Michael B. Jordan’s production company is adopting inclusion riders, which is just another reason to love him
Michael B. Jordan was already one of our favs, but he might have just cranked things up to real life superhero status. The Black Panther star seems to be taking Best Actress winner Frances McDormand’s wise shout-out to “inclusion riders” during her Oscar speech and running with it in a big way. That’s because Michael B. Jordan posted that his production company will be adopting the contract clause that requires cast and crew be diverse and inclusive, and if everybody follows McDormand and Jordan’s lead, this could mark a serious turning point in Hollywood.
Jordan shared a photo on Instagram on March 7th, and in the caption, he announced that his production company, Outlier Society, would be adding in the contractual language “in support of the women and men who are leading this fight,” and seriously, this is such great news.
The internet’s been buzzing about inclusion riders since McDormand ended her acceptance speech by mentioning them — and essentially ordering the world to get Googling.
The concept was first introduced by University of Southern California associate professor Stacy Smith in a 2014 op-ed, and Jordan linked to Smith’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at USC to give his Instagram message more context.
"A-list actors can incorporate a clause in their contracts that stipulates that inclusion — both on camera and behind the scenes for crew members — be reflected in films," the initiative's page explains. "The rider states that women, people of color, people with disabilities, and members of LGBT and marginalized communities who are traditionally underrepresented be depicted on screen in proportion to their representation in the population."
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ICYMI, Michael B. Jordan has big plans for Outlier Society, the company he founded in 2016, and by making inclusion riders part of Outlier’s DNA early on, he could be setting a major precedent for other producers, actors, and directors. So far, Outlier has sci-fi drama Raising Dion in the works with Netflix, an untitled project for OWN, and a reboot of The Thomas Crown Affair, which Jordan will star in. Not to mention, Jordan’s planning to make his directorial debut with an adaptation of the YA book The Stars Beneath Our Feet. Considering Jordan’s track record of success, his productions definitely have the potential to be trendsetters.
Other big names, like Brie Larson and Whitney Cummings, have been sharing their support for inclusion riders, too.
I’m committed to the Inclusion Rider. Who’s with me? https://t.co/yvQ0wR5D80
— Brie Larson (@brielarson) March 5, 2018
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Between that kind of publicity and creators with platforms like Jordan’s putting the idea into tangible action, the tectonic shift toward equal representation and opportunity in Hollywood and other industries may actually start happening — and good.
