Netflix Partners With Collectif 50/50 to Promote Greater Gender Equality and Diversity in France’s Movie and TV Industries

Gender equality isn’t just some buzzword for me. I, like my colleagues at Netflix, am fully committed to making sure women are represented in the entertainment industry both in front of and behind the camera. That’s why we’re partnering with Collectif 50/50, France’s leading non-profit organization pushing for more women and diverse talent in the country’s film and TV industries.

Just like our new partners, I strongly believe that diversity and openness enhance creativity. I’m convinced we can both better achieve our goals by working together. 

Last week we announced a global Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, which will invest $20 million a year for the next five years in building more inclusive pipelines behind the camera. The first $5 million will go towards programs that help identify, train and provide work placements for up-and-coming female talent around the world. We will do so through partnerships with third parties and bespoke Netflix programs to support a range of initiatives. In France, Netflix will provide financial support to Collectif 50/50’s mentoring program for three years. We’re also offering our own operations and staff to help grow Collectif 50/50’s training and mentoring activities. Netflix will suggest members of its team as mentors to teach young women not only about creative roles such as writers and directors, but also technical professions and marketing. We will be offering apprenticeships as well to complement Collectif 50/50’s important work in grooming the future talents of French cinema. 

Collectif 50/50 was created by French screenwriters and directors Céline Sciamma and Rebecca Zlotowski, along with other female professionals, to enable women of all backgrounds to aspire to greater roles in France’s cinema and audiovisual world. Since launching in 2018, Collectif 50/50 has created the ``50/50 Bible’’ database to enhance the visibility of aspiring talents, pushed more than 100 festivals to sign a gender parity pledge, created an observatory to monitor equality, worked with France’s National Center for Cinema to boost subsidies for films with gender balanced crews, and is consulting with the government to develop an anti-harassment pledge for the industry.

In 2020, Collectif 50/50 created a mentoring program to pair professional volunteers with promising women from educational institutions and high school students still finding their career path. The pilot program, held from June 2020 to January 2021, recruited 80 young participants and 30 mentors and resulted in three internships. By getting Netflix on board, I’m confident we can ramp up these activities and enrich our industry by giving opportunities to talented women of all backgrounds.