Television, like other media, has a terrible diversity problem, and unfortunately, that means that the primary award for television, the Emmys, aren’t usually very diverse. We looked at this reality a few years ago when we released this infographic examining the diversity gap among Emmy Award winners:
The good news is that last year’s season offered us some exceptional TV shows with diverse talent both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. There were several critically acclaimed and commercially popular diverse offerings during the 2014-2015 television season including black-ish, Jane the Virgin, Fresh Off the Boat and Empire.
The Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced this Sunday, September 20. In anticipation, we wanted to highlight some of the diverse nominees we’re rooting for! Will this be the year that we see the numbers start to change?
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Taraji P. Henson (IMBD)
Taraji P. Henson (Empire) starred in the movie Baby Boy. She has also been in many other TV shows including Boston Legal and Person of Interest.
Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder) got her start in theater. In 2011, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Aibileen Clark in The Help.
Best Director for a Comedy Series
Louis C.K. ( Louie) is a comedian who got his
start writing for other comedians like David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Chris Rock. He is the creator and director of Louie, which he also stars in. You may not know that Louis is actually half Mexican and grew up in Mexico.
Phil Lord (The Last Man on Earth) is one half of the team known for directing and writing films like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and The Lego Movie, with Christopher Miller. He is half Cuban.
Phil Lord (IMBD)
Jill Soloway was inspired to create Transparent after her father came out as transgender. She directed the film Afternoon Delight and wrote for the show Six Feet Under.
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Jill Soloway (Transparent). Jill is one of the few women to be nominated in either the writing or directing categories.
Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Semi Chellas (Mad Men) is known for her work on Restless Spirits. She is nominated with Matthew Weiner for her work on Mad Men.
Good luck to all of the nominees! Who do you hope takes home a trophy?
