Major Hollywood films in 2020 have female directors, study shows
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Women directors accounted for 16% of the top 100 box-office films last year.
A recent study showed that major Hollywood films in 2020 were directed by female directors.
The yearly Celluloid Ceiling report made public by San Diego State University has revealed that 16% of directors who worked on the 100 highest-grossing films in the past year were women.
That number was an improvement from the 12% and 4% figures in 2019 and 2018, respectively.
“Even without the release of some of this year's most anticipated big-budget films by women - including Chloé Zhao's Eternals and Cate Shortland's Black Widow - the percentage of women working as directors inched upward in 2020,” said Dr. Martha Lauzen, founder of San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film.
She added, “The good news is that we've now seen two consecutive years of growth for women who direct.
Two of the biggest releases in 2020, Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman 1984, were directed by women directors Cathy Yan and Patty Jenkins.
“This breaks a recent historical pattern in which the numbers trend up one year and down the next.
"The bad news is that fully 80% of top films still do not have a woman at the helm.”
The study also highlighted the lingering gender imbalance in off-camera roles.
Majority of films had zero to four women in roles like writers, editors, cinematographers, producers, and executive producers.
It showed that 24% of movies hired 5 to 9 women, and 9% employed 10 or more women.
On the other hand, 71% of films employed 10 or more men across various production and off-camera roles.
“This imbalance is stunning. The majority of films employ fewer than 5 women and 10 or more men,” said Dr. Martha.
One telling finding from the study was that films with one female director were more likely to hire the services of women to fill the roles of editors, cinematographers, and other significant behind-the-scenes roles.
For films with female directors, women made up 53% of writers.
On the other hand, films with male directors showed that only 8% of female writers were hired to help on projects.
