FX chairman John Landgraf reveals diversity push at the US network

John Landgraf

John Landgraf, chairman of Disney-owned FX Networks and FX Productions says that 63% of directors on its output in 2021 will be female or from diverse backgrounds.

Landgraf revealed the statistic during a keynote session at the Edinburgh TV Festival. This will be the first time that the majority of its directors were not white males.

Five years ago, white men made up 85% of the directors at the network. Landgraf has previously admitted that he was “ashamed” of this statistic and that the number was an “indictment” of the entire industry.

While in conversation with BBC director of creative diversity June Sarpong, Landgraf also revealed that FX is “right on the verge” of hiring an ombudsman with the title of SVP of diversity and culture, who will report directly to him.

He added that this new hire is “going to be sitting at the table for every single decision we make.”

Landgraf said that the push for gender balance and diversity was reflected in FX’s slate, in programming such as Atlanta, Mrs America and Snowfall.

But he added that the company was only in the “middle of this journey” with further efforts required to improve diversity across all production and executive teams.

“We genuinely want our productions to look like the population of the United States,” he said. “We haven’t solved the problem but we’ve begun the process to solve the problem. It’s time for this industry to change.”