Studies have found that Hollywood’s diversity boom is an illusion
From 2007 to 2021, the top-grossing films employed 1,542 directors, but only 83 of them were women.
2023 was the year of women in Hollywood, right? “Tour of the Ages” by Taylor Swift“,” Beyonce’s “Renaissance: A Movie.”,“ The movie “Barbie,” directed by Greta Gerwig, and the movie “Cocaine Bear,” directed by Elizabeth Banks, generated millions and hundreds of millions, and more than a billion dollars, for the film industry.
Even before the astonishing success of those films, Hollywood was praised for seemingly taking steps to increase diversity in its ranks. But new studies find that Hollywood still fails to reflect the actual level of diversity in America.
Let’s see how the numbers stack up.
Diversity Report from the USC Annenberg School of Communication titled “Inclusion in the Director’s Chair”“,” Watched 1,700 top-grossing films over 17 years. The authors analyzed who directed these major films and were unaffected by the results. From 2007 to 2023, the top-grossing films employed 1,769 directors, but only 107 of them were women.
The results for underrepresented managers were even bleaker. There was a ratio of approximately 10 to 1 for male and female directors. The ratio of white directors to underrepresented female directors was 56.4 to 1.
Meanwhile, a report from San Diego State University, titled “The Celluloid Ceiling,” examined the people who held key roles in 2023, including directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors and cinematographers. It found that 83% of the top 250 films this year were not directed by women, and 94% did not have female cinematographers.
Films featuring multiple women in key positions were also rare. While 72% of the top 250 grossing films employed between 0 and 4 women in lead roles, only 4% employed more than 10 women. In contrast, 5% of films employed between 0 and 4 men, while 75% employed more than 10 men.
Third place is UCLA’s “2023 Hollywood Diversity Report.”“,” which examined the representation of “minority” actors in 300 high-performing films of 2023. The authors considered people who were “Black, Asian, South Asian, Indigenous, Latinx, Black Latino, Multiracial/Multiracial, or Middle Eastern and North Africa (Middle East or North Africa)” are representatives of “minorities”.
The report said that Hollywood films do not reflect the diversity of the United States behind or in front of the camera. Although these “minority” groups make up 43.1% of the US population, they represent 21.6% of theatrical moviegoers, 33.3% of online moviegoers, and only 36.1% of the total theatrical movie cast.
Hollywood, if you’re listening, there are ways you can solve the problem. Studios can create company-wide inclusion policies, develop pipeline programs, and set targeted inclusion goals, the authors of the USC report said. They also recommend “separating the identity of the lead and the director,” meaning that, for example, studios could start considering black women directors for stories about white male heroes. Not to mention, Hollywood could start paying a living wage to entry-level positions so that all people, not just the privileged, can thrive in the industry from the moment they enter it.
I know this:
There’s nothing Hollywood loves more than making money, but the industry leaves money on the table. The results show that American audiences really prefer diverse movie content. Films with casts that were 31% to 40% people of color made more money than films whose casts were less than 11% people of color. Consulting group McKinsey & Company said the industry could earn an additional $10 billion a year if it increased the amount of diverse content it offers.
