Hollywood producers Affleck, Jordan, Feig adopt inclusion rider

[March 14, 2018]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Bridesmaids" director Paul Feig said on Tuesday that his production company was adding an inclusion rider for future shows, the latest Hollywood figure to take up the call for more diversity on movie and television sets.

Feig, whose movies also include the all-female 2016 version of "Ghostbusters," joined Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and "Black Panther" actor and producer Michael B. Jordan in adopting the initiative that was highlighted at the Oscars ceremony earlier this month

An inclusion rider is an addition to a Hollywood contract that can stipulate 50 percent diversity of gender, race and sexual orientation in both the casts and crews of movies and television shows.

The idea won attention thanks to a rousing Oscar best actress acceptance speech by "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" star Frances McDormand.

"Thrilled to announce that Feigco Entertainment is officially adopting an #inclusionrider for all our film and TV productions moving forward," Feig said on Twitter. "We challenge other companies and studios to do the same."

Damon and Affleck's production company Pearl Street Films said on Monday it was adopting the inclusion rider, and Jordan said last week that his company Outlier Productions would do the same.

Stacy Smith, the Los Angeles-based researcher and academic behind the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, on Tuesday thanked Feig and said he had long promoted women in his projects.

"Thank you my friend for putting female leads front and center for years! You are an industry role model," Smith tweeted.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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