Women in Entertainment

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Back in 2015, the ACLU of Southern California sent a letter to the EEOC requesting an investigation into the systemic failure to hire women directors at all levels of the film and television industry. On May 11, 2016, the ACLU reported that the EEOC "gave careful consideration to our findings and responded by launching a wide-ranging and well-resourced investigation into the industry’s hiring practices."

https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-statement-federal-probe-gender-discrimination-hollywood?redirect=news/aclu-statement-federal-probe-gender-discrimination-hollywood

On information and belief, the investigation was led by Marla Stern-Knowlton, director of the San Diego office, in possible concert with the EEOC's Los Angeles field office.

To the extent there exist records that are not open case files exempted as investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes, for the time period from Jan 1, 2016 to the present, I request:

— All final reports pertaining to this investigation;
— All agency correspondence to members of the public, members of Congress, or other persons not government employees pertaining to this investigation; and
—Any statistics derived from the Commission's reporting programs concerning the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry.

Such information is to be disclosed under §1610.18

In addition to the records requested above, I also request records describing the processing of this request, including records sufficient to identify search terms used and locations and custodians searched, and any tracking sheets used to track the processing of this request.

If you make a determination that any responsive record, or any segment within a record, is exempt from disclosure, I ask that you provide an index of those records at the time you transmit all other responsive records. In the index, please include a description of the record and the reason for exclusion with respect to each individual exempt record. When you deem a portion of a record exempt, I ask that the remainder of the record to be provided, as required by 5 U.S.C. § 552(b).

I request that I not be charged search or review fees because I qualify as a representative of the news media, pursuant to FOIA and the applicable federal regulations. I am a Senior Editor at The Hollywood Reporter, where I cover legal issues and public policy.

At 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii), the FOIA describes “a representative of the news media” as “any person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience.”

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Eriq Gardner

Thank you for replying to my FOIA request (820-2020-000025).

My request referenced an investigation into the systemic failure to hire women directors at all levels of the film and television industry. I requested records that are not open case files exempted as investigatory records including final reports pertaining to this investigation; all agency correspondence to members of the public, members of Congress, or other persons not government employees pertaining to this investigation; any statistics derived from the Commission's reporting programs concerning the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industry; and records describing the processing of this request, including records sufficient to identify search terms used and locations and custodians searched, and any tracking sheets used to track the processing of this request.

In response, you asked which specific members of Congress I was inquiring about, their names and email addresses.

I don't have a specific member of Congress in mind. Under §1610.18, I'm not required to specify.

That said, for the purpose of expediency, I will accept as sufficient a search of correspondence with anyone using an email address that includes house.gov or senate.gov and a search of correspondence with anyone whose communications indicates occupancy in the Rayburn House Office Building, the Longworth House Office Building, the Cannon House Office Building, the Dirksen Senate Office Building, the Hart Senate Office Building, or the Russell Senate Office Building.

Thank you,
Eriq Gardner