In the news

LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 23, 2024 – The Hollywood Commission announced the launch of MyConnext, a powerful, new, 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. Workers will have access to a “hold for match” tool, as well as the impartial guidance of an ombuds who can help them choose their own paths.

MyConnext, which launches as an independent nonprofit corporation with its own management committee, is the Hollywood Commission’s direct response to concerns raised by more than 10,000 industry workers in the Commission’s 2019-20 survey, and confirmed more recently by the 2022-23 survey. In the first survey, 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 its 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.

To address those experiences, requests, and concerns, MyConnext presents a new tool that offers users a range of resources relevant to many inquiries, and a suite of options and the agency to choose their routing and own next steps.

Among the options the tool offers, users can:

• create a timestamped personal record of their experience;

• ask questions about policies, procedures, and how to report through a safe and anonymous messaging function; 

• securely report workplace misconduct;

• make an anonymous report, if they choose;

• opt for a unique “hold for match” feature

“Hold for match” allows workers to submit an anonymous report that is held securely in the tool, 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.

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 unique 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.

The participating organizations at launch include the Directors Guild of America (DGA); the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW); specified U.S.-based Amazon productions; all U.S.-based Netflix productions; and The Kennedy/Marshall Company. It is expected that the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts (IATSE) will join the platform later this year. Members of SAG-AFTRA can also access their Safe Place reporting tool through MyConnext.

The site is powered and protected by Pluto 5000, an independent third party technology company that specializes in Data Locker technology and encryption ensuring that users’ information will always be safe and secure.

To help users navigate the site, users can speak with a MyConnext Ombuds, an independent, informal, impartial, and confidential resource. The Ombuds will not have a reporting or investigatory function, and is instead a neutral third party who can help users understand their options. Lillian Rivera will serve as the Ombuds.

MyConnext also exists entirely independently of the Hollywood Commission. MyConnext LLC is led by its management committee: Andria Wilson Mirza is the Director of ReFrame, the screen industry’s gender equity coalition founded and led by the Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles (WIF); 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, an award-winning workplace culture expert and Ombuds Officer for Princeton University.

While the MyConnext reporting tool and ombuds are available only to participating organizations, MyConnext also offers several resources available to everyone, including information on how to address & 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.

Anita Hill, chair and president of the Hollywood Commission, said, “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.”

“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,” Hill continued.

One anonymous contributor to MyConnext user testing had this to say: “The harassment I endured was hands down one of the most challenging times of my life. I felt vulnerable not only due to the abuse of power I was experiencing, but also from the courage required for me to stand up for myself. MyConnext works as an approachable resource to support workers navigating these intimidating obstacles. It enables you to work through the complexity of these situations without having to be polished or at risk of immediate retaliation. This platform helps workers to keep their voices strong and to be heard, an empowering asset in situations of harassment in which silencing tactics are frequently used by the abuser.”

Martin Fogelman III, CEO & CAIO-CTO of Pluto 5000, said, “Pluto 5000 is proud to power MyConnext with our user-centric data ownership technology. We are in awe by the hard, human work done by the Hollywood Commission in bringing the entertainment industry together in a constructive and professional way.”

About MyConnext, LLC

A direct response to workers’ needs, MyConnext is an easy-to-use, secure, independent, and anonymous online resource and reporting tool for entertainment industry workers to confront workplace misconduct. Building on and working with participating organizations’ existing reporting processes, MyConnext provides workers who have experienced or witnessed harassment, discrimination, bullying, or other forms of abuse with the resources, choices, and options they need to take their next step forward.

About the Hollywood Commission

The Hollywood Commission, led by board members Anita Hill, Chair and President, along with Kathleen Kennedy and Nina Shaw, is 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.

Q&A

Is MyConnext a new or third-party enforcement mechanism?
No. MyConnext does not replace employers’ existing investigatory processes; it gives more power to users to understand their options and choose their next step.

MyConnext connects workers with participating organizations – the industry’s leading companies, guilds, and unions – to provide an easy-to-use tool that lays out available options. Each worker can decide whether and how to proceed based on the resources and options curated and available to them. MyConnext empowers employees to explore their options and take action on their terms.

Does MyConnext offer new guidelines or codes of conduct?
No. MyConnext is an online resource that provides an easy-to-use tool that outlines the options available to report workplace misconduct safely and securely.

How is MyConnext a step forward?
Finding resources, knowing one’s options, deciding on the best course of action, and knowing the correct reporting structure can be daunting – especially for a worker who has just experienced or witnessed harassment, bullying, or abuse. MyConnext also offers features, like “hold for match,” which allows workers to submit anonymous, pending reports that only release to an organization once a “match” is made when another person reports the same individual.

MyConnext builds one easy-to-use tool on top of the participating organizations’ reporting options. It also takes workers through those options in a user-friendly way.