If you’re looking for a new series to watch — and want to avoid one that ignores the existence of women on-screen and behind the scenes — look no further. Variety reports that ReFrame and IMDb have awarded 62 TV and streaming series their inaugural ReFrame Stamp for Television, long-time Ellen Pompeo-led “Grey’s Anatomy,” Issa Rae-starrer “Insecure,” and Frankie Shaw comedy “SMILF” among them. Comprised of a coalition of industry professionals and founded by Women in Film and the Sundance Institute, ReFrame celebrates projects with gender-balanced hiring. “Productions that receive the stamp are those that hire female-identifying people in four out of eight critical areas of production, including writing, directing, showrunning, producing, lead acting roles, season regular acting roles, department heads, and crew members,” the source details. “Those series must reflect diversity across all of the season, not just specific episodes.” IMDbPro collected the data.
It comes as no surprise that “Grey’s Anatomy” is just one of Shonda Rhimes’ projects to meet the requirements. All five of her shows did, including “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder.” Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson’s stoner comedy “Broad City” and Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Emmy-winning “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” are among the other titles to be included. “Over 350 scripted television programs — airing between June 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018 — were considered to receive the stamp,” the source notes.
“The power of these things is that there will be people that are thrilled they got the stamp and people who go, ‘I wish I got the stamp — but I didn’t, so what can I do to get it?’” said Nina Jacobson, “Crazy Rich Asians” producer and ReFrame Ambassador. “It gives decision-makers the opportunity to chase it and to change course and to look at the room you’re in, the set you’re on, and say, ‘Am I paying attention? Every time I make a hire, am I paying attention?’”
ABC led networks with six stamps, and the CW followed with three. As for cable, Lifetime scored six stamps, and Starz followed with five. Netflix received eight stamps, taking the crown for streamers. Amazon followed with five.
Fox and CBS received just one stamp each, as did HBO, FX, Comedy Central, TruTV, BBC America, OWN, and TV Land.
Jacobson explained, “Now as you start to accumulate a data set, you can see who is getting it right more and why — and who isn’t. … You can start to really look at, systemically, where are people advancing, and where are they stuck in the past? I’ve always loved this Jean-Luc Godard quote that ‘It’s not to make political films, it’s to make films politically.’ And so it’s the same principle,” she observed. “Subject matter is critical, but there are very worthy stories to make that may not necessarily be, on the surface of them, female-driven, but they can still be powered by inclusion, and they will be better for it.”
Check out more findings below, which we’ve adapted from Variety.
NETWORKS
ABC: “For the People,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Scandal,” “Station 19,” and “Agents of SHIELD” (6)
The CW: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Jane the Virgin,” and “Supergirl” (3)
NBC: “Chicago Med” and “This Is Us”) (2)
Fox: “Empire” (1)
CBS: “Madam Secretary” (1)
CBS All Access: “The Good Fight” (1)
CABLE
Lifetime: “Faith Under Fire: The Antoinette Tuff Story,” “Flint,” “Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance,” “I Am Elizabeth Smart,” “Story of a Girl,” and “The Simone Biles Story: Courage to Soar” (6)
Starz: “Howards End,” “Outlander,” “Sweetbitter,” “The Girlfriend Experience: Bria,” and “Vida” (5)
TBS: “Search Party,” “The Detour,” and “The Last OG” (3)
Freeform: “Famous in Love” and “The Bold Type” (2)
PBS: “Call the Midwife” and “Little Women” (2)
Showtime: “The Chi” and “SMILF” (2)
TNT: “Animal Kingdom” and “Claws” (2)
HBO: “Insecure” (1)
FX: “Better Things” (1)
Comedy Central: “Broad City” (1)
TrueTV: “I’m Sorry” (1)
BBC America: “Killing Eve” (1)
OWN: “Queen Sugar” (1)
TV Land: “Teachers” (1)
STREAMERS
Netflix: “Dear White People,” “GLOW,” “Grace and Frankie,” “Marvel’s Jessica Jones,” “Love,” “One Day at a Time,” “Orange Is the New Black,” and “Seven Seconds” (8)
Amazon: “An American Girl Story: Summer Camp, Friends for Life,” “Dino Dana,” “Just Add Magic,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and “Transparent” (5)
YouTube: “Foursome,” “Lace Up: The Ultimate Sneaker Challenge,” “Step Up: High Water,” and “Youth & Consequences” (4)
Hulu: “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Mindy Project” (2)