Do The Write Thing 5: Where Creativity and Community Meet
The Aster
The fifth installment of Hollywood, Health & Society’s Do the Write Thing mixer saw the unveiling of HH&S’s explainer video on systemic racism narrated by Jason George of Station 19 and Todd Grinnell of Norman Lear’s One Day at a Time reboot before a packed room of BIPOC writers, producers, and up-and-comers.
The 9-minute video, which unpacks the historical mechanisms that built America’s current system of racial repression, was made in collaboration with production company Art Not War and directed by Kym Allen, who was also in attendance. Additionally, Marty Kaplan announced at the event that USC Annenberg’s School for Communication and Journalism has chosen to make the film a compulsory watch for all Annenberg graduate students.
The panel, moderated by Austin Cross, journalist and host of Morning Edition and AirTalk Fridays on LAist 89.3, featured, in addition to George and Grinnell, Steve Harper, writer and co-executive producer on Tracker, and Erika Green Swafford, most recently an executive producer on New Amsterdam.
The focus of the evening’s proceedings was, of course, systemic racism both behind and on screen – specifically, what our storytellers felt was within their power to change.
Steve Harper noted the difficulty of centering stories around Black experiences and that one of the first questions a writer hears when doing so is, “Do they have to be Black?”
Erika Green Swafford, however, pointed out that “Because we all exist in the universe, our stories are universal.” She went on to say, “Even if you can only get one small thing into a project, one small change that feels earnest and honest and true, then you have created a revolution.”
Jason George emphasized the need to mix and match “entertainment, education, and distraction” when creating work that can both make money and move the needle toward equity and justice. He was hopeful and optimistic for the future, describing racial boundaries as increasingly porous. He recounted white children showing up to his child’s soccer game with Black Panther logos shaved into their heads after the movie came out. “It’s moving in the right direction,” he said.
Swafford agreed, and encouraged every writer who gets a seat at the table to turn around and pull up someone else behind them. But she also encouraged the writers in the room to not wait. “I don’t want you to sit at [someone else’s] table. I want you to chop down a tree and make your own table.”
Speakers
Jason George
station 19
Jason is a film and television actor most recently seen co-starring in Station 19 after appearing for several seasons on Grey’s Anatomy. Other television and film credits include the drama series Mistresses, Eve, Eli Stone, Playing the Field, With This Rising, Witches of East End, The Climb, and Barbershop. When not working as an actor, George regularly speaks about inclusion as well as the need for diversity in media. He has served over 15 years on the boards of SAG, AFTRA or the now merged SAG-AFTRA, and helped negotiate the last 15 years of SAG-AFTRA’s contract for Primetime Television and Theatrical Film, specifically championing diversity and protections for actors.
Erika Green Swafford
writer/producer
Erika is a writer-producer and actor whose credits include New Amsterdam, The Mentalist and How to Get Away With Murder. Her production company, Chocolate Girl Wonder, develops TV projects exclusively for Disney’s Onyx Collective, with a focus on drama series. She won an NAACP Image Award for dramatic writing for How to Get Away With Murder. Green Swafford is an alum of the Warner Bros. writers program and the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and worked as an executive at Oxygen prior to becoming a writer.
Todd Grinnell
one day at a time
Todd is an actor and director who co-starred as Schneider on the Netflix reboot of the Norman Lear classic One Day at a Time. Most recently he co-starred on the Amazon series With Love. His television debut came in 2006 with a guest role on the short-lived sitcom Love, Inc., and he played a newspaper reporter in the noir throwback Hollywoodland. Other credits include roles on Desperate Housewives, Criminal Minds, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Cold Case, The Mentalist, and Grace and Frankie.
Steve Harper
writer/producer
Steve is a writer and producer whose TV credits include Tracker and Stargirl. He’s written episodes of God Friended Me, Tell Me Your Secrets, American Crime and Covert Affairs. As an actor he’s appeared at the Guthrie Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and The Kennedy Center, and on TV shows like Law & Order: SVU, 90210 and Homicide: Life on the Street. His collection A Few Short Plays to Save the World was published by Laughing Panda Press and won the 2023 Independent Press Award.
Austin Cross (moderator)
journalist; host of Morning Edition on LAist 89.3
Austin is a Golden Mike Award-winning journalist who hosts Morning Edition and AirTalk Fridays on LAist 89.3. For over a decade, he has been delving into the issues shaping Southern California’s quality of life. Austin’s professional radio journey began in 2010 at KNX, where he produced business and personal finance news. In 2014, he came to LAist (then KPCC), making shows like Morning Edition under the late Steve Julian, All Things Considered with Nick Roman, and AirTalk with Larry Mantle. He is also a longtime producer and reporter for the radio newsmagazine show Take Two.