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4% Challenge: Inclusion Initiative & Time’s Up Aim to Boost Number of Women Directing Top Films

Tessa Thompson, seen here in "Westworld," has committed to the 4% Challenge

Tessa Thompson, Kerry Washington, Brie Larson, Constance Wu, and many more have publicly vowed to announce a project with a woman director in the next 18 months. They’ve signed on to the 4% Challenge, a campaign launched by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and Time’s Up aiming to increase the number of women, especially women of color, directing major studio films. A recent report from the Inclusionists revealed that women helmed just four percent of the top films from 2007-2018.

First mentioned during Sundance’s “Making the (In)visible: Radical Transparency in the Data-Driven Age” panel on Friday, the 4% Challenge asks producers and actors to commit to a woman-helmed project within the coming year and a half. It’s part of Time’s Upx2, the Time’s Up initiative striving to double the number of women in leadership and other spaces where they are underrepresented. As Deadline reports, the Inclusion Initiative’s Dr. Stacy L. Smith originally asked fellow panelists Nina Jacobson, Angela Robinson, and Franklin Leonard to take the challenge. They agreed with a “hell yes!” and Smith turned next to Amy Schumer and Paul Feig, both of whom also immediately came onboard.

Thompson officially launched the 4% Challenge at a keynote address on Friday night. “Because only four percent of the top 100 studio films over the last decade have been directed by women, Time’s Up is initiating a challenge, the 4% Challenge, and I intend to take it,” Thompson announced. “I commit to working with a female director in the next 18 months.”

According to Time’s Up, hiring more women directors could have a trickle down effect, leading to more inclusivity overall and to the employment of more women in other behind-the-scenes positions. “We are supporting women directors from all backgrounds in this challenge, as studies show that women-directed films are more inclusive in terms of girls and women on screen, female characters 40 years of age and older, and underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. Women directors also hire other women in key behind-the-camera roles,” the org emphasized. “The aim is to humanize production processes so that all groups can thrive at work in safe contexts. This is a step in that direction.”

Check out the list of everyone who has taken the 4% Challenge so far over at the Time’s Up website.


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