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Author:
Martha Lauzen Ph.D.
Executive Director, Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film
Professor, School of Theatre, Television and Film at San Diego State University,
Dr. Martha M. Lauzen conducts academic and industry research on the role of women in television and film.
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She holds a Ph.D. in Public Communication from the University of Maryland.
The findings of Dr. Lauzen's annual studies on women and the media have been featured in prominent entertainment trade publications, including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and MediaWeek, as well as published nationally in the popular press, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Dallas Morning News, TV Guide and Working Mother.
Dr. Lauzen has authored numerous articles and papers on women and mass communication and mass communication and society. Her work has appeared in Television Quarterly, the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, the Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly and Mass Communication & Society.
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View Editor's Note: | | Those who hold the jobs included in these sparse numbers know how complicated it was to achieve those jobs. Those who assume they themselves will automatically end up among those sparse numbers need to soberly consider their chances. It's important that we have Martha among us with the actual figures. Let's start dialoguing about the ramifications. And there's a very interesting article coming in July by Mollie Gregory on the subject. "Why, despite statistics that show men hold about 85% of the jobs in film and 76% in TV, does the perception persist: ?It?s all equal now.?" |
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2005 Celluloid Ceiling Report
STATISTICS ON WOMEN DIRECTORS
2005
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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The Celluloid Ceiling:
Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women in the Top 250 Films of 2005
Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D., School of Communication, San Diego State University,
San Diego, CA 92182, 619.594.6301
Copyright © 2006 -- All rights reserved. Over the last four years, the percentage of women working as directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors on the top 250 domestic grossing films has declined from 19% in 2001 to 16% in 2004. In 2005, women comprised 17% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. This is the same percentage of women employed in these roles in 1998. Women accounted for 7% of directors in 2005. This represents an increase of two percentage points over 2004. However, this is less than the recent historical high of 11% recorded in 2000. The following summary provides employment figures for behind-the-scenes women working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2005. It also provides a historical perspective on the employment of behind-the-scenes women, comparing 2005 figures with those from the last 8 years. Findings: - This study analyzed behind-the-scenes employment of 2,488 individuals working on the top 250 domestic grossing films (foreign films omitted) of 2005 with combined domestic box office grosses of approximately $8.3 billion.
- Women comprised 17% of all executive producers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 grossing films of 2005. This is the same percentage of women working in these roles in 1998 (see Figure 1).
- Nineteen percent (19%) of the films released in 2005 employed no women directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, or editors. Only one film (.5%) failed to employ a man in at least one of these roles.
- A historical comparison of women?s employment on the top 250 films in 2005 and 1998 reveals that the percentages of women directors, writers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers have declined, whereas the percentage of women producers has increased (see Figure 2).
- Women comprised 16% of all executive producers working on the top 250 films of 2005 (see Figure 3). Sixty four percent (64%) of the films had no female executive producers.
- Women accounted for 26% of all producers working on the top 250 films of 2005. Thirty seven percent (37%) of the films had no female producers.
- Women comprised 7% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2005. Ninety three percent (93%) of the films had no female directors.
- Women accounted for 11% of writers working on the top 250 films of 2005. Eighty four percent (84%) of the films had no female writers.
- Women accounted for 16% of all editors working on the top 250 films of 2005. Eighty one percent (81%) of the films had no female editors.
- Women comprised 3% of all cinematographers working on the top 250 films of 2005. Ninety seven percent (97%) of the films had no female cinematographers.
- By genre, women were most likely to work on documentaries and romantic comedies and least likely to work on horror, action, and animated features. Women comprised 29% of individuals working on documentaries, followed by 27% on romantic comedies, 23% on romantic dramas, 20% on comedy/dramas, 19% on dramas, 14% on comedies and science fiction/fantasy features, 13% on action and animated features, and 8% on horror features.
Figure 1.
Historical Comparison of Percentages of Women Employed in Key Behind-the-Scenes Roles (includes directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors, and cinematographers) Figure 2.
Historical Comparison of Percentage of Women Employed Behind the Scenes on Top 250 Films by Role 
Figure 3.
Comparison of Percentages of Women and Men Employed in Top 250 Films of 2005
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