Men still dominate key roles in the EU TV fiction industry
Women remain under-represented in the TV fiction industry in Europe, a new report from the European Audiovisual Observatory indicates. Despite the fact that more women are now working in the industry than a few years ago, men still outnumber women in key roles and positions such as directors and cinematographers.
The report provides an assessment of the gender imbalance within six audiovisual professional categories in European TV fiction:
- Directors, writers and lead roles of European TV films and TV series (up to 52 episodes per season) broadcast or made available between 2015 and 2019.
- Producers, cinematographers and composers of European TV films and TV series (up to 13 episodes per season) broadcast or made available between 2015 and 2019.
It aims to identify how women are represented among active professionals of European TV works, what is their weighted share in the professional categories of European TV works, and what is the share of audiovisual works by female‑driven teams.
Women accounted for just 8% of all cinematographers of European TV Films and high-end TV series.
Key Findings
Beyond obvious inequalities, the report indicates some remarkable differences in the audiovisual professional activity depending on the job:
- In European TV fiction, cinematographers were mainly men and they worked either alone or with other men.
- For composers too, data showed mainly men and working alone; but there were more women hidden in male-driven teams than the opposite.
- Women directors collaborated with other directors more often than their male counterparts, and quite often in gender-balanced teams.
- Writers of European TV fiction worked in large groups which were either male-driven or gender balanced.
Directors of European TV fiction
The study found that between 2015 and 2019, female directors represented 20% of active directors of audiovisual fiction episodes and TV films in the EU (including UK), and this share grew by 5% in that period.
The weighted share of female directors in audiovisual fiction was lower, representing 16%. This is explained by the fact that women were less likely to be the sole director of a work, researchers say.
The report also indicates that although women were proportionally more likely than men to work in gender-mixed teams, most of these teams were led by men: the share of audiovisual fiction episodes directed by female‑driven teams were just 15%.
Writers of European TV fiction
At the same period, women accounted for 35% of active writers of audiovisual fiction in the EU. However, a woman was less likely to be the sole writer of an episode or a TV film. Therefore, the weighted share of female writers of audiovisual fiction was lower, representing 33%.
The share of episodes written by female-driven teams was only 24%. According to the study, some 68% of TV fiction titles were the work of writers’ teams, of which 36% were written by writers of both genders and 13% by gender-balanced teams of writers.
Cinematographers of European TV fiction
Women accounted for just 8% of all cinematographers of European TV Films and high-end TV series active between 2015 and 2019, and the weighted share of audiovisual titles by female cinematographers was even lower, at 7%.
The share of AV titles by female-driven cinematographers was just 7%, since in most cases a unique professional signed the DOP, and it was mostly men.
Directors of Photography (DOPs) worked normally as the sole cinematographer of the titles in which they worked and were mainly men.
Composers of music for European TV fiction
Also, women accounted for only 7% of all composers of music for European TV films and high-end TV series active between 2015 and 2019, but the share grew from 5% in 2015 to 8% in 2019. The weighted share of female composers in TV fiction was 6%.
The share of audiovisual titles by female-driven composer teams was only 5%, since when women composed music for a TV film or TV episode in teams, it was only in gender-balanced or in male-majority teams of composers.
Producers of European TV fiction
The study found that women accounted for 41% of all active producers of European TV films and high-end TV series (high-end TV series in this report refer to TV series counting 2 to 13 episodes per season) between 2015 and 2019, growing 7% in the period. The weighted share of women among producers was 43%.
The share of titles by female-driven production teams was 36%, as women working alone produced fewer titles than men but also, when producing in teams, they were often part of a gender-balanced team of producers.
Lead roles in European TV fiction
As for lead roles, the study showed that between 2015 and 2019 women accounted for 43% of active actors in a lead role in audiovisual fiction titles in the EU, but their weighted share among lead roles was higher, at 45%.
The share of episodes played by female-driven teams was only 22%. Female and male actors were equally involved in co-playing leading roles in audiovisual fiction titles, but mixed teams were either gender-balanced or with a male majority.
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