WarnerMedia adopts company-wide inclusion rider policy

Michael B. Jordan's upcoming project, "Just Mercy" will be the first movie produced under WarnerMedia's new inclusion rid...

Michael B. Jordan's upcoming project, "Just Mercy" will be the first movie produced under WarnerMedia's new inclusion rider policy. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

By Danielle Haynes, UPI

WarnerMedia announced Wednesday it will be adopting a company-wide inclusion rider to ensure gender and racial diversity on its film and television projects.

The company's new policy will first be implemented on the upcoming film Just Mercy, produced by and starring Michael B. Jordan.

"We all must ensure there is greater inclusion of women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, those with disabilities and other underrepresented groups in greater numbers both in front of and behind the camera," WarnerMedia said in a statement.

WarnerMedia's assets include Warner Bros., HBO, DC Comics and Turner.

Inclusion riders are a clause in a contract that requires studios to hire a diverse crew and/or cast on a particular project. The contract addendum was first proposed by Stacy Smith, a professor at the University of Southern California and gained traction after Frances McDormand mentioned the idea during her acceptance speech at the Academy Awards in March.

WarnerMedia said it would use its "best efforts" to ensure diverse actors and crew members are considered for projects going forward.

Jordan announced in March his production company, Outlier Society, would adopt inclusion riders.

"Inclusivity has always been a no-brainer for me, especially as a black man in this business. It wasn't until Frances McDormand spoke the two words that set the industry on fire -- inclusion rider -- that I realized we could standardize this practice," Jordan said Wednesday.

Just Mercy stars Jordan as Bryan Stevenson, the author of the book upon which the movie is based, Brie Larson and Jamie Foxx. The film is about Stevenson's efforts to free a black man on death row. Filming is slated to begin in early 2018 and the movie is expected to hit theaters in 2020.