UCLA and CAA to Expand Study on Truly Inclusive Performance in Film (Exclusive)

For the 2020 report update on Authentic Inclusive Performance (AIR) in Film, the UCLA Center for Scholars and Storytellers partnered with a leading Hollywood actor to broaden its reach and deepen its analysis.

CSS has partnered with the CAA Foundation’s Complete Story Initiative to leverage technology and expert human resources to explore how the industry has strived to produce more accurate and diverse films over the past decade. Bottom Line: Based on 2020 results, AIR’s high-scoring films made more money and received better reviews from critics and viewers.

Led by CSS co-founder Yalda Uhls, the researchers began releasing the top 100 highest-grossing films in the United States each year from 2010 to 2019 (1,000 titles in total) through Mediahound, a CAA-based company that used learning from machine to filter historically significant films. Identity and/or history excluded. The process produced 257 titles, which were then submitted to the FSI Cultural Media Advocacy Network: 1 in 4, CAPE, Color of Change, Define American, Geena Davis Institute, GLAAD, Illuminative, Muslim Public Affairs Council and the National Hispanic Half. Coalition: voila, the selected films really do reflect the story elements that are relevant to the relevant themes they portrayed.

From there, 101 films received AIR scores (on a scale of 1 to 5, poor to excellent) by the relevant FSI organizations based on three questions:

• How well did the film portray authentic and inclusive acting?
• To what extent did the film avoid responding to problematic stereotypes or tropes?
• To what extent did the film’s presentation of culture or identity make it difficult for the general public to understand that culture or identity?

After analyzing the commercial and critical performance of AIR-rated films, the researchers concluded that high-budget subtitles (over $150 million) had a particular impact on their opening weekend, correlating with their AIR scores. According to the report, the films generated $18.8 million with a one-point increase in AIR ratings. And across all budget levels, films with high air scores (3.5 and above) had high ratings and critics’ ratings on Rotten Tomatoes (6% and 22% higher, respectively) compared to films with high ratings.

The researchers acknowledged that the process of double-screening historically excluded characters or story series produced only 101 films out of 1,000 in 10 years. “While this sample size is smaller than our initial dataset, it also reflects the lack of cinematic diversity over the past 10 years,” they write. In other words, nearly 90% of Hollywood movies haven’t had enough reviews of historically excluded content in a decade.

However, they also noted that of the 101 films they rated, not only were nearly two-thirds (63 titles) released in the second half of the decade, but these films also had a higher average score (3.4) than the films. published. . In 2010-14 (average of 2.5 AIR points), AIR scores increased by 0.15 points over the year. “The work of advocates for truly inclusive representation makes a difference,” the researchers said.

The new AIR report also includes five industry recommendations for studios, networks and manufacturing facilities:

• Dedicate a specific percentage of your work to historically excluded creativity projects.
• In the development phase, seek out and collaborate with the community and subject matter experts.
• Share the Greenlight CEO’s idea of ​​taking so-called “risks” (in historically excluded content) with workplace safety in their work culture.
• Before production begins, train the entire cast and crew on the subject of the film and teach them the rationale behind the decision to present it.
• Make sure your film is sold to all audiences, not just the people you portray.

CSS is currently improving its methodology to allow studies to measure air during the development phase.