Prime Video, a global subscription video-on-demand streaming and rental service platform, launched its localised service for Nigeria in 2022. Latasha Gillespie, global head of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility at Amazon Studios and Prime Video, who visited Nigeria recently for the 11th edition of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), spoke with AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE. She gave insight into the investment plans of Prime Video for the Nigerian market and how the partnership will help give expression to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Excerpts:
Amazon is focused on Nigeria at the moment. What in terms of the investment portfolio are you bringing into Nigeria?
In Amazon, whatever presence we have here is a long-term investment. So, we would not have come to Nigeria if we were not planning to be here for the long run. Therefore, we do not easily and casually enter a market. We understand that when we come into a place, we want to build long-term relationships with people and the community.
In terms of investment, we started the journey last year. This year, Prime Video established a local originals team, and the company is building content; we have Gangs of Lagos & LOL: Last One Laughing Naija, which we are super excited about. Lastly, we have other projects in the pipeline. We have started building a team and creating projects. We are super excited about these projects and hope Nigerians will love them too.
What inspired the implementation of the inclusion policy and playbook at Amazon studios?
One thing that is core to Amazon is customers. We like to think of ourselves as being customer-obsessed. This is why we can move heaven and earth to get a package to someone in two days. This is similar to the content side. My team ensures that Amazon is equitably obsessing over all customers. We do this by understanding our customers in Africa and ensuring that we know how to meet their needs in terms of content, delighting them with shows and talent they want to see.
This is why this work is essential. It is about really meeting the customer where they are. Although we serve all customers from the diversity, equity inclusion, and accessibility team, we think about those who may have been historically underserved. In this aspect, we laser focus on young people, people of color, and women around the globe.
How did you find the transition from finance and human resources to the entertainment industry?
The journey has been interesting. It’s been anything but linear. The good thing about having a background in finance is that it helped me to understand the business. Learning how to tie diversity, equity, and inclusion to business metrics is something that I learned while working at Caterpillar. In the course of my work, I figured out a way to measure diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Again, my team figured out how to tie those measurements to the things that matter, such as the business, the quality of the product, the velocity of how much to turnover inventory, safety numbers, and the company’s profitability.
In all, we try to figure out how to make this relevant to the work that we do every day. This scenario is not different at Amazon because, here at Amazon, customer obsession is our number one priority.
We always think about how we are delighting the customers. We constantly want to know how our customers in Nigeria are going to be able to find content that resonates with them, content that looks like them, and the ones that are authentic to their life experiences. Amazon also wants to give customers content that helps them see someone else’s lived experience because we all need more humanity in the world.
What additional practices have you implemented or helped to introduce at Amazon Studios that you are particularly proud of?
I am excited about the changes we have seen in Amazon in just six years. In the first two years, I worked in Amazon corporate, and I worked very closely with Jeff Bezos and his leadership team to craft our first company diversity strategy. Prior to this, Amazon had never set big goals across the entire enterprise about how we would intentionally find, attract, promote, develop, and retain people of color in our business.
At Amazon Studios, we have built mechanisms into the creative process to ensure the business is driving inclusion. At the moment, Amazon Studio is the only studio in Hollywood that includes diversity as a part of the green light assessment. When we have that green light conversation, we ask ourselves how each project will attract underserved audiences. We ask who’s in front of the camera and behind the camera; who’s above the line or below the line? And then the last thing we ask ourselves is if there is anything in the material that could cause harm because it perpetuates a negative stereotype or trope about a group of people.
How do you keep an open mind when dealing with people from diverse backgrounds?
Dealing with people from diverse backgrounds with an open mind is easy because I have grown up my entire life being the only girl in the group, the only black woman or little black girl in class.
I have learned how to work across differences over my entire life because I have always been put in situations where I was different from everybody else. So, all these experiences build empathy in me. When you have lived that experience, you will understand how it works. I’m always asking how we make sure that all of our practices, processes, and mechanisms in Amazon Studios are accounting for the most marginalised person because if it works for them, then it will work for everyone else.
What collaborations/partnerships have you worked on that have best represented the core values of the inclusion policy?
Last year, we launched the Inclusion Policy and Playbook. It was a direct response to the murders of George Floyd and several other black people across the United States at the hands of police. It was such a horrible time for the world. At Amazon Studios, it was important that we changed systems, processes, and structures. One of the things we did was hire organisations that focus on historically excluded groups in Hollywood like IllumiNative, GLAAD, and Storyline Partners. We fund this work from our team so the creatives never sacrifice doing the right thing because of cost.
These organisations have devoted their lives and work to ensuring marginalised people are portrayed fairly, accurately, and equitably on screen. All these partnerships make sure that all of our creative talents, filmmakers, and series creators have the resources that they need to tell the best story without having to worry about if it is going to impact the budget because Amazon never wants cost to be a reason the right things are not done.
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You have a plethora of experiences in diverse roles in various locations. What was one of the most important lessons you learned during your career that you still use today?
I have realised that everything in life has been prepared for the next stage of my career. My sojourn into finance helped me understand the business of filmmaking and that it is important to always tie DEI and accessibility work to the business.
During my Human Resources days, I learned how to deal with people in difficult situations and how to make sure people are managed properly. So, today whenever I run into an issue on a production set, which unfortunately happens from time to time, it has given me the skills, confidence, and knowledge to know how to go in and navigate those situations.
Switching industries from manufacturing to entertainment taught me that it is not always about what you do; sometimes, it is about your ability to learn and be curious about something you do not know.
How do you define success?
I view success from a personal point of view in relation to first my faith and my family. If I feel I am doing work that aligns with my faith and values, then I am on the right track. If my family is in a position where they are safe and secure, and have the ability to dream big, then I have been successful.
From a business standpoint, if I can create content that helps people see their own lived experience in an authentic way that resonates with the core of what they like, then that is a success.
However, even when they don’t see themselves, it is also a success when they see someone else’s lived experience and it increases their humanity towards someone they would not know or otherwise interact with. So, if I can do those two things, help people see themselves authentically and help increase the humanity towards someone else; then it is a success from a business standpoint.
