Female Directors

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.
I hereby request records associated with this investigation including emails, memorandum, opinion letters, interview transcripts, field notes, and communications with production studios (such as Universal Studios, 21st Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, and Sony Pictures). To narrow the time frame, I request documents from Jan 1, 2016 to the present.
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

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following request, copied below. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

This is in reference to FOIA No.: 820-2019-000498 and the letter dated July 22 from Tracy L. Smalls. I appreciate the acknowledgement and the reply.
After reviewing the letter, the EEOC's guidance on FOIA requests, and applicable statutes, I hereby amend my request pertaining to the EEOC's investigation of hiring practices for women directors at all levels of the film and television industry. (See original FOIA request.)
To the extent that such records 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 or special 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 or exempt portion of a record, as provided by Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977 (1974). 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).
Thank you for your continued cooperation in this matter.