The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative presented its latest research today at the Women in Animation World Summit, held as part of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The report, “Increasing Inclusion in Animation,” examines the presence of women on-screen, behind-the-scenes, below the line, and within the classroom-to-career pipeline in animated film and television. It also considers gender representation among animation companies’ executive ranks. Overall, the study concluded that, while women are making gains in animation, the field is still home to a major gender gap. Women of color are particularly underrepresented.

There were 197 directors on the top 120 animated films from 2007-2018 — and just four of them were women. Among these four helmers, there was only one woman of color. In TV, just 13 percent of the top animated programs’ episodes or 1st segments coded were directed by women. Only two percent were helmed by women of color.

According to the study, the women of color who are working in animation tend to be of Asian descent. “Women from a variety of racial/ethnic backgrounds were not working as directors across film or TV,” said Inclusion Initiative founder/director Dr. Stacy L. Smith. A press release elaborated, “The lack of Black or African American women, Hispanic/Latina women, Native women, or women from Middle East/North African communities, multi-racial, or other groups means that the voices and stories of animated films and programs reflect a very narrow demographic of storytellers.”

On the brighter side, there are a lot more women working as execs and producers in animation. Women make up about half of animation executives and fill a full half of film animation companies’ leadership positions. “Another area in which we see some progress is with female producers of animated films,” Smith noted. “In the last 12 years, 37% of producers of animated movies were women, while for live action films, the figure was 15%. The proportion of women in this leadership role in animation, and the progress made in the last decade, indicates that there are spaces where the industry is taking inclusion seriously and affecting change.”

There’s certainly still room for improvement. “Only 5% of producers of animated films and 1% of live action producers were women of color,” Smith revealed. “The movie industry is completely out of step with the audience in this regard.”

Below the line, women are significantly outnumbered. On the top 52 animated films from the past five years, women accounted for seven percent of heads of story, eight percent of animation heads, and 14 percent of art directors. Respectively, women of color comprised six percent, three percent, and four percent of those positions. As for the 100 top animated series, women represented 16 percent of animation directors, 20 percent of lead animators, and 11 percent of lead storyboard artists. Women of color filled eight percent, 13 percent, and three percent of those roles.

Despite the huge gender disparity in animation careers, over half of USC, UCLA, CalArts, Ringling, and SVA’s animation program enrollees are female. Sixty-nine percent of the top animated programs’ students were women in 2018. So, clearly there is an impressive pipeline of women working in animation — which makes the fact that so few women are actually getting jobs that much more frustrating.

“This study validates what we have known all along, that women are a hugely untapped creative resource in the animation industry,” said Marge Dean, President of Women in Animation (WIA). (The “Inclusion in Animation” study was conducted in partnership with the org.) Dean also added that the report’s findings would aid WIA in its mission to achieve gender parity in the animation field by 2025.

Key findings from “Inclusion in Animation” are below. You can read the full study here.

Above the Line

• In terms of cast, only 20 (17%) of the 120 top animated features from 2007-2018 had a female lead or co lead. Three of these films depicted a female of color (3%) as the protagonist. The numbers were better – but not equal – across the first episode or segment of the 100 top animated TV series on broadcast and cable. Just 39% (n=431 of 1,105) of the credited cast was filled with girls or women. Only 12% of the cast were females of color.
• Looking again to the 120 film sample, only 2.5% (n=5 of 197) of directors were women. Four women  held these five jobs. Only 1 was a woman of color (Asian) who worked twice. Turning to TV, 13% (n=16)  of the episodes or 1st segments coded were directed by women. Only 3 or 2% were helmed by a woman of color. All 3 underrepresented females directors were Asian.
• Across 120 top animated movies released between 2007 and 2018, 37% (n=91 of 249) of producers (“Produced by” only) were women. Only 5% (n=12) of all producers were women of color, however. Fifteen percent of live action producers (n=520 out of 3,398) across 1,080 movies were women. Across the same time frame, only 1% of producers were women of color on these live action productions.
• There has been no meaningful improvement in the percentage of female producers in live action
  features over 12 years. In animation, there has been a significant increase over time. While yearly
  trends followed a curvilinear pattern (i.e., linear increases followed by abrupt decreases), the lowest percentages improved substantially and linearly every 3-4 years.
• The producers of the 100 top animation series of 2018 also were captured. Females held only 20% of  EPs and 17% of CoEPs across 100 animated television shows. Only 6 women of color held EP titles. No 2 co EP titles in the sample credited a woman of color. More women (34%) were credited as producers  but there were few women from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups with this title (8%). Just 17% (n=24 of 145) of “Created by” or “Developed by” credits were held by women and only 3 of those women were from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups.
• Nine percent of writers (n=40 out of 423) across the 120 top animated films were women. Only 6 or 1% of these writers were women of color (4 Asian, 1 Latinx, 1 multiracial). In 100 animated TV series, 25%  of the writers (n=198) were women. Ten of these women were from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds (6 Asian, 2 Latinx, 1 Black, 1 multiracial).

