Archive for the 'Statistics' Category

You know that whole conversation about how women don’t go to the movies and are not a film market?  You know that conversation that we hear over and over as the big reason why we are inundated with crappy boy films week in and week out.

Well thanks to the statistics that we released by the MPAA with barely a blip yesterday, (thanks David Poland for the heads up) the news is that not only do women go to movies, we go more than men.  Yes, folks — women go to the movies more than men do.

This news should rock each and every executive in Hollywood more than the Bigelow Oscar win.  Cause this is something they understand.  This is money and women are delivering the money.  Big time.

So I am officially holding a funeral for the term “women are not a film market.”  I never want to hear it uttered again.  I am going to keep these statistics next to my computer (or maybe make them my screensaver but that would mean removing my picture of Kathryn Bigelow holding two Oscars) because every time someone says that women don’t go to the movies I’m just going to throw the stats in their faces.

I know exactly why the 2009 numbers increased.  If you follow the business it’s not too hard to figure it out.  The reasons are New Moon and The Blind Side with a side of The Proposal (now Sandra Bullock’s Oscar makes even more sense.)  Maybe folks are going to try and say that it is a fluke because there were two female centric successes and we don’t have those frequently.  Friends, that is the whole fucking point.  It’s like that line from Field of Dreams – “if you build it they will come.”  It is only looked at as a fluke because of the shortsightedness of people who won’t believe that women will continue to go to the movies.  There is nothing in any of the data that I have looked at the gives me any indication that women won’t go to the movies in the future.  In fact, I would venture to say that if they continue to make movies that attract women we will continue to be there.

Another line that I want to bury for good is that young men go to the movies more than anyone else.  That’s just bullshit.  Younger men don’t go to the movies more than younger women.  Younger people in general go to the movies more, but based on the MPAA numbers of frequent moviegoers (ones who go more than once a month) in the coveted demographic of 18-24, women make up 3.4 million filmgoers while men make up 3.1 million.  Suck on that Hollywood!

Don’t believe me, check out the numbers from the MPAA:

See the yellow?  That’s the women.

Here are the other stats:

• In 2009 there were 217 million moviegoers.  The total admissions was 1.4 billion dollars.
• Women are 113 million of the moviegoers and bought 55% of the tickets.
• Men are 104 million of the moviegoers and 45% of the tickets.

Here’s the money quote from the MPAA:

“A higher percentage of women than men are moviegoers in all categories of frequency.”

In. All. Categories. of. Frequency.

Women make up 9 million more filmgoers than men.

Bottom line: The future is female.  The upside is great.  The market is there ready to be tapped.  The only issue is who will take advantage of it.

March is Women’s History Month, but we should be celebrating all year.  Women artists’ perceptions and stories offer a valuable contribution to society, but statistics show a lowly percentage of plays and films produced by and about women. Just to make you aware:  Only 17 % of plays produced on national non-profit stages are written by women. (Wilner, Jordan, The Dramatist,Sept.-Oct.2009)

It’s not that women aren’t writing plays and trying to get them produced.  It’s impossible without an agent, and agents rudely ignore your query or send your letter back with a note scribbled, “Not interested without a professional recommendation.” There are a lot of closed doors.

As a person who believes fervently in equality, I’ve been working with advocacy groups through the Dramatists Guild and with 50/50 in 2020 to improve opportunities for women to have our work produced in theater and in films. We need your support. Here’s how you can help:

• If you are in NY, use this listing of plays by women from NYTheatre.com.  It has committed to cover as many plays by women playwrights this year as plays by men. They will team with 50/50 in 2020 to create online profiles of women playwrights and theatre companies that specialize in work by women.
• To show our appreciation for this initiative, please opt in to receive weekly updates via email, and a listing of plays by women in NYC.
• Tell theater party organizers (in any city) that you want to see plays by and about women.
• Mention this on Facebook, tell your friends, tell a theatre manager or board member, write letters to editors, tweet, spread the word.
• When a theatre calls asking you to subscribe, ask,”How many women playwrights? How many women directors? How many roles for women? How many women designers?”  Our  support should depend on how close they are to gender parity.
• Celebrate  SWAN DAY/ Support Women Artists Now Day, Saturday, March 27,  at a woman’s art exhibit, concert, film, play, or book reading.

