Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/711111
12 CINEMONTAGE / Q3 2016 by Halima K. Gilliam T his past February, the Editors Guild's Diversity Committee sent a membership-wide e-mail asking the 7,200 Guild members to participate in a 26-question survey. It focused on ascertaining whether discrimination occurs within the post- production workplace and to what extent. A total of 2,258 replies translated to roughly 31% participation — by far the largest response from the membership on a single topic. Some 67.71% of the respondents were male, 29.53% were female, and 2.76% declined to reveal their gender. Whites/ Caucasians represented 73.77% of survey participants, with the remaining 26.23% divided among 7.55% Hispanics/Latinos, 6.78% Asian/Pacific Islanders, 4.59% Black, 0.64% Native Americans, and 6.77% declining to reveal their ethnicity. One key goal of the Diversity Committee is to educate and encourage members to be tolerant of different perspectives. Another goal is to begin taking steps toward diversifying post- production domains. The recently slain British Labour Party Member of Parliament, Jo Cox, who championed against intolerance and for equality and diversity, said in her maiden speech, "Whilst we celebrate our diversity…we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us." It is safe to say that we all want to excel in our careers and to be given an equal opportunity to do so. The Diversity Committee sought to learn if the members felt the same way. About 60% of polled members believe we have a diversity issue. And while the majority of participants who answered this question reported that they neither witnessed nor experienced DIVERSITY COMMIT TEE Majority of MPEG Members Identify Diversity as Workplace Issue The Editors Guild Diversity Committee: back row, from left, Dorian Harris, Joan Sobel, Shannon Davis, Kathleen (Kat) McAuley, Mary DeChambres, Leander Sales, Tatiana Riegel, Michael Jones, Sharon Smith Holley, Glenn Morgan; front row, co-chair Dave Jackson, Halima Gilliam, and co-chair Maysie Hoy. Not pictured are Jane Abramowitz, Emily Chiu, Pam DeMetruis, Terel Gibson, Charles Little II, Marnee Meyer, Cindy Mollo, Richard Sanchez, Myron Santos and Terilyn Shropshire. Photo by Deverill Weekes CONTINUED ON PAGE 14