Female directors made record number of films in 2019 – Study

Hollywood has long been a man’s world.

For decades, female directors have largely been outnumbered by their male counterparts.

And while the proverbial glass ceiling certainly still exists, there is some good news.

According to new research, 12 of the 113 directors on last year’s 100 top movies were women - the highest number in over a decade.

"This is the first time we have seen a shift in hiring practices for female directors in 13 years," said Stacy L. Smith, the author of the study by USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California.

TOP 10

Two of the top 10 most successful global releases, “Frozen II” and “Captain Marvel”, were co-directed by women (Jennifer Lee and Anna Boden).

It is a jump from 2018 when a mere 4.5 per cent of the top films were overseen by women.

The win also extends beyond box office (and profitable) hits: 15 per cent of the directors of all films released by major companies last year were women, which is another record.

Still, there is more work to be done.

BEHIND THE CAMERA

In this year’s study, the Annenberg group focused on how women, particularly women of colour, were represented behind the camera - previously it was not divided between specific racial groups.

They found that less than one per cent of all directing jobs went to women of colour (across 1,300 top movies released from 2007 to 2019). White men accounted for 82.5 per cent.

Until 2019, only two women of colour, Ava DuVernay and Jennifer Yuh Nelson, directed more than one movie among those surveyed.

“These findings reveal that hiring practices have started to shift behind the camera in important ways for women,” Smith wrote in the report.

“Where more work is needed, however, is to increase access and opportunity for women of colour.”

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Among film studios, the researchers singled out Universal Pictures, where women directed 26 per cent of the studio’s films last year.

Universal’s chief, Donna Langley, is the only woman to lead a major movie studio.

Paramount Pictures, meanwhile, has not released a female-directed movie in the last five years. The study does not include Netflix, but women directed 20 per cent of its movies last year.

“It illuminates where we’re seeing traction and where there’s room for improvement,” Smith told Variety.

“Universal under [studio chief] Donna Langley should be lauded for ensuring that women get opportunities. Paramount needs to do more to give access and opportunity to these filmmakers.”

OUTNUMBERED

However, another study by the Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, released slightly more sobering results earlier this week.

In the latest Celluloid Ceiling report, Martha Lauzen, head of the centre, looked at the top 500 films of 2019, and found that women in key behind-the-scenes jobs (such as writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers) were outnumbered by men four to one.

This figure hadn’t budged since 2018.

“It’s odd to talk about reaching historic highs when women remain so far from parity,” Lauzen said in a statement.

She did also find, however, that a record number of women directed the top 100 films in 2019.

For more than a decade, the push for more diversity amongst Hollywood’s top jobs has been a major topic, and made ever-more urgent by the #MeToo and Time's Up movements.

BEST DIRECTOR

Yet only one woman - Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker" in 2010 – has won best director at the Oscar. And it seems as though female filmmakers have been somewhat ignored during this awards season, too.

At the Golden Globe awards, which takes place this Sunday, no women are among the nominees for best director.

But Smith is confident 2020 will be “an extraordinary year” for female directors.

Four of the year's most anticipated blockbusters - "Mulan," Wonder Woman 1984," "Black Widow" and "Eternals" - are directed by women.

“That’s important, because we’re seeing women being given opportunities to direct action movies and not just smaller, independent films…,” adds Smith.

“Progress will come when females are given the opportunity to carry movies behind the camera across genres and budget ranges.”