Alan Cumming, Bowen Yang Help Launch Necessary Foundation to Support LGBTQ Filmmakers

After studios and entertainment companies continue to pull back on DEI efforts during President Donald Trump’s second administration, a new non-profit is hoping to offer support for LGBTQ+ filmmakers.

The Necessary Foundation has been launched with Alan Cumming, Bowen Yang, Lena Waithe and Adam Goldman as founding board members (Goldman will also serve as executive director) with the purpose of offering financing and other opportunities to help LGBTQ+ filmmakers establish themselves in the entertainment industry.

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“Queer filmmakers don’t need permission, but they do need opportunity. That’s what the Necessary Foundation is building. I’m so honored to be a part of supporting new artists at the starting line,” said Yang in a statement. Cumming added, “This really is a crisis. If we don’t act now to support young queer and trans filmmakers, LGBT+ people will disappear from American film and television screens. It’s as simple as that.”

The non-profit will annually give out grants of $20,000 to early-career LGBTQ+ filmmakers to produce a pilot, short film or other proof-of-concept, and will offer mentorship from established filmmakers. Mentors include John Cameron Mitchell, Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Indya Moore, among others.

The Necessary Foundation, which has Bruce Cohen, Andrea Lawlor, Richard Konigsburg and Lilly Wachowski on its advisory board, will also provide additional support, like sponsoring festival submission fees and setting up screenings in New York and Los Angeles.

According to the most recent “Studio Responsibility Report” from GLAAD Media, among the 250 films from 10 major distributors released in 2024, 59 contained an LGBTQ character, or 23.6 percent, which is a decrease of 3.7 percent from 2023. The study also noted that 37 percent of those LGBTQ characters were on screen for less than one minute.

Given the elongated timeline from greenlight to release, onscreen representation is likely to decrease in the wake of Hollywood pulling back on initiatives and programs meant to support LGBTQ+ projects and filmmakers. Despite this, the Necessary Foundation says that audience interest remains high, pointing to the Canadian series Heated Rivalry as a recent hit television show centered on LGBTQ characters that proved popular in America but was produced internationally.

Says Goldman, ”There is, in this moment, enormous political pressure to delete queer people from American media, and that includes young filmmakers who are being shut out of the industry. That pressure is working. Now it’s time to push back.”

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