What about women and films?

24% of women work in a key behind-the-scenes role (directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, and editors) on independent festival films, compared with 16% for high budget studio films.  YET WE ARE IN THE MAJORITY IN THE POPULATION. The first step to change is awareness.  Here are some things you can do:

• Attend opening week-end films by and about women to boost their commercial status.
• Subscribe to this blog’s newsletter that keeps you aware of films by and about women.
• Join your local women’s film organization.  In NY, NYWIFT (New York Women in Film and Television) has 2,000 women working in different aspects of filmmaking.  Happily, I’ve found a place where I can work with other professionals to improve the pathetic statistics.
• Check out my new online column, Where are the Women? which is aimed at Tracking coverage of women in the media for NYWICI (New York Women in Communications).

Be aware, be indignant, be pro-active. Onward and upward.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Barbara Sutton Masry is a playwright, screenwriter, producer, and activist whose independent feature film, “A Wake-up Call” is in development.

I know I beat the drum consistently for Kathryn Bigelow but I want everyone to remember that if, and when she wins, the best director award at the Oscars on Sunday it will be only the beginning.   Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking things are equal just because a single woman wins the award.

There is still so much work to do to improve the situation for other female directors.

Martha Lauzen, the guru of stats from San Diego State U.  for one, won’t let that happen:

Just because you can name four or five women directors doesn’t mean no problem exists. If you don’t think there’s any problem then you’re not going to be looking for a solution. And that perpetuates the status quo.

If Kathryn Bigelow wins, media stories could talk about how everything has changed now and that women are equal. And that would be unfortunate.

We must all be vigilant.

Women Directors Face Celluloid Ceiling (AFP via Yahoo)

Just forget all the bullshit you and I are constantly fed (and I sometimes write) about how great things are for women in Hollywood.  We did have a better year at the box office with a couple of female led films making it to the top 10, and we did get a woman nominated for best director, BUT and this is a big BUT, when you look even a little bit below the surface you will realize really quickly that things are just terrible for women EVERYWHERE in Hollywood.

Don’t believe me.  The stats speak for themselves.

Dr. Martha Lauzen of San Diego State (the guru of stats about women in Hollywood) has released her annual Celluloid Ceiling survey looking at the women working behind the scenes on the top 250 grossing movies of the year and not surprising, women make up only 16% of directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors.  That number is down 3 points from 2001 and is the same as 2008.

Women directors are now at 7% down from 9% in 2008 and is the same percentage as it was in 1987 (the year that Dirty Dancing and Baby Boom were released and Cher won her Oscar for Moonstruck.) So while we’ve all been talking about the prominent women who were recognized this past year, the opportunities for women to direct declined.

Women writers make up only 8%.  That means that 92% of the films are written from a male perspective.

More stats:

Women make up:

17% of all executive producers

23% of all producers

18% of all editors

2% of all cinematographers

People, this is a crisis of epic proportions.  Things are clearly not improving, they are declining and we are in another severe backlash against women.  This is frightening.

Numbers matter. So we here at Women & Hollywood are going to try and put out as many numbers as we can.  (Just keep in mind that none of these are scientific studies)

Women & Hollywood intern Eva Krainitzki (all the way from England- how cool is that?) took a look at the 2009 box office numbers and also put forward a definition of what is a womencentric film.

