The 51-year-old showrunner this week launched a foundation to specifically tackle Hollywood's diveristy problem, telling The Hollywood Reporter "I personally can do better".
Based within his 20th Century Fox Television production company called Half, it aims to have at least fifty per cent of the directors on his shows being women, people of colour and members of the LGBT community.
It's a significant opportunity, with the Emmy Award-winner responsible for some of the biggest hits on the small screen including Glee, American Horror Story, Scream Queens, The New Normal, Nip/Tuck, The Normal Heart and American Crime Story.
The diversity debate has been a heated one and gaining momentum following the #OscarsSoWhite campaign and Academy Award boycotts from the likes of Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Mark Ruffalo and Spike Lee.
Murphy, who is an openly gay filmmaker, said he was inspired by recent events and former publicist Nanci Ryder's speech on the "gender problem" to try and tackle the imbalance.
Originally aiming to focus on improving the representation of female directors - which made up just sixteen per cent in the 2014 - 15 TV season - he expanded his vision to include all marginalised professionals.
"The industry has always been about, 'You come to us,'" he told THR.
"There's not a lot of effort and inclusion, and I’m saying, 'No, we're going to go to you.'"
The move has been applauded by the industry, with actress Kat Graham, Oscar-nominated director Lexi Alexander and CCE Janice Min sharing their support on Twitter.
Representation has been a problem affecting the industry worldwide, with Screen Australia announcing in December that they would be committing $5 million to a new Gender Matters intiative that would focus on women in film.
Share
