Matt Damon’s production company wants to help address Hollywood’s diversity crisis
Damon and partner Ben Affleck are throwing their star power behind the drive for inclusion in mainstream movie-making, after their Project Greenlight was criticised for being too white
Matt Damon is taking steps to address the diversity crisis in Hollywood through the production company he runs with Ben Affleck, Pearl Street Films, and collaboration with the people behind the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School. They’re the latest high-profile names in the industry to throw their weight behind the goal of inclusion.
Damon got a wake-up call with the latest season of HBO’s Project Greenlight, a reality show about the production of an independent movie that Damon and Affleck launched in 2001. What had always been a somewhat under-the-radar look at the trials of making an indie movie, hit a cultural nerve last year with its focus on a film from a white male director, Jason Mann, about mainly white, wealthy characters. It was even called The Leisure Class.
On top of that, Damon got some heat for a conversation with producer Effie Brown that was perceived to be racially insensitive. He apologised, but it was clear that the show had become, intentionally or not, representative of an old-guard mentality in a year when diverse representation in film was dominating the conversation.
In response, the team went back to look at who entered the Project Greenlight Facebook contest, which allowed filmmakers to submit a three-minute short film for consideration as an upcoming project on the show. In order to enter, contestants were required to have a valid Facebook ID, be over 18 years old, and not be a “professional director”. There would then be a public Facebook vote on the entries, but a panel made the final decision.