The results of an internal audit initiated by content streaming service Netflix to see how it was doing on the question of diversity in its original programming found some good news and some work to do. While the streaming service found that there has been progress in the representation of women, and Black and Asian actors in the programming on its platform, Latino and Latina actors are under-represented, according to the audit.
The analysis, conducted by conducted last year by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, an entertainment industry diversity think tank, revealed just 4.5 percent of main cast members went to actors and filmmakers of Latin decent during that two-year span, even though Latinos make up about 18 percent of the U.S. population.
Meanwhile, the percentage of Black main cast members on Netflix reached 22.7 percent in 2019, up from 16.2 percent in 2018. About 13 percent of the United States citizens are black individuals. Asian individuals, who account for about 6 percent of the United States, comprised about 7 percent of Netflix main cast members in 2018 and 2019.
Women of all races, who make up about 51 percent of the United States, represented 52 percent of leads and co-leads in Netflix original films and series over the two-year span. Researchers also said Netflix needs more content centered on Native Americans, members of the LGBTQ+ community and people with disabilities.
“Across 22 inclusion indicators for film and series, 19 showed an improvement year-over-year. We are outpacing the industry in hiring women and women of color to direct our films, and women creators to bring our series to life, and we have achieved gender equality in leading roles across our films and series,” wrote Ted Sarandos, co-CEO and chief content officer for Netflix, in an article on the company’s website. “We have also exceeded proportional representation of Black leads, co-leads and main cast across the two years that were examined. But not all racial/ethnic groups saw their representation increase during the period of the study. For example, we still have notable representation gaps in film and series for Latinx, Middle Eastern/North African, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities. And we still have work to do in increasing representation of the LGBTQ community and characters with disabilities,” continued Sarandos.
The analysis comes on the heels of an internal audit to look at diversity among Netflix staffers. That report, issued in January, found that according to the company’s demographic data its Black U.S. employee population grew from 3.8 percent of its workforce in 2017 to 8 percent in 2020.
Similarly, Latinos and Latinas only comprised about 8 percent of Netflix’s workforce last year, but up from just 6 percent three years ago.
“We could do a much better job at recruiting Hispanic or Latinx and other underrepresented folks into all areas of our company,” the report’s authors wrote. 