Today, we’re sharing new details about our partnership opportunities for companies and organizations to support our mission and engage our community of filmmakers and storytellers. Changing the faces behind the camera cannot be accomplished by one organization. In 2020, 25% of film directors were people of color and 20.5% of directors were women according to UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report.
At BAYCAT, it’s our mission to ensure media is representative of our communities through our work growing the careers of Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous people, women, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We’ve partnered with media companies and organizations like the Golden State Warriors, Pixar, Ciel Creative Space, National Park Service, Equal Rights Advocates, and more, and we’re excited about a new phase of our growth as we partner closer with the industry.
For more than 16 years we’ve focused on supporting aspiring storytellers, impacting more than 4,500 youth through our workshops and programs to gain filmmaking experience. 91% of graduates from our programs are Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous and 65% are women, transgender, or non-binary. We’re building pathways to fulfilling careers that influence our culture and communities, and we're making this impact at every stage of a filmmaker and storyteller’s career: from their teens, through their twenties, and the professional years that follow. We’re proud that 82% of our intern grads hold a job in the creative industry and this impact highlights our belief that exposing youth and young adults to creative careers throughout their development builds confidence and long lasting skills.
Our work is critical to shaping culture and creating equitable communities, and the gaps in media representation is leading to the industry falling behind audience expectations. Parrot Analytics and CAA’s study on audience demand found that demand for shows with at least 40% cast diversity has more than doubled in the last few years—outpacing the supply of shows with cast diversity. Given the influence of directors, writers, and producers on narratives, we know representation starts with those behind the camera.
We're supporting rising filmmakers and storytellers like Kayla find her passion, and we need support from partners to help interns like Angela find hers too. View our Partnerships Guide below to learn how we can partner and create media that changes the faces behind the camera.