From 2018 to 2019, the number of women directors working on the top 100 films tripled — from four percent to 12 percent — achieving a historic high. This is definitely something to celebrate, but as the new Celluloid Ceiling report from Dr. Martha Lauzen and the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film stresses, it’s also a very low number. Although women made major gains offscreen this past year, they still have a long way to go before reaching parity in Hollywood.

“While the numbers moved in a positive direction this year, men continue to outnumber women 4 to 1 in key behind-the-scenes roles,” Lauzen said. “It’s odd to talk about reaching historic highs when women remain so far from parity.”

Overall, women achieved new highs behind the scenes among the top 100 and 250 movies, but plateaued in the top 500. Twenty percent of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers on 2019’s top 100 films were women, as compared to 2018’s 16 percent. Women filled 21 percent of these positions among the top 250 films, a slight increase from the previous year’s 20 percent. However, there was no change in the number of women working in key offscreen roles since 2018: the number stayed steady at 23 percent.

As Lauzen explained, we won’t really know if 2019 marked real change for women until we see how inclusive — or not — the next few years’ movie slates are. “It will be tempting to look at the increase of women directing top 100 and top 250 films and conclude that 2019 was a major turning point for women’s employment. That may be true but we won’t know if 2019 was a single good year or the beginning of an upward trend until we see the numbers for 2020 and 2021,” she stated.

Like their directing counterparts, women writers, producers, editors, and DPs also made strides in the top 100 and 250 films. However, their top 500 numbers mostly stagnated. For example, in 2019, there were 20 percent women writers on the top 100 films, 19 percent on the top 250, and 20 percent in the top 500 — as compared to 2018’s respective 15 percent, 16 percent, and 19 percent. Similarly, 23 percent of the top 100 films of 2019’s editors were women, a big increase from the previous year’s 14 percent. The top 250 films of 2019 featured 23 percent women editors and the top 500 22 percent women editors. 2018’s respective figures were 21 percent and 23 percent.

Women-directed movies were, without a doubt, more visible in 2019. Thirteen films from women helmers were among the top 100, a big jump from 2018’s four. This is a good thing, but the overall picture is very different if you consider the numbers on a larger scale. As we enjoy the strides women made in the top 100 and 250 films, it’s important to continue pushing for progress in the top 500.

Highlights from the 2019 Celluloid Ceiling report are below. You can access the full study here.

Top 100 films

• Women comprised 20% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers
• Women fared best as producers (26%), followed by editors (23%), writers (20%), executive producers (19%), directors (12%), and cinematographers (2%).
• Women comprised 6% of composers. 94% of films had no female composers.
• Women accounted for 31% of music supervisors. 82% of films had no female music supervisors.
• Women comprised 3% of sound designers. 97% of films had no female sound designers.
• Women accounted for 9% of supervising sound editors. 91% of films had no female supervising sound editors.
• Women comprised 15% of production designers. 85% of films had no female production designers.
• Women accounted for 34% of art directors. 66% of films had no female art directors.
• Women accounted for 4% of special effects supervisors. 97% of films had no female special effects supervisors.
• Women comprised 5% of visual effects supervisors. 88% of films had no female visual effects supervisors.

Top 250 films

• Women comprised 21% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers
• Women fared best as producers (27%), followed by editors (23%), executive producers (21%), writers (19%), directors (13%), and cinematographers (5%).
• Almost one third or 31% of films employed 0 or 1 woman in the roles considered. 45% of films employed 2 to 5 women, 22% employed 6 to 9 women, and 2% employed 10 or more women. In contrast, 1% of films employed 0 or 1 man in the roles considered, 5% employed 2 to 5 men, 25% employed 6 to 9 men, and the remaining majority (69%) employed 10 or more men.
• 85% of films had no women directors, 73% had no women writers, 44% had no women executive producers, 31% had no women producers, 72% had no women editors, and 95% had no women cinematographers.
• Women comprised 6% of composers. 94% of films had no female composers
• Women accounted for 40% of music supervisors. 74% of films had no female music supervisors.
• Women accounted for 9% of supervising sound editors. 92% of films had no female supervising sound editors.
• Women comprised 4% of sound designers. 97% of films had no female sound designers.
• Women accounted for 23% of production designers. 80% of films had no female production designers.
• Women comprised 31% of art directors. 71% of films had no female art directors.
• Women accounted for 4% of special effects supervisors. 98% of films had no female special effects supervisors.
• Women comprised 6% of visual effects supervisors. 89% of films had no female visual effects supervisors.

Top 500 films

• Women comprised 23% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers
• 31% of films employed no or 1 woman in the roles considered. 47% of films employed 2 to 5 women. 17% of films employed 6 to 9 women, and 5% employed 10 or more women. In contrast, 1% of films employed no or 1 man. 8% of films employed 2 to 5 men. 28% employed 6 to 9 men, and the majority or 63% employed 10 or more men.
• By genre, the largest percentage of women, relative to men, worked on documentaries (27%), followed by comedies (25%), dramas (24%), animated features (23%), science fiction features (21%), horror features (17%), and action films (14%).
• Women fared best as producers (29%), followed by editors (22%), executive producers (22%), writers (20%), directors (14%), and cinematographers (6%).
• Women comprised 7% of composers. 93% of films had no female composers.
• Women accounted for 43% of music supervisors. 76% of films had no female music supervisors.
• Women comprised 5% of sound designers. 97% of films had no female
  sound designers.
• Women accounted for 10% of supervising sound editors. 92% of films had no female supervising sound editors.
• Women comprised 25% of production designers. 81% of films had no female production designers.
• Women accounted for 32% of art directors. 76% of films had no female art directors.
• Women comprised 3% of special effects supervisors. 99% of films had no female special effects supervisors.
• Women accounted for 6% of visual effects supervisors. 91% of films had no female visual effects supervisors.
• On films with at least one female director, women comprised 59% of writers. On films with exclusively male directors, women accounted for 13% of writers.
• On films with at least one female director, women comprised 43% of editors. On films with exclusively male directors, women accounted for 19% of editors.
• On films with at least one female director, women comprised 21% of cinematographers. On films with exclusively male directors, women accounted for 2% of cinematographers.
• On films with at least one female director, women comprised 16% of composers. On films with exclusively male directors, women accounted for 6% of composers.