Below the Line

• Across 52 of the top animated films from 2014-2018, the gender ratio of males to females across 9 key roles or unit head positions was 8.5 to 1. In terms of specific titles, only 7% (n=4) of head of story positions were filled with women (6% women of color, n=3), 15% (n=10) of editors (3% women of color, n=2), 8% (n=6) of animation heads (3% women of color, n=2), 14% (n=7) of art directors (4% women of color, n=2), 2% (n=1) of head of layout (0 women of color), 21% (n=10) of head of lighting (0 women of color), 11% (n=5) of production designers (0 women of color), 9% (n=6) of character effects supervisors (3% women of color, n=2), and 10% (n=14) of character composition supervisors (3% women of color, n=4).
• Looking at the story department, only 18% (n=111 of 605) of team members were female with roughly the same level of participation for women in animation (16%, n=511 of 3,140) and slightly higher participation for women in art (23%, n=128 of 544). About a quarter of the labor pool was female in character effects (24%, n=251 of 1,061) and composition (26%, n=408 of 1,571).
• For the below the line key roles in animated TV series, females comprised only 28% (n=20)of story editors (1% women of color, n=1), 18% (n=24) of editors (4% women of color, n=5), 16% (n=21) of animation directors (8% women of color, n=11), 20% (n=26) of lead animators (13% women of color, n=17), 24% (n=10 ) of lead character designers (7% women of color, n=3), and 11% (n=4) of lead storyboard artists (3% women of color, n=1).
• We took a deeper dive into the gender composition of departments in animated television too (n=1,721 employees). Just over a third of animators were women (35%, n=330 of 937). In comparison, a similar percentage was found of women in character design (33%, n=98 of 300) and a lower percentage of women as storyboard artists (24%, n=75 of 312). Of the 172 storyboard revisionists listed, fully half (54%, n=93) were women.

Executive Ranks

• The executive ranks of 10 film and 14 TV companies were examined for gender and the race/ethnicity of female leaders as of early June 2018. Over half (52%, n=53) of all animation executives in film were female and 39% (n=66) in television. Fewer women of color were executives, with only 7 in film (6%) and 16 (9%) in television. Clearly, the experiences of white women and women of color are vastly different on the corporate side of animation.
• The distribution for film and television executives by gender were quite different. At the top of film, fully half of the leadership positions (e.g., CEO, CCO, Presidents) were held by women whereas only 6% of the most prestigious posts in television were. A common pattern was also found across television and from VP level to EVP/Chief level in film: as power increases, females’ participation decreases. All but 2 of the 23 women of color executives were found at the SVP level and below.

Pipeline from Classroom to Career

• Across 5 esteemed animation programs in the U.S. (USC, UCLA, CalArts, Ringling, SVA), well over half of all those attending or enrolled were female. Cutting across graduate and undergraduate programs evaluated, 65% of students enrolled in top animated programs were female in 2016 and 69% in 2018.
• Turning to the 5 top film festivals (Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Tribeca, NYFF, Telluride), 47% of all animated shorts evaluated (n=69 out of 146) had at least one female director attached. The percentages increased notably across the three years evaluated (2016=33%; 2017=51%, 2018=60%). Thus, there is a strong and female-tipping pipeline coming out of top animation programs and film festivals in the country.
• While this represents the pipeline prior to entering the industry, executives indicated that the pathway within film animation to becoming a director was through story, animation, or writing. Only 7% of those running story were women followed by 18% of the story team. If the path is through animation, the numbers are equally problematic from unit heads (8% female) to 16% of animators. Last, some directors come through writing and only 9% of credited writers were women across 52 top animated films. The same trajectory in TV was not possible to illuminate, given the vast differences in crediting domestically and internationally in the industry. Clearly, the drop off in female participation is between Festival screenings and working within animation companies. Females do not have the same access and opportunity as males and do not seem to be moving up the ranks as quickly in the space.

Qualitative Findings

• Results from interviews and surveys point to three major impediments facing women. First, that a culture of homophily prevents women from feeling a sense of belonging and moving forward in their careers. Responses from 50% of early-career women, 32% of decision-makers, and 25% of Animation Guild members indicated that a ‘boy’s club’ interfered with women becoming directors. This sentiment was also conveyed by 37% of early-career women, 19% of decision-makers, and 32% of Animation Guild members when discussing the reasons for the lack of women across the animation industry.
• Second, women reported being valued less than their male counterparts and that gender stereotyping plays a role in their career path. When discussing directors, 37% of early-career women, 57% of decisionmakers, and 26% of Animation Guild members cited women’s experience and a perception of riskiness as reasons that prevent more women from ascending to roles as a director. A culture that does not value women was identified by 47% of early-career women, and 19% each of decision-makers and Animation Guild members as a reason for the gender imbalance in employment more broadly.
• Third, women are perceived to lack ambition or interest in the field. Roughly one-quarter of early-career women cited this explanation for both directors and when discussing general employment. Thirty-five percent of decision-makers claimed women’s ambition was a reason for the lack of women directing, and 30% gave this reason for women’s employment overall. Finally, 21% of Animation Guild members stated women’s interest steered them away from directing, while 20% offered this explanation for women’s participation across the industry. In contrast to these statements, 90% of women interviewed stated that they aspired to leadership positions in animation, including being a showrunner, director, art director, or other key roles.
• The final set of responses focused on the unique experiences of women of color in the industry, namely their status as tokens and the resulting issues that created. Two-thirds of the early-career women of color who participated in the interviews stated that negative consequences emerged from their “token” status in the industry, including isolation and loneliness.