Black writers are getting hired. But they aren’t getting promoted

Los Angeles-based writer Kirk Moore got his break into television in 2014 through NBC’s Writers on the Verge talent program. The union’s Committee of Black Writers recently called for a revamp in hiring and for the film and TV industry to show accountability for the lack of progress among creators of color. “It is rampant and repeated that it is people of color who don’t get to be the exception to the rule,” said Harvey, whose writing credits include MTV’s fantasy series “Teen Wolf” and firehouse drama “Station 19,” ABC’s spinoff from “Grey’s Anatomy.” A survey conducted from October to December 2019 among 333 writers from underrepresented groups in Hollywood found that 55% of writers of color repeated as staff writer at least once, compared with 35% of white male writers, according to a study by the Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity, a consortium of active Hollywood writers. The divergence was “particularly pronounced” for Black writers, who held 15.9% of TV jobs during the period but received just 12.8% of TV script credits. L.A- based Michelle Amor, co-chair of the union’s Committee of Black Writers, said the committee was moved by the Black Lives Matter movement to write its open letter calling for changes.