Francis McDormand brings awareness to women in film during Academy Awards acceptance speech

Actress Francis McDormand brought awareness to the inclusion of women in film at the Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in L.A. on Sunday, March 4. During her acceptance speech for Best Actress for the movie "Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri," she asked the female nominees to stand-up. There were only a handful of women who stood in the large Academy Awards audience.

McDormand further championed inclusion riders during her speech. In an Associated Press interview backstage, she commented,  "There has always been available to all,  everybody who does a negotiation on a film, an inclusion rider, which means that you can ask for and/or demand at least 50% diversity in not only the casting but also the crew. The fact that I just learned that after 35 years in film."