The Hollywood Commission Launches MyConnext Platform For Reporting Workplace Misconduct
The Hollywood Commission
The Hollywood Commission, led by Anita Hill, Kathleen Kennedy and Nina Shaw, on Thursday announced the launch of MyConnext, a secure, all-in-one online tool, resource center, and reporting system for entertainment industry workers exploring their options when confronting harassment, bullying, or any type of workplace abuse.
An independent nonprofit corporation with its own management committee, MyConnext offers workers the opportunity to create a timestamped personal record of their experience, ask questions about policies, procedures, and how to report through a safe and anonymous messaging function, and securely report workplace misconduct — anonymously, if they so choose. Through its “hold for match” function, the platform allows workers to submit an anonymous report that is held securely, pending a second report by another user. When another person submits a report against the same individual – making a “match” – both reports are released to the users’ designated organization.
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MyConnext marks the Hollywood Commission’s direct response to concerns raised by more than 10,000 industry workers in their 2019-20 survey, which were confirmed more recently by the 2022-23 survey. In the first, 95% of workers asked for resources to help them understand reporting; 94% asked for a helpline or hotline; and 93% asked for technology to create a timestamped record. In the 2022-23 survey, 90% of respondents asked for technology to create a timestamped record, and 92% said resources to better understand reporting would be helpful.
MyConnext does not replace any reporting options provided by an employer, union, or guild; it is not a third-party investigatory body. Instead, using MyConnext, each worker controls their path and decides whether, and under what circumstances, to submit a report through the tool to their company, union, or guild, using their existing investigatory processes. Participating organizations at launch include the DGA, WGA, specified U.S.-based Amazon productions, all U.S.-based Netflix productions, and The Kennedy/Marshall Company. It is expected that IATSE will join the platform later this year. While the resource is available only to participating organizations, MyConnext also offers several tools available to everyone, including information on how to address and report concerns, mandatory arbitration & non-disclosure agreements, answers to frequently asked questions about workers’ rights and reporting options, helpful definitions, information on helplines, and more.
MyConnext is powered and protected by Pluto 5000, an independent third-party technology company that specializes in Data Locker technology and encryption. While navigating the site, users can speak with MyConnext Ombuds Lillian Rivera, an independent, informal, impartial, and confidential resource who will serve a neutral third party helping them to understand their options.
MyConnext also exists entirely independently of the Hollywood Commission. Those on its management committee include ReFrame Director Andria Wilson Mirza; Dr. Louise Fitzgerald, Professor Emerita of Psychology in Department of Gender and Women Studies at the University of Illinois and an expert on the psychology of sexual harassment; and Wokie Nwabueze, Founder and CEO of The Seen & Heard Project, an award-winning consultancy and educational platform created to help innovative organizations build cultures of belonging.
Stated famed attorney Hill, who serves as chair and president of the Hollywood Commission, “Workers must believe they will be heard and safe to raise concerns about inappropriate workplace conduct. MyConnext is the online tool they have been asking for. It empowers workers who have experienced or witnessed harassment, discrimination, bullying, or abuse by providing them with the resources they need, and reporting options for those who choose to come forward. And it does it in an environment that preserves and protects the rights of all parties with the dignity and sensitivity you would expect of a truly objective, fact-based user experience.”
Continued Hill, “Working with our participating organizations’ existing safety and enforcement mechanisms, MyConnext adds significant new features that can help guide individuals towards useful information and options, or even allow companies to potentially detect a serial abuser through the Hold for Match feature. MyConnext puts resource and reporting options in one easy-to-use place and connects workers with the appropriate channels, empowering them with information and options to advance at their discretion.”
The leading organization that works in partnership with 26 of the most influential companies, unions and guilds, academies, and talent agencies to end harassment, discrimination, bullying, and abuse in the entertainment industry, The Hollywood Commission was founded amidst the burgeoning of the #MeToo movement in 2017. The platform’s launch comes amidst new traction in the #MeToo movement in France, as has been a point of focus over the course of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.