WIF Research
NEW research commissioned by WIF, by Pepperdine University Professor Alicia Jessop, Esq. – Women Entrepreneurs in the Screen Industries: Obstacles and Opportunities (2022)
- Executive Summary
- VIDEO: Watch Variety‘s Angelique Jackson moderate a panel discussion about the research findings with Amy Baer (WIF Board President; President, MRC Films’ Landline Pictures), Stephanie Allain (Founder, Homegrown Pictures), Alicia Jessop, Esq. (Pepperdine University), Laura Lewis (CEO and Founder, Rebelle Media), and Paul Brooks (President, Gold Circle)
Commissioned by ReFrame: The Ticket to Inclusion: Gender & Race/Ethnicity of Leads and Financial Performance Across 1,200 Popular Films (2020)
ReFrame
Together with Sundance Institute, we have commissioned groundbreaking research with Dr. Stacy Smith and her team at USC’s Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism over the last three years. Before this project, an analysis of gender composition among content creators from the independent film sector had never been undertaken. We believe that by learning more about how women are faring in the independent film world, and the obstacles that are keeping women from commercial films, we gain powerful insights into ways to positively effect progress. Just below are thumbnail sketches of the research; but this is only the beginning of what we’ve learned. Click below for the entire studies.
- Phase I: “Exploring the Barriers and Opportunities for Independent Women Filmmakers” examines gender differences in submissions and selections over multiple years for U.S. films in the Sundance Film Festival, and in Sundance Institute Feature Film and Documentary Film Programs. The study also delves into qualitative interviews with a targeted group of independent female directors and producers, industry executives, and thought leaders in the field.
- Phase II: This new study updates Sundance Film Festival data to include 2013 numbers and delves into Sundance Institute’s Lab data, analyzing the rate at which female filmmakers enter Sundance’s artist labs and the rate at which they subsequently complete and exhibit their work. The Phase II study also continues further deep-dive qualitative inquiry, exploring gender-based perceptions among thought leaders in the field.
- Phase III: “Exploring the Careers of Female Filmmakers” explores how female directors fare after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. We assess the types of films, distribution deals, and exhibition patterns of male and female U.S. Dramatic Competition directors. Then, through industry interviews with filmmakers, buyers, and sellers, we examine the unique impediments female filmmakers face.
The third phase of research garnered extensive media attention when it was published on April 21, and again in the spring of 2015, when it became part of the foundation of an ACLU action to expose and combat gender discrimination in Hollywood.
Full Research
CLICK HERE to read Phases I and II
CLICK HERE to read Phase III
Press
Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles Unveil Groundbreaking Study on Careers of Female Directors (04/15)
ACLU Asks State and Federal Civil Rights Agencies to Investigate Gender Discrimination in Hollywood (05/15)
Press
- Distribution Plan and Story, Not Characters’ Gender or Race, Key to Box Office Success: Study [Deadline, 02/20]
- Can Inclusion Boost Box Office? Films with Diverse Leads Have More Success Domestically, New Study Shows [TheWrap, 02/20]
- Film’s Distribution and Story Strength Key to Box Office Success, Study Finds [The Hollywood Reporter, 02/20]
- Study: Films Led by People of Color Tend to Out Earn Those with White Leads [Women and Hollywood, 02/20]
Entrepreneurial Pathways
In an effort to counter one of the major roadblocks to gender parity in the screen industries—access to capital at the top of the system—Women In Film has partnered with Pepperdine University to launch Entrepreneurial Pathways. This partnership will encompass research into the paucity of funding for female-led companies, and create tools and resources for women to raise capital.
Press Release: Women In Film and Pepperdine University Partner on ENTREPRENEURIAL PATHWAYS, a New Initiative to Improve Funding for Women-led Businesses in the Screen Industries (06/19)
Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.
Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity
Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity (TTIE) is a consortium of working TV writers from underrepresented communities, spanning emerging writers to showrunners and working across various segments of the TV industry (Network/Cable/Streaming, Drama, Comedy, Animation, etc.). By increasing inclusion in TV writers rooms and improving working conditions for all TV writers, TTIE seeks to empower underrepresented writers and transform the industry from within. In 2018, TTIE became a grantee of the Pop Culture Collaborative and a collaborative project of WIF. WriteInclusion.org. @WriteInclusion on Twitter and Instagram.
