Ryan Murphy vows to make half the directors of his shows women or minorities

Diversity in the film industry is certainly a hot topic at the moment what with the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and discussions about the unfairness of the gender pay gap among professionals. But lack of minorities present in making projects for screen doesn't just end with the big one.

While it has been expressed, particularly in the past few months, that TV is a platform that is much more open than movies, there is always room for more diversity to be presented and more opportunity to be taken up.

And now it seems like people are seriously understanding that need. Glee, Scream Queens and American Horror Story showrunner Ryan Murphy is in the midst of launching a foundation through which he plans to open doors for women, people of colour, or members of LGBTQ community who are struggling for director slots in the industry, through his shows.

Only 16% of all television show episodes during the 2014-15 season were helmed by women, while 18% were directed by minorities in general. Murphy's foundation is called Half, and aims to fill 50% of those same slots with diverse voices by the end of 2016.

Speaking about his goal in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Murphy stated: "I can do better. The industry has always been about, you come to us. There's not a lot of effort and inclusion, and I'm saying: 'No, we're going to go to you.'" He continued on to say that people in power have a duty to open pathways to talent in ways that will change the industry.

Over the years, Murphy's multiple successful TV series have helped more than 20 people earn their Directors Guild of America cards, but only a handful of them were women. Looks like he's keen to address that statistic with this latest move.

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