Ryan Murphy were starting to try to diversify their production teams, Damon told The Associated Press that they were looking to put clauses in contracts to promote more inclusive hiring. The move seems to be an early precursor to what is known today as the inclusion rider.
Aside from Damon, Affleck and Feig, other celebrities who have adopted the inclusion rider are Michael B. Jordan and Brie Larson. Public pledges from high-profile actors and directors are expected to increase in the coming weeks, especially now that there is already growing interest in the initiative.
In an interview on Tuesday, Feig said, "It's not that hard to do, and it's just common sense. I feel like the people who don't do it now and the studios and companies that don't do it now are moving backward, not forward."
The inclusion rider aims to eliminate bias in the hiring and casting process towards creating films that more accurately reflect real-world diversity.
