Producer Effie Brown Says Hollywood Can Promote Diversity With Money#B2Uj

Producer Effie Brown Says Hollywood Can Promote Diversity With Money PARK CITY, Utah (AP) - Film and television producer Effie Brown believes that women and people of color have been complicit, at some level, in taking a backseat in Hollywood. Brown, who became a public voice for diversity and inclusion in entertainment after butting heads with Matt Damon last year in an episode of HBOs Project Greenlight, encouraged the women in attendance to explore their own unconscious bias and blind spots - and then to go further. That perspective was echoed by every speaker at the invitation-only event, including Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley and actor/director/producer Elizabeth Banks, who discussed their rise in Hollywood and the challenges theyve faced along the way. Jacki Zehner, a member of the Sundance Institutes board of trustees, told brunch guests to vote with their wallet to support stories by and about women and people of color. Women make up half the population and people of color make up 40 percent, Brown said, taking on the presence of a preacher in front of a devoted choir.