It happens nearly every awards season: Dance animates all the ceremonies, adding much-needed energy and bringing to life moments from the best films of the year. And yet, at nearly all of these events—most notably the Oscars—there is no prize for best choreography, and little acknowledgment of the artists who shape the dance both for the ceremonies themselves and the movies and television shows they celebrate.
While public conversations around choreographer representation in Hollywood typically peak in March, the challenges are year-round, and not limited to awards recognition. The Choreographers Guild, a labor organization that was founded in 2022 and has steadily grown in membership since, has been working to address these issues. And they’ve had some success: Last year, for instance, they worked with IMDB to add a “choreographer” credit. (Choreographers used to be listed at the bottom of each page under “additional crew.”)
There have been other recent wins, too. For years there was only one choreographer, Vincent Paterson, in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But in 2023 the Academy created a new branch, Production and Technology, that included choreographers. Since then, five other choreographers—Mandy Moore, Kenny Ortega, Prem Rakshith, Fatima Robinson, and Yuen Woo-Ping—have been invited to join.
Are things finally looking up for choreographers in Hollywood? Four prominent dancemakers working in film and television discuss the current state of the industry.
The Choreographers
Mandy Moore
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member, governor of the Television Academy choreographer peer group, Choreographers Guild member
Known for: La La Land, Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, “So You Think You Can Dance”
Vincent Paterson
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member, Choreographers Guild member
Known for: The Birdcage, Evita, Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”
Kathryn Burns
Choreographers Guild founding president, Television Academy member
Known for: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Christian Vincent
Governor of the Television Academy choreographer peer group, Choreographers Guild member
Known for: “The Porter,” A Christmas Dance Reunion
Vincent Paterson (left). Courtesy Paterson.
What does the landscape for choreographers in entertainment feel like right now?
MANDY MOORE: Dance is everywhere right now, which is cool. It still feels like we’re over here being like, “We’re worthy! Fight for us!” I’m not sure that’s ever truly going to end. But people do talk about choreographers, and they do credit choreographers. The fact that dance goes viral—even two years ago, you never would have seen an Instagram post that said “choreographed by.” It’s baby steps, but better than nothing.
What has the Choreographers Guild been working on the past few years?
KATHRYN BURNS: We started the Guild to focus on respect, recognition, and having parity with our creative collaborators. We are working on all those things, but we really need the strength of a bigger union. We are a powerful group, but there’s only so many of us, and we’re 90 years late compared to every other union and guild. So, we’ve been working towards that, and hopefully there’ll be some real change soon.
MOORE: I credit the Guild for trying to be a place where choreographers can gather and talk about ideas and move towards what the group wants to do. It’s really hard with our business, because we’re all over the place. We don’t just do film. We don’t just do commercials. We do live touring, we do theatrical. Some people make a lot of money, and some people make no money. Some people get credit, some people don’t get credit. So it’s hard to get everyone on the same page when our needs are so different. Without a unified conscience, I don’t know how we do anything moving forward, so I really credit the Guild for trying to do that.
Mandy Moore. Courtesy Moore.
Last year, IMDB finally added a credit section for choreographers, thanks to advocacy by the Choreographers Guild. Why is this important?
BURNS: We had been working with them for over a year. It’s wild to see on my own page—I had hundreds of credits that got lost in “additional crew.” It was a massive undertaking on their end. We gave them a list of how choreographers have been credited throughout history—”movement designer,” “dance designer,” “staged by,” “actor’s movement by”—we ended up finding at least 50 different variations of “choreographer.” It speaks to why credit is important, because you have to know that the job even exists to hire the person, and then who was the person who did the job?
MOORE: I think there are a lot of people who see something they like and immediately go, “Who choreographed that?” Now, instead of being buried with catering, or not even on IMDB, they can access it. Any time you can put a name to the making of something, that’s really important.
What are the biggest challenges choreographers are facing in film and TV right now?
CHRISTIAN VINCENT: There’s been a dip in the amount of work for choreographers in film and television. We made great strides with dancers getting higher rates after the (2023 SAG-AFTRA) strike, but the side effect of that was that producers don’t want to write dance into shows, because it costs too much money.