Overview

2 of the top 10 grossing films are women centric;

9 of the top 50 grossing films (two of them are animated – The Princess and the Frog, Coraline);

18 of the top 100 grossing films;

26 of the top 150 grossing films

The Films, Their Rank and Total Gross

4 The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($293,897,327)

8 The Blind Side ($238,430,210)

—————————————————————————————————————-

16 The Proposal ($163,958,031)

31 It’s Complicated ($104,782,080)

32 The Princess and the Frog* ($100,352,358)

34 Julie & Julia ($94,125,426)

37 The Ugly Truth ($88,915,214)

39 Hannah Montana The Movie ($79,576,189)

42 Coraline* ($75,286,229)

—————————————————————————————————————-

56 Bride Wars ($58,715,510)

63 My Sister’s Keeper ($49,200,230)

66 Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire ($45,506,888)

67 Confessions of a Shopaholic ($44,277,350)

69 The Unborn (2009)** ($42,670,410)

70 Drag Me to Hell** ($42,100,625)

71 Orphan** ($41,596,251)

74 The Lovely Bones($38,647,080)

94 The Uninvited** ($28,596,818)

—————————————————————————————————————-

115 New in Town ($16,734,283)

116 Jennifer’s Body** ($16,204,793)

126 Amelia ($14,245,415)

129 Whip It ($13,043,363)

132 Sunshine Cleaning ($12,062,558)

144 An Education ($8,795,228)

146 My Life in Ruins ($8,665,206)

150 The Young Victoria ($7,673,21)

[1] Based on Box Office Mojo, domestic grosses for 2009.  As of February the 4th 2010.

* Animated Film

** Horror Film

It’s pilot time in Hollywood.  The time of the year when all the networks look at the submitted scripts and decide which ones to take to pilot.  Then after they see the pilots, the networks then decide which shows to put on the air next season.  It is a cut throat and difficult process.

One thing we started this year on the blog is to track the scripts and pilots written by and about women.

Clearly I missed the bigger picture.

While there are a fair amount of pilots about women, the story here is the lack of women who are writing and creating the shows. The only way I know about this is from a very disturbing email from a reader who sent me info that came from a high level female TV executive.  This is an industry wide problem and 2010 is way worse for women creators than it was in 2009.

Now remember, TV is supposed to be better than the movies.  Why?  Because TV people know that women watch TV and advertisers want women viewers because they want us to buy their products.  Simple.  So wouldn’t it make sense to have more women creating shows?  I guess we are now going to have to be as vigilant about our TV watching as we are about our moviegoing.  Deliberately supporting the women created shows so they are successful so that more get made.  What also pisses me off is that there are women at all levels of the decision making structure at the TV networks.  So again the question is, why are women being passed over?

Here are some stats about women in the business:

According to the Center for Study of Women in TV and Film, in 2008, women made up 25% creators, executive producers, producers, directors, writers, editors, and directors of photography working on situation comedies, dramas, and reality programs.

Women make up 23% of executive producers.  Usually all creators get an executive producer credit and there are always other executive producers besides the creator.  While I know of no comprehensive list that lists all the creators and executive producers by gender, extrapolating from the data above you could probably guess that women maybe make up around 10% of show creators and showrunners (and I’m probably being generous.)

Here’s the info I got about this year’s pilot season:

In 2010 – 3 out of 33 comedy scripts that went to pilot were written by women. That is 9%.
In 2010 – 6 out of 36 drama scripts went to pilot were written by women.  That is 16%.

In 2009 – 9 out of 43 comedy scripts that went to pilot were written by women.  That is 20%.
In 2009 – 10 of 44 drama scripts that went to pilot were written by women. That is 22%.

The numbers are getting worse.

NBC had no comedies written by women and Fox had no dramas written by women
HBO had one female written pilot in two years. FX nothing. Lifetime nothing.  USA nothing.

Here is the list of scripts that are being made into pilots (and some that have already been picked up for series ) written and created by women:

ABC Drama Series

Scoundrels – Richard Levine & Lyn Greene

ABC Pilots

Comedy: Awkward Situations for Men – Jeff & Jackie Filgo; Untitled Goldberg-Meehan Shana Goldberg-Meehan; Women are Crazy, Men are Stupid – Howard Morris & Jenny Lee

Drama: Cuthroat – Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters; Off the Map – Jenna Bans; Untitled. Yuspa & Goldsmith Cathy Yuspa & Josh Goldsmith

