To diversify TV crews, the database of minority writers is unveiled

An online database of more than 800 color authors was unveiled Thursday by the Creative Artists Agency, intended not only to serve as a resource, but also to replicate the common Hollywood chorus that it is difficult to find qualified writers.

The list, called Amplify Database, is composed of 808 writers and is searchable by genre, genre specialty, ethnicity and experience, and will, according to its creators, be freely available for studios, showrunners and networks. While the database is expected to grow, the number of members currently stands at 46% Blacks, 28% Asians, 23% Latino and 3% Native Americans.

To qualify, writers had to have a television credit. Streaming service broadcast in the last five years. The site was unveiled at the second annual CAA Amplify Conference in Ojai, California, an invitation-only, diversity-focused gathering in the entertainment, media and technology industries. Valerie Jarrett, activist DeRay Mckesson and lawyers Nina Shaw and Tina Chen, both involved in the Time & # 39; s Up initiative to fight sexual harassment, are among the participants this year.

Despite increased pressure on Hollywood to put more minorities on the screen the camera, and the success of shows like "Atlanta", "Insecure" and "black-ish", the writing rooms most of the television remain white. According to a report released last fall by Color of Change, a civil rights group, over 90 percent of showrunners are white, and two-thirds of the shows had no black writer from all.