Oscars 2018: What is an inclusion rider?

Frances McDormand's powerful speech ended with the phrase 'inclusion rider', but what does the term actually mean?

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Frances McDormand's powerful Oscars speech ended with the phrase, “I have two words for you: inclusion rider.” But many of us were left baffled as to what the term really means.

An inclusion rider is a clause that an actor or actress can insist is part of their contract that requires cast and crew to meet a certain level of diversity. The idea was first introduced in 2016 by Stacy Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California, in a Ted talk.

After conducting a study on diversity in US films, she found movies were largely not reflective of the population and so suggested an inclusion rider to help counter the issue.

“The typical feature film has about 40 to 45 speaking characters in it,” she explained. “I would argue that only 8 to 10 of those characters are actually relevant to the story. The remaining 30 or so roles, there’s no reason why those minor roles can’t match or reflect the demography of where the story is taking place. An equity rider by an A-lister in their contract can stipulate that those roles reflect the world in which we actually live.”

McDormand made the speech after being named Best Actress for her performance in Three Billboards of Ebbing, Missouri. Since highlighting the concept of inclusion riders, actresses including Brie Larson have shown their support for the idea.

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