The movie industry tends to be a slow moving ship at times, but it’s frustrating that a medium that is over one hundred years old, still has a limited number of voices telling the stories that are experienced by millions of people around the world. As the calls for diversity in front of and behind the camera continue to ring out, change has been slow to arrive, and a new study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University (via Screen Daily) reveals just how dire the situation continues to be for women in the industry.
“The Celluloid Ceiling” shows that in nearly every possible behind-the-camera job, female representation has dipped. 7% of the 250 top grossing films in the US in 2016 were directed by women, down from 9% in 2015. When you include writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers, women made up 17% of those roles across the 250 top grossing films, but that was still down 2% from the year before. And really, these numbers speak for themselves:
- 92% of films had no women directors
- 77% had no women writers
- 58% had no women executive producers
- 34% had no women producers
- 79% had no women editors
- 96% had no women cinematographers
You don’t have to strain to see that the industry, particularly when it comes to mainstream, blockbuster filmmaking, continues to be a male dominated field. And turning to prestige pictures too, things are not much better with no women directors nominated this year for a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and likely, not any Oscars either. The industry needs to do better, and hopefully the year ahead will see these figures turn around.