On this episode of Inside the Issues, we take a look at African American representation in the entertainment industry – what’s changed and what hasn’t.

Writer, director and star of Hollywood Shuffle, Robert Townsend, talks about what it was like trying to break into Hollywood when he was younger and his feelings about the entertainment industry when it comes to African Americans being represented on-screen.

Last year, the Writer’s Guild of America released its first ever inclusion report card. The report found while people of color make up 39 percent of the United States population, they only account for 12 percent of executive producers and showrunners.

Zoanne Clack, Executive Producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Wendy Calhoun, writer and executive producer, talk about some of the biggest challenges they faced as television writers and what advice they would give to other black writers who are trying to follow in their footsteps.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti launched a program in 2018 called the Evolve Entertainment Fund, a public-private partnership aimed at creating new opportunities for those who have typically been excluded from show biz.

Samiyah Hall, a current Evolve student who was a Fall 2019 intern at WME, a division of Endeavor, and Mahelet Gezachew, a former Evolve program intern, talk about how the program is helping them in their careers. Kevin Iwashina, Senior Associate at Endeavor Content, talks about hiring interns for the Evolve program, and Montea Robinson, Managing Director of Ghetto Film School in Los Angeles, a non-profit partner of the program, talks about partnering with Evolve and helping connect their film school students with jobs in the entertainment industry.

Commentator and film critic Tim Cogshell talks why it is important to have black film critics in the industry and reflects on moments where he feels like race has influenced the way he saw a particular movie.

Let Inside the Issues know your thoughts and watch Monday through Friday at 8 and 11 p.m. on Spectrum News 1.