LOS ANGELES â In late 2017, ICM Partners CEO Chris Silbermann announced an audacious pledge: achieve gender parity in leadership positions and on the board by 2020.
It was part of a larger industry-wide effort called 50/50 by 2020, championed by prominent ICM client Shonda Rhimes and others in the wake of Hollywood s reckoning over sexual harassment. Companies work best when . there is a balance of men and women in positions of leadership and positions all across the company, Silbermann said during a 2018 policy summit. We can t be a company of a bunch of guys who look like me.
Last year, ICM, which represents such stars as Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Regina King, Michael Keaton and Wanda Sykes â declared victory, telling Variety that at least half the agents promoted to partner status since 2017 were female. In March, the agency said that 15 of its 23 departments are run or co-run by women.
Over 30 sources detailed a corporate culture where harassment and abusive behavior were commonplace
Lindsey Ellefson | May 5, 2021 @ 8:50 AM
Photo: ICM/Brad Turell (Getty)/Carter Cohn (Getty)
Hollywood talent agency ICM Partners was the subject of a blistering L.A. Times exposé published Wednesday where 30+ former and current employees detailed accusations of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct against female employees and people of color.
Below are seven of the most shocking allegations (the full exposé can be read here):
A film finance executive at the company alleged that partner Steve Alexander exposed himself to her in car back in 2016. Three sources confirmed he was placed on leave after the alleged incident. Alexander denied the allegations.
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In late 2017, ICM Partners CEO Chris Silbermann announced an audacious pledge: achieve gender parity in leadership positions and on the board by 2020.
It was part of a larger industrywide effort called “50/50 by 2020,” championed by prominent ICM client Shonda Rhimes and others in the wake of Hollywood’s reckoning over sexual harassment.
“Companies work best when … there is a balance of men and women in positions of leadership and positions all across the company,” Silbermann said during a 2018 policy summit. “We can’t be a company of a bunch of guys who look like me.”
Last year, ICM, which represents such stars as Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Regina King, Michael Keaton and Wanda Sykes declared victory,
Over the past 12 months since the pandemic’s arrival, Hollywood embarked on a near-complete reworking of how it makes the TV shows and films that are the industry’s lifeblood. Gone are the massive crafts table and team lunches, in favor of new strict testing protocols, masks and color-coded or lettered zones. Sets are now more akin to a science lab.
The strict new protocols, the result of a six-month collaboration between the various unions and studios, have added millions to studio’s price tag, along with a new job to the call sheet: The COVID compliance officer.
Productions had to be more nimble than ever before, with many having to start and stop whenever a crewmember tested positive. Some shows, like Apple TV+’s “Mythic Quest,” even dealt with full-blown outbreaks. Even Batman himself couldn’t avoid COVID, after Robert Pattinson tested positive in the fall while in production in the U.K. for “The Batman.”