CBS Pilots

Comedy: Open Books – Gail Lerner

Drama: I, Witness – Pam Veasey

CW Pilots

Drama pilots: Betwixt – Liz Chandler; The Wyoming Project – Amy Sherman Palladino & Dan Palladino

Fox Pilots

Drama: Daylight Robbery- Karyn Usher

NBC Pilots

Drama: The Chase- Jennifer Johnson; Love Bites- Cindy Chupack

A&E Pilots

Drama: The Quickening- Jennifer Salt

ABC Family Pilots

Drama: Pretty Little Liars- Marlene King; Huge- Savanah Dooley & Winnie Holzman

AMC Pilots

Drama: The Killing- Veena Sud

Disney Channel Pilots

Comedy: Janet Saves the Planet- Billy Van Zandt & Janet Milmore; Smart Alec Ellen Byron & LIssa Kapstrom

SYFY Pilots

Drama: Being Human Ellen Byron & LIssa Kapstrom

Showtime Series

Comedy: The Big C- Darlene Hunt

TNT Series

Drama: Rizzoli – Janet Tamaro; Delta Blues Joshua Horto & Liz Garcia

In conjunction with its Women in Entertainment breakfast, The Hollywood Reporter has published its annual list of the most powerful women in Hollywood. My thoughts are that the list is pretty much the same from last year especially in the top 10 with a couple of women moving around. Angela Bromstad joins the list in the top ten as president of primetime entertainment at NBC (a very hard job nowadays.)

The list also indicates the inroads women have made in TV (and how far women have to go in movies) with 7 of the top ten, TV executives.

These are incredibly powerful women yet all (in the top 10), except Oprah who owns her own company, report to men. The list is also pretty damn white. I counted 8 women of color on the list.

Amy Pascal

This year’s top 10:

1. Amy Pascal, co-Chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment (last year 3)

2. Anne Sweeney, president Disney-ABC Television Group co-chairman Disney Media Network (last year 2)

3. Oprah Winfrey, chairman Harpo (last year 1)

4. Nancy Tellem, president CBS Network Television Entertainment Group (last year 4)

5. Bonnie Hammer, president, NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and Universal Cable Prods. (last year 6)

6. Donna Langley, co-chairman, Universal Pictures (last year 11)

7. Stacey Snider, co-chairman and CEO, DreamWorks Studios (last year 5)

8. Dana Walden, chairman, Twentieth Century Fox Television (last year 9)

9. Nina Tassler, president, CBS Entertainment (last year 10)

10. Angela Bromstad, president, primetime entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios (last year unlisted)

Full list:
11. Sue Kroll, president of worldwide marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures

12. Judy McGrath, chairman and CEO, MTV Networks

13. Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, president of distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures International

14. Nikki Rocco, president of distribution, Universal Pictures

15. Abbe Raven, president and CEO, A&E Television Networks

16. Dawn Ostroff, president of entertainment, The CW

17. Sue Naegle, president, HBO Entertainment

18. Lauren Zalaznick, president, NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networks

19. Kathleen Kennedy, producer

20. Mary Parent, chairman of worldwide motion picture group and office of the CEO, MGM

21. Andrea Wong, president and CEO, Lifetime Networks

22. Sheila Nevins, president, HBO Documentary and Family Programming

23. Ann Daly, COO, DreamWorks Animation

24. Nancy Utley, president, Fox Searchlight Pictures

25. Emma Watts, president of production, 20th Century Fox

Full list here.

Last year’s list

Mentor Spirit Marks WIE Breakfast (Hollywood Reporter)

The message we always hear is sex sells, especially at the movies.  A new report Sex Doesn’t Sell — Nor Impress by Anemone Cerridwen and Dean Keith Simonton refutes that claim.  The report studied 914 mainstream Hollywood films(and their box office domestically and overseas, critical appraisal and awards)  from 2001-2005, and found that in contrast to most of the Hollywood thinking “sex and nudity do not, on the average, boost box office performance, earn critical acclaim, or win major awards.”  The study was recently published in the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts journal.

