Emmy's reflect a changing industry

The 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which aired on ABC Sunday evening, was a stark contrast to this year’s Academy Awards, a note that host Jimmy Kimmel pointed out repeatedly throughout the night. “#OscarsSoWhite,” a social media movement started by activist April Reign, brought the Oscar’s complete lack of diversity to the forefront of pop culture in 2015, and returned to social media relevance again in 2016. Since the Academy’s diversity debacle, what has become clear to audiences across the country is that television is generally a more welcoming industry for women and people of color working both in front of, and behind the camera. Though significant changes are still necessary for many TV performers and craftspeople to truly have equal opportunities and representation, this year’s Emmy Awards reinforced the fact that the industry is changing.

In her acceptance speech for directing for a comedy series award, Transparent creator Jill Soloway spoke passionately about how television can change the world:

“When you take women, people of color, trans people, queer people, and you put them at the center of the story – the subjects instead of the objects – you change the world we found out.”

By allowing diverse voices to tell their stories we can create positive change…one episode at a time.