Tim McNeal starts his day with gratitude. And probably, so do a lot of the staff at Walt Disney Television. Thanks to McNeal, who is vice president, creative talent development and inclusion, there is a more diverse and inclusive writing program and directing program across Walt Disney Television, including Freeform and Disney Channel. McNeal is also instrumental in growing and supporting the National Latino Media Council, and the Hispanic Media Coalition's Latino Television Writers Program.
That's just part of the reason he's being inducted into the MediaVillage Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors, at CES on January 8th. Since he joined in 2006, McNeal who came from a creative executive background and worked with diverse creatives, moved from advocacy to activism. As he tells MediaVillage editor, Ginger Conlon and head of strategy, E.B. Moss, "there was a whole population of people out there that already had the skill set that weren't connecting to those opportunities. So I realized that we had an opportunity to identify individuals that were already in the business that weren't connecting with jobs in the entertainment business.. The first thing I did with our talent development programs was shift it from an educational program to a staffing program."
Hear how he did that...and so much more to up D&I across Hollywood and beyond... and why it benefits the bottom of media companies and helps the people that media touches.
