Hollywood Agents Navigate New Complexities of Balancing the Demand for Diverse Voices and Artistic Freedom - Hollywood Reporter

"I have seen an increased commitment and desire for directors and writers to have something in connection with the potential project," says ICM literary agent Ava Greenfield, who represents Black filmmakers such as Regina King, making her directorial debut this year with the Amazon Studios Muhammad Ali film One Night in Miami, and Matthew Cherry, who sold a series based on his Oscar-winning animated short Hair Love to HBO Max in July.

"If, for example, the story is centered on Black woman, there is an initial commitment from buyers to find a Black female director or writer for this project.

Current projects that studios are hoping to populate with Black behind-the-camera talent include Marvel's Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali, which is looking for writers, and MGM's Sammy Davis Jr.

Just a few years ago, movies with Black leads like Fox's 2016 best picture nominee Hidden Figures and Warner Bros.' 2013 Jackie Robinson biopic 42 arrived in theaters with little scrutiny about their white male directors.

But when red carpet interviews at the Mulan premiere in March revealed a mostly white production team working under white female director Niki Caro, a headline on the Canadian pop culture website Flare.com read, "The live-action Mulan is already making me mad." A writer for the British newspaper Metro noted, "I've loved Mulan since childhood, but the remake is too white behind the camera.".

"These are writers who are supposed to be able to fictionalize stories that didn't exist from their brains, and we are curbing their ability to create," says one representation source.

And some are beginning to steer their white or male clients away from projects that may become controversial because of their attachment.

"Twitter and social media are the sole fear of the studios," says the representation source.

If white male clients are guided away from projects, that's just fine, say some agents with diverse client lists.

"For 120 years it's been assumed that white men can direct any movie," says one agency source.

Some of the incoming calls are perplexing, like the company that sent a comedy script to the agent of a Black female director whose body of work is dramatic because the comedy featured a Black female protagonist, prompting the agent to wonder whether she should be grateful for the submission or point out the obvious mismatch in sensibility

"As they start to make this outreach, studios are finding that people of color have interest in telling all kinds of stories," says Greenfield