McNeal is empowered to expand Disney's pool of diverse creative talent and champion their careers companywide. As a former programming executive, he brings a unique understanding of the inherent challenges and best practices required for solving for diversity and inclusion (D&I) within the entertainment industry, where women and people of color are significantly underrepresented. McNeal is a champion of otherness and a "gatekeeper" encouraged to infuse the creative talent pipeline with qualified, diverse candidates. His strategies have yielded powerful results.
The following is an abridged version of the deep-dive conversation. Listen here to the full interview. Subscribe or listen to the Advancing Diversity Podcast on> Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or watch on YouTube or listen to the entire podcast here.
E.B. Moss: What's your diversity and inclusion mission at Walt Disney Television?
Tim McNeal: My remit includes the company's Television Writing and Directing Programs, the National Latino Media Council, and more. I'm also the primary liaison for Walt Disney Television's diversity-related coalitions, nonprofit arts institutions, and entertainment industry guilds.
On a grand scale, it is to impact the content and programming that Walt Disney Television produces to ensure they are inclusive and reflective of the real world. On a more granular scale, it's about talent development and closing the gap for diverse creatives in this space, so they can connect to jobs within our company.
Ginger Conlon: What was the genesis of your current talent development strategy?
McNeal: When I arrived at Walt Disney Television in 2006 ... I saw that the talent development team was engaged in career development, which is educating people on what it [takes] to have a career in this business. Coming from my background as a creative executive working with diverse talent, I knew that there was a vast population available with the skill set to write, produce, and direct programming … yet, they weren't connecting to our job opportunities. So, the first thing I did was shift our focus to staffing; this act transformed the landscape as it allowed us to identify qualified candidates within our professional development pipeline who we may have otherwise missed.
Conlon: What ignited your career direction?
McNeal: When I was a little kid, I saw a movie called The Idolmaker … I knew at that moment that I wanted to work in the entertainment business. I embraced the idea of being the person behind the scenes that propped others up to go after their dreams. That's what drew me to Hollywood.
My career took off when I became … one of five people of color in the agency talent representation business in the 1990s. Almost every person of color came through my office at one point or another.
Next … at WB Network … I became the highest-ranked African American male in programming at the time. It gave [the] ability to empower people who I believed had a voice or a unique perspective that should be shared. My subsequent move to Walt Disney Television allows me to impact the lives of many diverse talents in the creative realm.