FREE GUY TRAILER VIEWED 55M+ TIMES IN 24 HOURS: A family friendly sci-fi action comedy starring Ryan Reynolds has drawn more than 55 million views in just 24 hours. The 20th Century and Disney film was directed by Shawn Levy and is set to hit theaters December 11th.
YOUTUBE SETS ORIGINALS FOCUSED ON BLACK VOICES: YouTube has announced a global slate of projects intended to amplify Black voices and highlight racial justice issues. Five new projects have been announced as part of its $100 million fund for Black creators. The new slate includes the doc series Resist from Patrisse Cullors, cofounder of the Black Lives Matter Movement; an HBCU homecoming livestream special, and a special looking at health issues in the Black community. “Race has never been an easy issue to confront but the events over the last few months have opened up doors of dialogue and action that had once seemed closed,” Malik Ducard, YouTube’s VP of content partnerships, said in announcing the slate. “Across YouTube, we have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to contribute to these conversations about racial justice in a meaningful way.”
APPLE TV+ SCORES NATURAL HISTORY SERIES: Earthsound is set for Apple TV+. The 12-part series from Offspring Films will use new forms of audio technology to share wildlife stories across the planet.
IS DIVERSITY A PRIORITY? Anita Hill‘s survey, conducted in partnership with The Hollywood Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality, Kathleen Kennedy and Nina Show, found that entertainment workers don’t believe that Hollywood prioritizes diversity and inclusion, “Research clearly shows that diversity and inclusion is not only the right thing to do, it is good for creativity, productivity and the bottom line,” Hill said in a statement released to Variety. “The entertainment industry has the unique potential to tell the stories of today’s richly diverse world. But to get there, the barriers to underrepresented people being valued and in ‘the room where it happens’ must be eliminated. And once they do get into ‘the room where it happens,’ they must not be the only one.” The survey found that women across all demos were twice as likely to experience bias, but women of color were even more likely to experience bias and harassment.
