Cohen Milstein’s Kalpana Kotagal Discusses the Inclusion Rider on Law360’s “Pro Say Podcast: ‘Inclusion Rider’ A Year After Oscars Fame”

During her acceptance speech at the 2018 Academy Awards, actress Frances McDormand let the world know about inclusion riders, a novel contract provision that improves hiring practices to deepen diversity within an industry like Hollywood, where representation by women, people of color, LGBTQ people and others has been stagnant for decades.

In light of the 2019 Oscars on Sunday, the Pro Say podcast welcomes Kalpana Kotagal, a civil rights and employment lawyer at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and a co-author of the inclusion rider, to explain how the provision has made a difference in the year since it took center stage.

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Both on this week's show and in an article she authored for Law360 this week, Kalpana explains a lot has happened in the year since the inclusion rider was introduced. Directly after the Oscars last year, actor Michael B. Jordan announced his production company would adopt inclusion riders for all forthcoming projects. Warner Bros. followed suit, becoming the first major Hollywood studio to formally adopt a companywide policy meant to increase diversity on and off screen. 

Listen to the complete episode here.