Well, that sure throws a wrench into the conventional wisdom which has been that sex, sexuality and nudity are vital for box office success.  Yet, according to Simonton preconceived notions are hard to break even with data:

…I was struck by how hard it is to overcome preconceptions about the box-office consequences of highly graphic sexual content…

It seems that this whole thing was started by the righteous anger of a woman, the co-author Anemone Cerridwen who, when taking acting classes felt that the type of roles women she had to play made her very uncomfortable.  (Guess it’s a good thing she became a researcher and left the acting to others.)  But still, she wanted to know what the story was, why women’s roles are so sexualized, and spent many years crunching numbers.

Here’s her analysis (h/t to Katherine Monk CanWest News Service)

When I first saw the averages, I was really surprised, and mad, too. I felt like I’d been had…I realize that many people think it’s harmless, but I see it as sexual harassment of talent…It also is often just plain sexist, holding up women (and leading men) as objects to be consumed rather than people.”

I think it reflects and reinforces sexism in society, in general. Even if the performer genuinely doesn’t mind having to do this stuff as a condition of employment, it creates a hostile environment for the rest of us: other women on camera, behind the camera, in acting classes, plus women, in general.

It would be smart if the researchers got their material to Hollywood producers.  But then I bet lots of them don’t really care.  It will take a lot more than a report from an American Psychological Society journal to convince them the tits and ass don’t help box office grosses.

Bare Breasts Don’t Beget Boffo Box Office (Miller-McCune)

Sex doesn’t sell in mainstream cinema, study says (CanWest News Service)

Here we are again.  This progressive girl is agreeing with a conservative organization, but I am, and I believe that the research on violence against women on TV is something to take note of.

As a big TV watcher I knew that violence against women and girls is a problem, but I really had no idea how bad it is.  It has become so second nature and part of TV watching that honestly I hardly even notice it anymore.  I am a person who calls attention to these issues, I admit, I am part of the problem.  Why do I watch shows where women being mutilated or attacked?  Of course you don’t always know what is going to be the plot of the show in advance, but I can turn it off or delete it from my tivo if it depicts violence against women and girls.  I’m going to think about this issue a lot more now because if it has become so commonplace to a person like me, that means there are many people out there who take the message from the violence on TV that it is ok to commit these acts.  If a TV show does it, then why can’t I.  On TV most of the bad guys get caught and that’s good.  But it’s still does not make it ok.

The very conservative organization, Parents Television Council (their board is full of really scary conservative guys and just one woman) has put together a comprehensive study looking at how pervasive this problem is.

They took the data that they had compiled in 2004 and compared it with data from 2009 and found that overall violence irrespective of gender increased 2% and violence against women increased 120%.

Here is more:

• The most frequent type of violence against women on television was beating (29%), followed by credible threats of violence (18%), shooting (11%), rape (8%), stabbing (6%), and torture (2%).  Violence against women resulted in death 19% of the time.
• Violence towards women or the graphic consequences of violence tends overwhelmingly to be depicted (92%) rather than implied (5%) or described (3%).

Props must go to ABC since it is the only network that did not show and increase in violence against women in its storylines, and on the other side FOX was singled out for being the most egregious.

Here’s other important data:

Although female victims were primarily of adult age, collectively, there was a 400% increase in the depiction of teen girls as victims across all networks from 2004 to 2009.

There was an 81% increase in incidences of intimate partner violence on television.

So what can be done about this?  I do believe that networks have a public responsibility and that since the airwaves are owned by us, the public, we shouldn’t feel assaulted every time we watch TV.  But the public loves these shows and TV is a business and so they continue to make these shows.  Looking at the ratings Criminal Minds is in the top 25 as is CSI Miami and both NCIS series.

Let’s remember that violence against women is everywhere not just on TV.  Violence against women and girls is not a right left issue — it is a societal problem.Let’s not talk about TV without talking about the real women and girls who are being beaten, abused and raped every day.  I want conservative organizations (yes, you PTC and your board of directors and advisory board) to not just give a shit about women when it serves them, but to care about them everyday.  You can’t say that you care about violence against women and then not be supportive of legislation and programs that help women get out of those situations.

