vanityfair.com – News alert: it’s tough to be a female director in Hollywood.
And on Wednesday, U.S.C.-Annenberg released yet another comprehensive study that details just how tough it is, titled “Inclusion in the Director’s Chair.”
The study analyzes the top 100 highest-grossing films from every year since 2007 and, naturally, comes to shocking conclusions about the industry’s lack of equality. An overall statistic showed that out of the 1,000 films analyzed, only 44 were directed by women. There are about 23.8 male directors for every female director, a statistic that sharply drops for black female and Asian female directors. Out of the 57 black directors included, only three were female, and out of the 34 Asian directors, only three were female. Just one director was Latina. “Women of color are virtually absent as top‐grossing directors,” the study notes.
The study also found a correlation between age and career length for female directors. While male directors are more likely to work from their 20s into their 80s, female directors only worked from their 30s to their 60s—a statistic you can be sure is also impacted by race. In other words: “the span of females’ careers is limited whereas for males it appears to be limitless.”
