Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/23723
ON LOCATION NEW YORK DIVISION In My Opinion: Mike Hodge 2nd National Vice President I love the diversity that is New York. Walking down its streets, one can see not only people of every racial and/or ethnic group, but also people of all circumstances—including people who are blind, or use wheelchairs or crutches—all making their way on their own in the city that never sleeps. More and more, this is what our country looks like. And while our industry has gotten better than in the early days of thinking in more than literal “black and white” terms, it still has quite a ways to go. Multiculturalism exists in ways that were inconceivable 40 years ago, but TV is still largely a white male, youth-oriented and non-disabled medium. Women are still underrepresented and their characters are too oſten sexualized, according to a study done by the Geena Davis Institute on Media at the Annenberg School for Communication. Women need to be more valued for their character, especially women of color, the study says. However bad things are for women, they seem to be worse for people with disabilities. A recent study by GLAAD shows that of 587 series regular characters on the five broadcast networks, six were characters with disabilities, and only one of the characters is played by an actual actor with a disability, Robert David Hall. (For more on this report, see page 38.) I understand the argument that the producer wants the best person for the job. I want that. But how will the performer with a disability ever be the best person for the job if he or she rarely has the chance? Or maybe the best performer, who happens to have a disability, is already out there and ready, but the producers are simply choosing not to see them. And more to the point, the character with a disability doesn’t need to have a storyline about the disability. Maybe there could be somebody in a wheelchair and the role isn’t about somebody in a wheelchair, or a blind person could have a role and being blind is only incidental to the story. I had a great aunt who was congenitally blind and never once do I remember anybody having a conversation with her about being blind. She just lived her life. Come to think of it, that idea could work across the board with all types of people. And, because we will be able to more readily focus our resources and approaches, I believe the mandate of one union, which is the result of the last election, will go a long way towards helping us solve the problems of diversity in entertainment. Ten, finally, we will have arrived as a culture when we can see stories on our screens that absolutely reflect the society in which we live, in an honest, totally uncontrived way. Mike Hodge AG New York Division President Mike Hodge, AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon, Actors’ Equity Association National President Nick Wyman, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and New York City Central Labor Council President Jack Ahern at the New York City Central Labor Council Annual Awards reception honoring President Trumka, held in New York on June 1. S 62 SCREEN ACTOR - Fall/Winter 2010 SAG.org LEGISLATURE CONTINUES TAX CREDIT PROGRAM state budget that extended the extremely successful New York State film and television tax credit program into 2015. While the temporary uncertainty may have caused some concern, fortunately the program was ultimately renewed and expanded. Te five-year, $2.1 billion scope of the new measure will be especially important to television producers because it guarantees the security of the credits over several seasons. SAG National Board Member Richard Masur, chair of the A SAG National Legislative Committee, said, “Tese tax credits have created thousands of jobs for New York actors, crew members and other workers affiliated with the entertainment industry. Tey have kept all these jobs in the country, which is the principal benefit of state tax incentives nationwide. With this five-year extension, many thousands of new jobs will be created in New York.” Screen Actors Guild worked to pass this legislation as part of a broad coalition, which included our sister union AFTRA and most of the other entertainment unions including many locals of the IATSE, the Teamsters and the DGA. Te unions worked closely with the MPAA and the New York Production Alliance to make these incentives available. UNION LEADERS JOIN TRUMKA RECOGNITION ſter months of delays, in August the New York State Legislature and Governor David Paterson approved a Jack Miller/Miller Photography