When you take a superficial look at recent Hollywood inclusivity trends, you would assume that studios are hiring more women for high-profile gigs. In 2018 alone, we had major awards contender films from female directors like Karyn Kusama and Debra Granik, just to name a couple. So, it would appear that the film industry is starting to make more of a push to include female creators in the roles of directors, producers, writers, etc. Unfortunately, according to a new study, that’s not even close to the case.
Dr. Martha Lauzen, the executive director at the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, published a report highlighting the roles that women played in the top 250 grossing films of 2018. And we’re sad to report, not much has changed when compared to years past.
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The study (via Variety) looked at the genders of 3,076 individuals that worked on the top 250 films of 2018. And what it found is that women only accounted for 20% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers in the films surveyed. That represents only a 2% increase from last year.
When you only look at the number of women directors, the results are worse. In 2018, women accounted for only 8% of the directors, down 3% from last year and 1% from the totals in 1998. Pretty shocking, no?
“The study provides no evidence that the mainstream film industry has experienced the profound positive shift predicted by so many industry observers over the last year. This radical underrepresentation is unlikely to be remedied by the voluntary efforts of a few individuals or a single studio,” said Dr. Martha Lauzen.
So, how does Lauzen feel this can change? What can the industry do moving forward to show significant gains with the number of women hired for high-profile gigs? She has some answers.
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Lauzen explained, “Without a large-scale effort mounted by the major players – the studios, talent agencies, guilds, and associations – we are unlikely to see meaningful change. The distance from 8% to some semblance of parity is simply too vast. What is needed is a will to change, ownership of the issue – meaning the effort originates with the major players, transparency, and the setting of concrete goals. Will, ownership, transparency, and goals are the keys to moving forward.”
So, while from a surface-level appearance, it feels like change has already happened. However, when you get down to the actual numbers, it would appear that the film industry has a long way to go with hiring women.