Variety: Producers Guild co-presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher are headed to the org’s annual awards celebration Jan. 18 with a big accomplishment under their respective belts: its anti-harassment program kicked into high gear in 2019, providing free training to 350 people in six months. The Independent Production Safety Initiative (IPSI), established in late 2018, is a high priority for Berman and Fisher, along with gender parity and health care for members.
2 comments:
Training and resources sound about right. This organization is doing exactly what they need to do. We have to keep the momentum going on the importance of sexual harassment prevention. I think one of the best quotes in the article is “Also, an environment where it’s OK to point out little things, because if you stop small behaviors then it hopefully won’t escalate.” In the “Me Too” movement we were seeing headlines and breaking news about big scandals but that isn’t the everyday stuff that we also need to combat. We need to combat the little things too! When we allow small actions to go unnoticed or up punished the person harassing the victim becomes comfortable and will likely continue their bad behavior and/or escalate the behavior. In the article it says that they have trained 350 people, does that mean they have trained people that run other organizations or they have only trained 350 people total (that seems small) who are they training? I think they might be training producers. That's what it says in the article if someone could clear that up that would be very helpful. I hope that this organization continues with its success and continues to create positive change in the entertainment industry
Training is all fine and dandy, but no amount of training will make known sexual harassers die off any more quickly. One of the simplest things we or the industry can do is to stop supporting and stop hiring people who have had a history of sexual harassment, assault, or abuse. When it comes to old men well-rooted in the industry, and an individual steps forward to accuse them of harassment, the most they get is a slap on the wrist and they move on with their careers; or there are people who inevitably say "but they're so good at what they do, it would be a shame for them to give up their art." Their art is not worth the dehumanization of another human being. Nobody is above that. I hope to see this training continue and spread, but it cannot be all that we are doing. More drastic measures should be taken.
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