Readers React: In Hollywood, money talks -- and diversity doesn’t

To the editor: Over the years I have invested in and obtained investors for numerous motion pictures. As such, I have a dollars-and-cents view of diversity in the entertainment industry. (“Study finds ‘inclusion crisis’ at Hollywood studios,” Feb. 22)

When I invest in a film there is only one thing I want: a profit. I am uninterested in pleasing an element of the public.

When a producer comes to me or my investors, I want to know the possibility of sales not only in the United States, but also in China, India and Europe. I couldn’t care less about domestic feelgoodedness, and neither could that producer.

With all the screaming about diversity in Hollywood, the one voice I don’t hear is the voice of the financial industry. It will not invest in a movie because some group of the public demands the movie be made with adequate diversity. But when I hear a minority star saying he’ll do a movie for nothing and his agent will waive his commission, I may just invest in that movie.

Robert M. Rosenthal, Burbank

..

To the editor: Hollywood is both a place and where stories are told that reach the entire world.

Unfortunately, just as the story factories in TV and movie studios are facing an “inclusion crisis,” so too are those who are building Hollywood’s new physical spaces. Just as white men dominate the story telling coming out of Hollywood, so too white men dominate the building of the new physical Hollywood.

Having recently received diversity awards in both the entertainment and real estate industries, I am hoping the conversations we are having now about diversity and inclusion will indeed lead to overdue progress in both these important sectors of the economy.

Philip S. Hart, Hollywood

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook