Q&A - Christine Simmons
Chief Operating Officer, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
POMERANTZ MONITOR | MAY JUNE 2022
Partner Jennifer Pafiti: You are the first African American and woman to serve as COO for the Academy and you lead its first Office of Representation, Inclusion, and Equity. What do these firsts mean for you and for the motion picture industry?
Christine Simmons: My perspective on firsts has evolved. There always has to be a first. But now I ask, “Why has it taken so long?” We have to reflect back on the system, the organization, and the various industries, and really analyze the ‘whys.’ Why is there only one? What can we do systematically to create more opportunities? Until we look at some of the systematic constructs that affirm or even recreate inequities, then we will continue to have them. Vice President Kamala Harris said, “I may be the first woman to hold this office. But I won’t be the last.” If that happens, then that means that we failed. I don’t want to be the best Black COO. I don’t want to be the best female anything. I just want to be the best me, period. The challenge is acknowledging the inequities that exist because it is not an equal race, period. We have a responsibility here in the film and TV business, and in entertainment in general, to make sure that we’re putting forward images that show people that they can break the mold and be so many different things.
JP: What is the next step for the Academy in regard to DEI?
CS: Keep going, go deeper, go farther, go faster. The Academy is turning 95 this year. You can imagine that helping your 95-year-old grandfather evolve and learn new things is quite the challenge, right? So, from year zero to #OscarsSoWhite, the runway keeps getting shorter, and the need to make change is getting more urgent. Little bite-sized changes are no longer enough. But we can’t just blow up the system. Some of it is good, so let’s figure out how we can break those institutionalized constructs that have continued to reaffirm inequity. After #OscarsSoWhite, our goal was to double the number of women and double the number of people who identify in historically underutilized ethnic or racial communities by 2020. We met and exceeded those goals, in addition to adding some board seats. The challenge with diversity is, if you’re only counting numbers, it doesn’t help people understand the “why.” And if you don’t have the common language and vocabulary and understanding of ideologies that create inequities, you look at it as an attack. We want to make sure that all of our allies are coming along with us to help understand that diversity actually enhances the art form. A big step is the launch of our inclusion standards around Best Picture: If you are interested in submitting your film for Best Picture, then you will need to meet two of four diversity standards. We want to make sure that it’s not limiting or censoring in any way. Our initiative is to broaden the aperture through which excellence is recognized. Because if you’re only looking at your aperture in one place, then you’re missing all this beautiful excellence everywhere else. We’re also looking at supplier diversity, our marketing spend, and our investment portfolio. Our investment committee has directed significant dollars to diverse portfolio managers, which I’m extremely proud of. And those are just some of the behind-the-scenes actions that folks aren’t even aware of, but we know that the ripple effect helps.
JP: What mistakes do even well-intentioned companies make in their diversity plans?
CS: One of my dear friends was chair of OB-GYN at a major hospital. The hospital kept setting meetings at the exact time she had to drop her kids off at school in the morning. Her experience as a working mother was not being heard. That’s why it’s important to have different perspectives on the female-lived experience or the Latino-lived experience in that case because there are aspects of that lived experience that you could study in a book or see on TV, but without living it, you can’t fully understand and account for it in the way you manage your staff. Wanting the numbers, wanting it reflective of the population is beautiful, we love that. But if you don’t create a community, a village, and a safe space where people can feel heard and valued, then it actually sometimes can be worse than if you didn’t bring them in at all. If you feel like you’re constantly demeaned or you’re constantly pushed aside or you’re mansplained, then the numbers don’t matter. There’s a whole revolution happening in corporate culture right now in which, if you don’t have an empathetic ear, if you’re not a servant leader, you’ll find your people joining the Great Resignation. Leaders need to pause for a second to figure what’s going on in this person’s life. And that way, they can hopefully find ways to inspire and motivate and empower their people. When that happens, the organization is always better off.
JP: If an organization takes just one step toward diversity, what should that be?
CS: I would start with education. We all have to understand each other and have a common language. It really starts with ideologies and understanding the difference between ideological oppression, institutionalized oppression, internalized oppression, and interpersonal oppression. People tend to think things are the way they are because that’s just how it always was. Well, there’s a reason why it was that way. Our unconscious bias trainer tells a story about a fish just swimming in the water, not even knowing that the water exists because that’s its life. In that way, a lot of the sexist, racist, and other negative ideologies are just water that’s around us and we don’t even realize it, because we’ve just been in it our whole lives. Stopping the automaticity of the ideologies that we have been swimming in is important for helping people understand. When you think of a CEO, people think of white men. When people think about a convict, they think of black or Latino men, right? They don’t think of maybe an affluent white-collar criminal, and we know some notable ones! Ideologies, education, and building a common vocabulary, start there. Then start looking at the systems.
JP: Can you foresee a time when DEI programs won’t be necessary?
CS: No. But I’m a hopeless idealist and optimist, so I think the beauty is, and my hope and prayer is, that eventually, it goes from fixing the systems to getting to celebrate diversity. What does that look like? I’m about to march in my first Pride Parade, walking next to my brothers and sisters in the LGBTQ community, and we’re going to have a great time. I’m going to celebrate them in their life and in their love. Even though I’m not a member of that community, I get to celebrate them. For me, that’s what it looks like. In regards to racism, folks often talk about being colorblind. Colorblind is beautiful, in its ideology and in theory, but when you turn a blind eye to something, then you make it invisible. We don’t want to make anything invisible; we want to celebrate it.
JP: You have said that you like to inspire people to be their best selves. What is the most effective way to do that?
CS: It starts with just being present and listening. People want to be seen, first and foremost, they want to know that you’re present, that you’re listening, that you care. So, to actually be there is important. And, more importantly, I want everyone to feel as joyful as I feel, as beautiful as I may feel in that moment. And I truly mean it from the inside. Like, that self-love and joy from the inside that makes someone glow. I like to pull that out of people. I want to listen to what they want to do, and then help push them forward and help them live their dreams. Just one conversation can literally change someone’s life because they may not know what type of career they want. That conversation may expose them to a whole other world – a job or a path or a choice that they never knew existed.
JP: You are a volunteer for Brown Girls Dream. What advice do you give to young leaders of color? CS: One of my besties, Cari Champion, a broadcaster, producer and phenomenal woman, tapped into all of her besties in the entertainment and sports businesses, like Jemele Hill (The Atlantic Contributor and Host of Unbothered), Bozoma Saint John (Hall of Fame Marketing Exec), Nischelle Turner (5x Emmy-winning host of Entertainment tonight and a Producer) and myself, to mentor young 20-somethings who aspire to similar careers. And it’s been great. I get three to four mentees a year. They come to us for career advice and guidance. What I’m loving most is seeing the network they’re creating amongst themselves. What we do is really a level beyond mentorship – it is sponsorship because we have actually hired many of the extraordinary women within our various organizations. We’re removing many of the roadblocks that we had to face so they can get here faster, with less pain, drama, and trauma, so they can make an even bigger impact. One of the hardest lessons that young leaders and executives have to learn is that as you go up, as you become more successful, we have to solve multiple people’s problems and multiple organizational problems. And so, we help them navigate all of that to show them the different perspectives through our lived experiences.
JP: From YMCA Visionary to Ebony’s Power 100 list and being touted as one of LA’s most influential people, you have received many accolades. Is there one accomplishment that makes you proudest?
CS: Honestly, all of those make me really proud. But there was a time, around the time Hillary was running for president – it was actually the night before – and I was watching and very stressed. My son was like, “Mom, what’s wrong?” He was five or six at the time, and I had started working at Sparks when he was about three. So, I told him that tomorrow we might have our first female president. Now, mind you, I’m a single mom, so I had been taking him with me to the games and to board meetings of the UCLA Alumni Association when I was president. And he would just sit in the corner at all of the work events and watch. So, he said, “But Mom, you’re a president.” And in that moment, first – I had tears. Second – it was mom for the win, right? Because there was so much guilt with sometimes having to parent in front of 10,000 fans at Staples Center because I needed to bring him with me. There was guilt when I saw my boss and I had my son on my hip. Then I thought – Look, you run this organization, Christine, you have to set the tone. You have to tell people, it’s okay. I just had to shift my mentality and not worry about that. Moms know how mom guilt works – you have a late meeting and they’re asking “Mom, are you coming home?” but you can’t be there all the time. They don’t mean to make you feel bad, but they just miss you. So, when he said that, I thought – exposure works! One of the things that I think as a society, we don’t do enough, is expose. He’s been exposed to women presidents in all areas of life, so why wouldn’t one be President of the United States, right? I think it’s that if we expose young men and young girls to all of this more often, then we’ll be in a much better place. So, for me, yes, those awards are phenomenal and they’re affirming but I think more about the impact that we’re making for the next generation. And, that night, that did it for me. So that’s most important.