
Women losing ground in Hollywood
Hollywood gender diversity is going in the wrong direction. Women have lost ground relative to men in three of the four key job categories— theatrical film leads, writers, and actors. Among film directors women were treading water, a study based on 2023 from UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labour and Employment shows.
Women remained underrepresented in all major jobs for theatrical film: Less than 2 to 1 among theatrical film leads (32.1%); greater than 3 to 1 among theatrical film directors (14.7%); 2 to 1 among theatrical film writers (25%); less than 2 to 1 among total theatrical film actors (38.7%).
The report says that new evidence from 2023 continues to support findings from earlier reports suggesting that America’s increasingly diverse audiences prefer diverse content in theatrical film releases.
Actors with disabilities gained ground in both relevant employment arenas. Comprising at least 26% of the United States population, adults with a disability nonetheless remained underrepresented in front of the camera in top films in 2023: Greater than 2 to 1 among theatrical film leads (11.3%) and less than 4 to 1 among total theatrical film actors (7.1%).
Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) share of the US population is growing by nearly half a percent each year. Constituting 43.6% of the US population in 2023, BIPOC will become the majority within a couple of decades, the report notes.
Since 2022, BIPOC posted gains relative to their White counterparts in Hollywood film employment. Despite these gains, BIPOC remained underrepresented on every major industry employment front in 2023, according to the report.
Female moviegoers bought the majority of opening weekend, domestic tickets for three of the top 10 films and five of the top 20 films released in theaters in 2023.
Five of the top 10 and eight of the top 20 films had casts in which more than 40% of the actors were females.
In 2023, eight of the top 10 theatrical films for female moviegoers featured casts that were more than 40% female. A ninth film among their top 10 was a White-female led, music documentary. By contrast, only one of the top 10 theatrical films for male moviegoers featured casts that were over 40% female.
Moonshot News is an independent European news website for all IT, Media and Advertising professionals, powered by women and with a focus on driving the narrative for diversity, inclusion and gender equality in the industry.
Our mission is to provide top and unbiased information for all professionals and to make sure that women get their fair share of voice in the news and in the spotlight!
We produce original content, news articles, a curated calendar of industry events and a database of women IT, Media and Advertising associations.