According to two prominent studies on the film industry, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie was the highest-earning film in 2023. However, there is still a significant lack of female representation behind the scenes in Hollywood.
Despite making promises to address diversity and inclusion in response to the Black Lives Matter movement last year, top studios continue to fall short in terms of producing films from marginalized communities, according to a report from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. The report, titled “Inclusion in the Director’s Chair,” labels the industry’s efforts as mere “performative acts” that do not truly promote meaningful change.
Another report, released within two days of the previous one, has discovered that even though female-directed films like Barbie and Elizabeth Banks’s Cocaine Bear had significant success in 2023, women are still not receiving the same chances as men to direct films. According to a study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, only 16% of directors on the 250 highest-grossing films in 2023 were women, a decrease from 18% in 2022.
The 2023 USC report revealed that out of 116 directors involved in the 100 highest-grossing domestic films, only 14 of them (12.1%) were women. This marks a slight increase from the 9% of female directors in top-grossing films in 2022, but the report states that there has been no significant improvement in the percentage of women in top movie positions since 2018, where only 4.5% of directors were female. Additionally, the center discovered that a mere 6% of the top-grossing fictional films from 2007 to 2023 were directed by women.
For over fifteen years, the number of women in high-level directing positions has not increased by even 10%. Dr. Stacy L Smith, the author of the USC report and founder of the Inclusion Initiative, stated that these statistics are more than just numbers on a graph. They reflect the experiences of skilled women who are striving for long-term careers in an industry that continues to deny them job opportunities based solely on their identity.
Despite the success of female-produced films like Saltburn, Past Lives, and Priscilla, and Gerwig’s historic achievement as the first woman to direct a billion-dollar grossing movie, new findings show that women continue to face challenges in the film industry. Even with pop stars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé dominating the box office with concert films, there is still progress to be made for gender equality in Hollywood.
However, despite its critical and financial achievements, this has not resulted in substantial progress over time. According to a report from San Diego State, women only made up 22% of the directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the 250 highest-grossing films. This is a decrease from 24% in 2022. Additionally, 75% of these top-grossing films had 10 or more men working in important behind-the-scenes positions, while only 4% had 10 or more women.
“The apparent success of Greta Gerwig defies the unequal representation that exists in the mainstream film industry,” stated Dr. Martha Lauzen, the author of the report. “The statistics paint a clear picture – there is a significant gender imbalance behind-the-scenes in Hollywood, heavily favoring men.”
The USC report also discovered that there has been no significant progress in increasing diversity among those working behind the camera in terms of race and ethnicity. The percentage of directors from underrepresented groups for the top 100 highest-grossing films of 2023 remained relatively unchanged at 22.4%, compared to 20.7% in 2022. In 2023, only four of the top 100 films (3.4%) were directed by women of color, including Song, Adele Lim (Joy Ride), Fawn Veerasunthorn (Wish), and Nia DaCosta (The Marvels). This number was also only 1.4% across the entire 17-year time period studied.
The authors of the USC study state that this report provides a different perspective from those who are hopeful about changes in Hollywood, especially after Barbie had the highest box office earnings in the previous year. They argue that one movie or director alone cannot bring about the necessary changes in the industry. The decision-making process regarding which directors are deemed qualified and available for top-grossing films needs to be altered by studios, executives, and producers in order for significant progress to be made. Therefore, there is limited justification for optimism until these changes occur.
Source: theguardian.com