The PTC hopes that network executives will see the numbers and take corrective action or if that doesn’t happen hopes advertisers take a stand.  They are also not ruling a “role for the FCC” according to spokesperson Melissa Henson. Henson also said she will reach out to organizations that work on women’s issues to talk about next steps.

I can’t help but agree with Henson’s statement: “media helps normalize behavior,” as I have been watching the coverage of the girl who was gang raped at her prom.  This is not OK and if TV is helping to make young men think that this behavior is “normal” something must be done about it.

Violence Against Women Surges on TV (HR)

Women in Peril (PTC)

File this under no shit sherlock, but new research from the Center for Study for Women in Television and Film at San Diego State shows that women are more represented on independent films that appear in film festivals than in the top grossing big budget films.  Now keep in mind some of those films might overlap because 250 is a big number, but lots of the top grossing films don’t go the festival circuit.  They don’t need to.  They will have big marketing and ad budgets and will get released in enough theatres to make them successful.  One example of a film that might overlap would be Juno which started out on the fest circuit and became a big box office hit.

Indie films need the festival circuit to build buzz so they have half a chance at being successful when they are released.  This year some examples of the indie films directed by women that are building buzz include Lone Scherfig’s An Education and Jane Campion’s Bright Star.  These films would be considered in the research because neither are domestically produced, but you get the picture.  Another thing to consider in this discussion is that not all films that play festivals get any type of release at all.  Some will be in a festival or 2 and then languish.

The research studied 25 high profile film festivals in 2008-2009 and that data confirms that women comprise 24% of “directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, and editors on domestically produced films at film festivals.”  That compares to the only 16% on the top 250 grossing films.

Here are some of the reasons behind these numbers:

1- Indies are lower budget and we know that women have more success with lower budgets because there is still some bizarre notion in Hollywood that a woman can’t be trusted to handle a big budget flick.  Can’t believe that sexist bullshit still reigns, but it does.

2- Documentaries are included and women direct a lot more docs than they direct features.  You want to know why women direct more docs?  Cause they have lower budgets.  See the theme here?

3- Film Festivals strive higher for diversity because box office is not their priority.  Lots of festivals raise money through grant makers and grants makers ask you questions about diversity.  They just do.

Breaking down the numbers:

• Women made up 33% of the producers; 23% of the editors; 22% of the executive producers; 22% of the directors; 19% of the writers; and 9% of the directors of photography. That compares to 23% of the producers; 17% of the editors; 16% of the executive producers; 9% of the directors; 12% of the writers; and 4% of the directors of photography.

• But even on docs where I have previously heard from festival staffers that it is 50/50 the results show that women only direct 28%.

• Women directors of photography were more likely to work on documentaries than narrative films.  That makes sense.  Women hire women.  If the film is directed by a woman she is more likely to hire a female DP.  Also, with some docs the director also acts as the DP, especially if the budget is extremely limited.

Here’s the takeaway according to Dr. Martha Lauzen who conducted the study, “When a studio head says something like, “I’d really like to hire more women directors but there aren’t any,” this study provides useful data to suggest that, in fact, there are.”

Even though 24% is better than 16% it still sucks and is just not right.  Bottom line, there are women director, cinematographers, producers, editors all ready to work.  They just need to be given the opportunity. That’s all they are asking for, an equal chance.

Full research below Continue reading ‘New Research: Women Fare Better in the Indie World’

Martha Lauzen and her team at the Center for Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State U. have updated the statistics on women creatives working behind the scenes during the 2008- 2009 TV season.

Here are the stats: (keep in mind these are only for the five major networks – ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW)

Total: women comprised 25% of all creators, executive producers, producers, directors, writers, editors, and directors of photography working on situation comedies, dramas, and reality programs.  This is down 1% from 2007-2008.

