Tonia O’Connor, UCI’s Chief Revenue Officer
Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) announced the launch of Project Unbound. Supported by a variety of internal and external-facing initiatives and investments, Project Unbound’s mission is to close the diversity gap in entertainment by raising awareness of the disparities and solutions; creating and celebrating content representative of today’s America; and developing and supporting emerging storytellers.
“We’ve been working hard at representative storytelling since our inception almost 60 years ago, and today we are asking the industry to share our commitment. Project Unbound is about our collective efforts to not just talk about it but to move the entertainment business toward real representation and inclusivity. “It’s unacceptable that minorities and women still today remain underrepresented across all major aspects of entertainment. Like our peers, we still have more work to achieve in closing the gaps. This is not only because diversity is just, but because it makes for a better product, and more enjoyment by our audiences,” said Tonia O’Connor, UCI’s Chief Revenue Officer.
Announced today are initial findings from UCI’s new Storytelling Unbound research report and plans to publish the Storytelling Unbound Handbook. These join a variety of UCI activities dedicated to closing the diversity gap in entertainment, ranging from El Rey Network’s People’s Network Showcase to Story House Entertainment.
Also, the Fusion TV Creative Board was launched in May to identify the next generation of creators and build a pipeline of diverse talent the network can tap into as part of its content development process.
In July, the Creative Thread Foundation launched with Fusion TV, Univision and other leading companies as an independent non-profit chaired by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. dedicated to breaking down barriers in media for underrepresented content creators.
To better understand why representation in media and entertainment matters, UCI recently commissioned Storytelling Unbound – a national survey of approximately 2,000+ film and TV consumers (Adults 18-49 with oversamples of Hispanics, African-Americans, and Asians) undertaken in partnership with Media Predict.
Some of the key findings:
-Inclusive storytelling is a Top 5 concern
-Progress is believed to be more positive than the current state of inclusive storytelling
-The #1 issue people think needs to be addressed is racial stereotypes/tropes/typecasting with 40% of respondents choosing that as an issue
-The future of celebrity is diverse
O’Connor also disclosed that the next phase of UCI’s Project Unbound will include the unveiling of the Storytelling Unbound Handbook. The handbook will be a manual of best practices focused on inclusive storytelling behind and in front of the camera.
Tonia O’Connor, Univision: Strong opportunity for subscriber growth