BURNS: Recognition. At the moment, we still get credit at the producers’ discretion. I worked on an Academy-nominated film that didn’t credit me, and it was such a bummer. They don’t think to include us in things, even as small as putting us on the crew sheet. We don’t get invited to the wrap parties. We don’t get the wrap gifts. What you’re doing is valuable, and people appreciate it, but it doesn’t feel that way when you’re not included, even on a very simple social level.
That also means recognition as a collective-bargaining unit. We deserve health care and pension. We deserve overtime. You can’t work us forever. You’re choreographing the biggest movie in the world, and for the biggest artists in the world, and you’re barely getting by. That’s not going to cut it. People have to actively recognize us—financially, socially, in all the ways.
Christian Vincent. Photo by Michael Higgins, Courtesy Vincent.
MOORE: I think it’s still that most productions don’t understand what we do. That’s something the Guild is working on, too—we have a packet of best practices, which is helpful. But every time I go on a job, I have to explain that I need a place to rehearse, and there should be a speaker there, and it can’t be a closet, and they’re going to have to pay hazard pay because it’s not a sprung floor. Every time, I have to reteach them. It would be nice if over the next couple years we could teach the industry about what we need, and that we’re not being difficult, we’re not being crazy, we’re not weird artists. We’re just trying to do our job.
Now that there are six choreographers in the film Academy, rather than just one, does an Academy Award for choreography feel any closer?
VINCENT PATERSON: No, not at all. There’s so much politics over there that it’s not going to happen until we have a solid group of choreographers involved in the Production and Technology branch. There’s only six of us right now. That’s still a very, very small number.
MOORE: This might be scandalous, but I don’t actually think we need our own Oscar. I think we need a committee in place so that if there is a film or films in a year that have choreography that is deemed Oscar-worthy, we have the ability to give them an honorary Oscar. La La Land won a ton of Oscars, and choreography played a huge role in that film. I can separate myself and my emotions from that—I feel the same for Christopher Scott with Wicked and Aakomon Jones with Sinners. I just don’t think there’s enough dance to have an Oscar every year. I wish there was, and maybe there will be.
BURNS: I think them recognizing casting directors is major, and they’re working on stunt coordinators. It’s definitely something we’re passionate about and want to work towards. It’s tricky, because we don’t have any choreographers as (film) Academy governors, so we’ve been advocating for that. We’re trying to learn how the system works, and how to speak their language, and who in the organization can empower us. It’d be great to see that recognition with the Oscars and maybe even other award shows, like Critics Choice or the Golden Globes. Hopefully, the Choreographers Guild will have our own awards one day.
Kathryn Burns (left). Courtesy Burns.
Is there anything else you’re working towards right now, or hope that choreographers can accomplish as a collective moving forward?
PATERSON: Julie McDonald (co-founder of the McDonald Selznick Associates agency) and I are trying to make an appointment with the Golden Globes. We figure that the Emmys are giving choreographers awards. Maybe we can have a conversation and see if they’ll give a Golden Globe to choreographers. That gives us more clout with the Academy.
VINCENT: I’d like to see us continue to create that sense of community so that we can band together and fight for unionization and educate the next generation of choreographers. I hope we can gain more respect in the industry, so more people can understand how important dance is, how skilled dancers and choreographers are, and how valuable choreographers are on a set.
MOORE: I’m looking forward to continuing to push things forward and educate. I try not to be pitchforks and torches all the time. There’s a time for that, and there’s also a time for a peaceful chat about things. I think it’s easy to get all “No one cares about us.” And I don’t really believe that. I think people are all just white-knuckling in their own way.
BURNS: It would be industry-changing if we got a collective-bargaining agreement. That means your agent can negotiate for better terms, not just proper working conditions. Every other creative-department head has a base minimum of what they’re going to get paid and what will come with it. I’m using all my bargaining power to ask for very simple things. We don’t get health care or pension unless it’s negotiated. We don’t get residuals. We get a flat day rate for our work, and that’s it. It’s working on language that protects choreographers for the long-term.
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