Overall, women fared best as producers (35%), followed by writers (29%), executive producers (23%), creators (21%), editors (18%), directors (9%), and directors of photography (4%)

Women accounted for 23% of executive producers up 1% from last year.

Women comprise 35% of producers down 2% since 2007-2008.

Women made up 29% of writers; up from 23%.

Women made up 9% of directors, down 2 points.

Women made up 18% of editors and 4% of directors of photography, up one percent and 3 percent respectively.

Women comprised the largest percentage of behind-the-scenes individuals at ABC (30%), followed by CBS (26%), NBC and CW (24%), and Fox (19%)

Thoughts

I’d really love for them to add the cable networks like Lifetime and TNT into these calculations.  There are many creative women at those networks and they should be entered into the mix.

The power job in TV is the executive producer and women hold only 23% of those.  If you watch TV you know that shows are targeted at women (because women make the buying decisions and TV is all about advertising unlike films) so shows that are created for women are mostly by men.  Not too surprising.

I’m going to venture to guess that the category of producer includes all producers (remember these are also writers on TV) like consulting producers, supervising producers, co-producer and associate producers and the writer category includes executive story editor, story editor, and staff writer.

The fact that the writer category grew is great, but let’s remember that the staff writers are at the bottom rung of power in TV.  So women’s opportunities grew in the least powerful area.

It’s also not good news that women lost 2 points in the producing category, and don’t get me started about how low the number of women directors there are.  The industry should really be ashamed that they employ so few women as directors.

There is still so much work to do to gain parity.

Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film

Dr. Martha Lauzen at San Diego State University has for the first time drilled deeper into women’s representation on films looking into the numbers of women production designers, production managers/production supervisors, sound designers, supervising sound editors, key grips, and gaffers

Here are the numbers for of women working on the top grossing 250 movies of 2008:

Women accounted for 25% of production managers working on the top 250 films of 2008. Eighty five percent (85%) of the films had no female production managers.

Women comprised 44% of production supervisors.  Seventy-two percent (72%) of films had no female production supervisors.

Women accounted for 20% of all production designers working on the top 250 films.  Eighty one percent (81%) of films had no female production designers.

Women comprised 5% of sound designers.  Ninety seven percent (97%) of films had no female sound designers.

Women accounted for 5% of supervising sound editors working on the top 250 films of 2008.  Ninety six percent (96%) of films had no female supervising sound editors.

Women comprised 1% of key grips.  Ninety nine percent (99%) of films had no female key grips.

Women accounted for 1% of gaffers working on the top 250 films of 2008.  Ninety nine percent (99%) of films had no female gaffers.

Sigh.  It’s amazing what statistics can show.

Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film

The guru of women’s film stats, Dr. Martha Lauzen, Executive Director of The Center for Study of Women in TV and Film at San Diego State U, has released her annual study on the state of women behind the scenes in the film business.  In the coming days Dr. Lauzen will answer some questions about what is behind the numbers.

Here are the stats:

The following summary provides employment figures for 2008 and compares the most recent statistics with those from the last 10 years.  This study analyzed behind-the-scenes employment of 2,706 individuals working on the top 250 domestic grossing films (foreign films omitted) of 2008 with combined domestic box office grosses of approximately $9.4 billion.

Overall, in 2008, women comprised 16% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films.  This represents a decline of 3 percentage points from 2001 and an increase of 1 percentage point from 2007

Findings
•    Twenty two percent (22%) of the films released in 2008 employed no women directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, or editors.  No films failed to employ a man in at least one of these roles.

•    A historical comparison of women’s employment on the top 250 films in 2008 and 1998 reveals that the percentages of women directors and cinematographers have remained stable, whereas the percentages of women writers, executive producers, producers, and editors have declined slightly (see Figure 2).

•    Women comprised 9% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2008. Ninety percent (90%) of the films had no female directors (see Figure 3).

•    Women accounted for 12% of writers working on the top 250 films of 2008. Eighty two percent (82%) of the films had no female writers. Continue reading ‘Celluloid Ceiling 2008 Statistics- It Still Sucks for Women’