El Rey Network’s From Dusk till Dawn showrunner Carlos Coto would like to see a Latino family show that’s not about criminals, and doesn’t contain the word “Cartel.”

“I want to see a black woman superhero!” said Tichina Arnold who stars on Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse.

They were just two of the creatives leading the charge to bring more diversity both behind and on the television screen.

During a Television Critics Association summer press tour panel, Arnold and Coto were joined onstage by Theresa Vargas Wyatt, head of outreach, El Rey Network; Victoria Mahoney, director, Survivor’s Remorse, Starz; D’Angela Proctor, SVP of programming and production, TV One; Russ Parr, director/writer, Ringside, TV One; Anthony Hemingway, director and executive producer, Underground, WGN America; and Jurnee Smollett-Bell, talent, Underground, WGN America.

Overall, it’s not about diversity, but telling more stories that represent human beings in the world.

“What’s diverse about inclusivity?” asked Mahoney. It’s something she addresses indirectly on Survivor’s Remorse as people are drawn in for the laugher, and are exposed to an “undercurrent of heavy, heavy shit.”

Coto agrees audiences don’t need to be beat over the head with racial topics. Instead, he infuses that message into the subtext of From Dusk till Dawn, where about half of the characters are Latino, along with about 60 percent of the writing room—and their experiences become weaved into the larger story of vampire attacks.

When it comes down to it, “belonging” is a better word than diversity, Proctor said.

“Diversity, inclusion, belonging; it builds bridges,” she said. “And it has to build bridges. Bridges from hope to talent. And bridges from talent to opportunity.”

That opportunity part is key. Proctor worked as a lawyer before entering the entertainment industry by producing music videos, because people selling CDs out of their trunks seemed tangible.

“I really wish I had known that Hollywood was available to me because I would have started sooner,” she said. She had no idea that something like starting in the mail room of an agency was even an option, and seeing more diversity on screen could have exposed her to that idea.

Opportunity also means not sacrificing quality.

Smollett-Bell said she could be making a ton of money and have a resume 50 pages long where she was playing “the girlfriend,” but that’s not a role she wants. She was inspired by both the Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Color Purple as stories that depict beautiful, complex women.

“What’s been a struggle for me is seeking out characters that are not one dimensional,” Smollett-Bell said.

Stereotypes are easy to write, but she encourages those in Hollywood to “dig deeper.”

The industry also has move past the “tick a box stage” and seriously consider hiring people of color.

To an extent social media has forced the business to listen, and pay attention to the many different types of people and individuals out there, Arnold said. And Vargas Wyatt said it also helps that there’s a profound sense of community among those who represent diversity in the industry.

“Maybe I met some of you for the first time today, but we’re going to know each other our whole careers,” she said to others on the panel.

She also spoke about the “responsibility to pull someone else up with us.”

“We’re choosing to be positive and proactive in approach,” she said, “and leading by example.”

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