In a stunning finale to the 90th annual Academy Awards show, Best Actress honoree Frances McDormand said, "I have two words for you: inclusion rider."

Interviewed backstage, McDormand said she had only found out about this tool the previous week. "This has always been available to all - everybody who does a negotiation on a film - which means you can ask for or demand at least 50 percent diversity in not only the casting but the crew. The fact that I just learned that after 35 years in the film business - we aren't going back."

McDormand mentioned the rider after an acceptance speech in which she asked all female nominees to stand up - actors, writers, designers, directors, editors - and then told the hundreds of industry leaders in the room to ask these women about their ideas and projects - not just at the  Oscar parties but in business meetings in the days ahead.

American movies and television are heavily acted and created by white men. The inclusion rider is a way for stars to leverage their power to open the jobs on projects to hiring more than white men. This week a template for the rider was distributed and can be read here.  Dr. Stacy Smith, director of University of Southern California Annenberg's Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative, studies gender and race in film and has advocated for what she calls an "equity rider." Among her findings:

• Last year less than a third of all speaking roles went to girls and women -- a gender ratio of 2.3 males to every one female, although females are fully half of the ticket-buying population.
• Among last year's top 100 films, 45 did not feature even one female black speaking character on screen; 66 were devoid of Asian females, 72 did not feature any speaking Latina characters; and more than 90 were lacking any LGBT+ characters.

Frances McDormand accepts award for  " best actress in a leading role" at 90th annual Academy Awards. 

Photo by Chris Pizzello, AP.