Shining the spotlight on inclusion: Adobe Foundation and USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative release new Inclusion List for episodic programming

Entertainment has had an incredible power to connect people, inspire culture and create impactful change in the world. And because of this, it’s so important to create greater opportunity and access for underrepresented creators in the industry, ensuring that the stories on screen reflect the world we live in.

But without having more insight and a greater understanding into where inclusivity is needed, we can’t learn and focus on creating a bigger change.

As the industry prepares to celebrate this year’s Emmy Award winners, we’re proud to announce the second iteration of the The Inclusion List, a new study developed by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative in collaboration with the Adobe Foundation. The new data-driven list gives a first-ever look at inclusive programming, focused on episodic content across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. We hope that our findings can fuel conversations and plans of action that seek to ensure the film industry is as inclusive as the world it reflects.

The Inclusion List has a focus on episodic programming, using a data-driven approach to pinpoint where representation and diversity is prominent within the film industry, and analyzing where a greater focus on inclusivity is needed. The list further assesses data points pertaining to on-screen talent and behind-the-camera personnel to determine the 100 most inclusive broadcast and cable series from the 2021 to 2022 broadcast season and streaming series from 2021 to 2023.

To bring together the list, the research team led by Dr. Smith scored inclusive series, channels, streamers, and producers across more than 550 programs. The indicators ranked gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability, and age representation for series regular cast, while behind the camera, gender and race/ethnicity were assessed across 10 positions to create a crew score.

Let’s dive into a few interesting findings from The Inclusion List:

• The top 10 inclusive broadcast and cable series honors went to Queen Sugar (OWN), The Baby (HBO), Naomi (CW), All American: Homecoming (CW), Twenties (BET), Queens (ABC), The Kings of Napa (OWN), 4400 (CW), Sistas (BET), and P-Valley (Starz).
• On the streaming side, the top 10 most inclusive series were Raising Dion (Netflix), Gentefied (Netflix), The Garcias (Max), The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray (AppleTV+), Reasonable Doubt (Hulu), Now and Then (Apple TV+), Rap Sh!t (Max), With Love (Amazon Prime), First Kill (Netflix), and Swarm (Amazon Prime).
• There were 20 producers whose work landed them atop The Inclusion List: Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Howard Klein, Ravi Nandan, Aaron Kaplan, Ava DuVernay, Carolyn Strauss, Dave Becky, David Madden, Mindy Kaling, Paul Garnes, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Lauren Levy Neustadter, Reese Witherspoon, Gloria Calderón Kellett, Fred Armisen, Charles D. King, Jonathan Groff, and Tony Hernandez. These individuals served as executive producers for series airing on broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms and were responsible for 2 or more series with a combined 750+ episodes of content over the period evaluated.

Take a look at the full report and methodology at theinclusionlist.org.

Our commitment to a more diverse and inclusive industry

At Adobe, we believe that when more diverse stories are told, the world becomes a more equal and vibrant place, and the latest update from our partnership with USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative builds on our commitment to democratizing filmmaking for emerging and independent creatives while supporting and elevating underrepresented voices to share their stories and develop their careers.

Through The Inclusion List, we remain committed to giving greater access, inspiration, resources and support to underrepresented students, directly supporting the production of short films and providing greater filmmaking and storytelling opportunities. Since 2015, we’ve been proud to work alongside the Sundance Institute, through the Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship — a year-round artist-development program inspiring creativity and supporting emerging filmmakers ages 18 to 25.

Over the last seven years our collaboration has supported more than 90 Fellows with the necessary tools, mentorship and resources needed to tell their stories. We’ve also introduced the Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship in 2020, a year-round program designed to foster community, further their craft and offer support to female artists who are creating bold new work in film and media.

Our hope is the findings continue to fuel conversations and plans of actions that seek to ensure the film industry is as inclusive as the world it reflects, and to act as a catalyst for change for the next generation of storytellers.