- NEW: Behind the Scenes: The State of Inclusion and Equity in TV Writing (2021)
- Behind the Scenes: The State of Inclusion and Equity in TV Writing (2020)
- Behind the Scenes: The State of Inclusion and Equity in TV Writing (2019)
Other Sources
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, with CAPE
McKinsey & Company
Black representation in film and TV: The Challenges and impact of increasing diversity (2021)
Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
- Gender and Representation On Screen
- Yearly Reports on Gender On-Screen in Film
- Inclusion in Netflix Series & Films: 2018–2019 (2021)Inequality in 1,300 Popular Films (2020)Inequality in 1,200 Popular Films (2019)Inequality in 1,100 Popular Films (2018)Inequality in 900 Popular Films (2016)Inequality in 800 Popular Films (2015)Inequality in 700 Popular Films (2014)Gender Inequality in 600 Popular Films (2013) Gender Inequality in 500 Popular Films (2012)Gender Inequality in 300 Popular Films (2007–2009)Gender Inequality in Popular Films (2008)Gender Inequality in Popular Films (2007)
- Reports on Gender in Film, TV, and Digital Content
- Portrayal of Child and Teen Girls in Popular Film
- The Future is Female? (2017)
- Gender On-Screen in Academy Award-Nominated Films
- Gender On-Screen in Family Films and Television (Prepared for the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media)
- Gender Bias Without Borders (2014) [Full Report]
- Gender Roles & Occupations in Film and Television (2012)
- Occupational Portrayals in G-Rated Films (2011)
- Industry Leaders’ Perceptions of Gender in Family Films (2011)
- Gender Disparity in Family Films (2010)
- Gender Stereotypes in Popular Films and TV (2008)
- Gender and Computer Science On-Screen in Television and Film (Prepared for the Google CS in Media Team)
- Gender of Film Critics
- Yearly Reports on Gender On-Screen in Film
- Gender Behind the Camera
- Behind the Scenes in Top-Grossing Films
- NEW: Inclusion in the Director’s Chair: Analysis of Director Gender and Race/Ethnicity Across the 1,600 Top Films from 2007 to 2022 (2023)
- Inclusion in the Director’s Chair: Analysis of Director Gender & Race/Ethnicity Across 1,500 Top Films from 2007 to 2021 (2022)
- Inclusion in the Director’s Chair: Analysis of Director Gender and Race/Ethnicity Across 1,300 Top Films from 2007 to 2019 (2020)
- Inclusion in the Director’s Chair? (2019)
- Inclusion in the Director’s Chair? (2018)
- Inclusion in the Director’s Chair? (2017)
- Behind the Scenes in Independent Film
- Behind the Scenes in Short Films (Prepared for LUNAFEST Film Festival)
- Behind the Scenes in Top-Grossing Films
Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, San Diego State University
- NEW: The Celluloid Ceiling: Employment of Behind-the Scenes Women on Top Grossing U.S. Films in 2022
- Boxed In: Women on Screen and Behind the Scenes on Broadcast and Streaming Television in 2021–22
- Indie Women: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women in U.S. Independent Film, 2021–22
- Thumbs Down 2022: Film Critics and Gender, and Why It Matters
- The Celluloid Ceiling in a Pandemic Year: Employment of Women on the Top U.S. Films of 2021
- Boxed In: Women on Screen and Behind the Scenes on Broadcast and Streaming Television in 2020–21
- It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: Portrayals of Female Characters in the Top Grossing Films of 2020
- The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top U.S. Films of 2020
- Living Archive: The Celluloid Ceiling, Documenting Two Decades of Women’s Employment in Film
- Indie Women: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women in Independent Film, 2019–2020
- Boxed In 2019–20: Women on Screen and Behind the Scenes in Television
- Thumbs Down 2020: Film Critics and Gender, and Why It Matters
- It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: Portrayals of Female Characters in the Top Grossing Films of 2019
- The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 100, 250, and 500 Films of 2019
- Indie Women: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women in Independent Film, 2018-19
- Thumbs Down 2019: Film Critics and Gender, and Why It Matters
- It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: Portrayals of Female Characters in the Top Grossing Films of 2018
- Boxed In 2018–19: Women On Screen and Behind the Scenes in Television
- The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 100, 250, and 500 Films of 2018
- Boxed In 2017-18: Women On Screen and Behind the Scenes in Television
- The Celluloid Ceiling II: Production Design, Production Management, Sound Design, Key Grips, and Gaffers
- Women @ the Box Office
UCLA College, Social Sciences Division, Dean’s Initiatives
[Research from 2018 and previous conducted by the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA]
- NEW: Hollywood Diversity Report 2022, Part 2: Television
- Hollywood Diversity Report 2022, Part 1: Film
- Hollywood Diversity Report 2021, Part 2: Television
- Hollywood Diversity Report 2021, Part 1: Film
- Hollywood Diversity Report 2020, Part 1: Film
- Hollywood Diversity Report 2020, Part 2: Television
- 2019 Hollywood Diversity Report
- 2018 Hollywood Diversity Report
- 2017 Hollywood Diversity Report
- 2016 Hollywood Diversity Report
- 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report
- 2014 Hollywood Diversity Report
#ReelEquity, IATSE Local 871 (with Working IDEAL)
Script Girls, Secretaries and Stereotypes: Gender Pay Equity on Film and Television Crews (2018) [Full Report]
Skoll Center for SIE, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (with Participant Media)
The State of SIE: Mapping the landscape of social impact entertainment (2019)
Dear Producer
- NEW: Distributors Fact Sheet (2022)
- Producers Sustainability Survey Report (2021)