Romola Ratnam: Last News

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterEndeavor has appointed Romola Ratnam as senior vice president and head of impact and inclusion, Variety has learned exclusively.Ratnam will oversee corporate social responsibility efforts, including DEI, at the global operation that owns talent agency WME. News of her hire comes on the heels of Alicin Reidy Williamson’s exit for a top post at Yahoo.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer WME will enter an expansive partnership with incubator Gold House, the talent agency announced on Thursday. Gold House is a multi-pronged operation devoted to elevating Asian Pacific excellence, focusing on areas including creative arts, media and capital investment. WME has been named a founding partner of the Gold House Creative Equity Fund, which hopes to identify, develop, produce and promote AAPI content. As part of the union, WME will offer financing, masterclasses for skill building, and of course business opportunities across its steep client roster. The agency will also leverage the broader assets of its owner Endeavor to find opportunities beyond filmed content, in areas like fashion, social impact, fine arts and more. For rising talent, WME will offer individually-matched mentors across its network, community events, and big activations around AAPI Heritage Month.

Angelique Jackson When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, Hollywood (and the world) slowed to a stop, leaving the team behind Endeavor’s pipeline initiatives at a loss.In an industry already rife with barriers to entry for people from underrepresented groups, how could these prospective talents get their foot in the door at agencies, studios and entertainment companies when the door literally no longer exists because everyone’s working from home.Those were the types of questions Romola Ratnam, Endeavor’s Head of Social Impact, and Hilary Kidwell, director of social impact at the company (both pictured above), began to ask themselves.“You have all these young people that may or may not think that they have a shot to be in this industry, and would’ve maybe gotten their first opportunity, whether it be an internship or entry level, and they may not have that anymore,” Ratnam recalled in an interview with Variety. “We already know the struggle to increase diversity within our industry is already tough, and when we take away all of these jobs, what does that do?” So, the team got creative — pivoting their postponed Fellowship Program, which aimed to provide jobs, mentoring and education programs within the company to 42 fellows each year, into a virtual model, renamed Summer Series, providing registrants the opportunity to learn more about working in the sports, entertainment and fashion industries.“We thought, ‘Let’s give them some free education that anybody can access from any device no matter where they are, and some hope that ‘Hey, I can make it,'” Ratnam explained.

In light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, sources tell Deadline that WME will not be hosting its agency’s Oscar party this year, and instead will be donating $1 million  to UNICEF to support families in Ukraine and other areas displaced by war.