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    Celluloid Ceiling Report Finds Women Are Radically Underrepresented In Film

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2348 Views
    In this March 13, 2018 file photo, director Ava DuVernay appears at the premiere of "A Wrinkle In Time," in London. Despite widespread attention over gender inequality in film, a new study finds that the number of female directors in the top 250 domestic grossing movies last year dipped to eight percent. That was down three percent from 2017, according to the 21st annual Celluloid Ceiling report released Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019 by the Center for the Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File)

    By Jake Coyle, Film Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Despite widespread attention and protest over gender inequality in film, a new study finds that the number of female directors in the top 250 domestic grossing films last year dipped to 8 percent.

    That was down 3 percentage points from 2017, according to the 21st annual Celluloid Ceiling report released Thursday by the Center for the Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. It was even below the 9 percent level achieved 20 years earlier in 1998.

    Researchers found slight gains for women in other roles. In 2018, women comprised 20 percent of all directors, writers, producers, executive directors, editors and cinematographers in the top 250 films. That's up 2 percentage points from 2017.

    The study's author, Martha Lauzen, the executive director of San Diego State's center, said such modest gains behind the camera, particularly in the director's chair, reveal an industry resistant to changing long-term gender inequity.

    "The study provides no evidence that the mainstream film industry has experienced the profound positive shift predicted by so many industry observers over the last year," Lauzen said.

    "This radical underrepresentation is unlikely to be remedied by the voluntary efforts of a few individuals or a single studio. Without a large-scale effort mounted by the major players — the studios, talent agencies, guilds and associations — we are unlikely to see meaningful change. The distance from 8 percent to some semblance of parity is simply too vast."

    The largest gains, according to researchers, were among writers (16 percent, up 5 percentage points from 2017) and producers (21 percent, also up 5 percentage points from 2017).

    The study also found that in 2018, just 1 percent of films employed 10 or more women in key off-camera roles, while 74 percent of films employed 10 or more men in such jobs.

    Researchers also isolated the top 100 and the top 500 films in 2018, though results were similar. Women accounted for 16 percent of directors, writers, executive producers, producers, editors and cinematographers working on the top 100 films (no change from 2017), and 23 percent of the same roles on the top 500 films (an increase of 2 percentage points from 2017).

    Category:News
    Tags:Celluloid Ceilinggender inequalitySan Diego State University



    Review: Director Ben Taylor’s “Joy”

    Thursday, November 21, 2024

    Toward the end of Netflix's "Joy," the muffled cry of a newborn baby prompts a man and woman in a hospital to embrace out of pure bliss. They aren't the parents, but they had as much to do with the birth as the mom and dad.

    This charming and winning movie charts the decade-long true story of how the world's first IVF baby was born in England in 1978 — a 5-pound, 12-ounce girl who paved the way for millions more. It's an upbeat, very English affair, mixing sober discussion of endometriosis with chocolate biscuits.

    The couple embracing that day were pioneering scientist Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy, a young nurse and embryologist. Together with surgeon Patrick Steptoe, the trio succeeded with in vitro fertilization, a method of treating infertility. Edwards would go on to win the Nobel Prize.

    "Joy" has been birthed at a time when science is under threat in America — even IVF — so it's downright inspiring to see plucky, smart scientists working hard to change the world. "What we're doing, it matters," says Steptoe, played with quiet economy by Bill Nighy.

    "Joy" is the personal stories of the three scientists — mostly through the eyes of Purdy, a polite lab-coated warrior. "If I hear a commotion, I'm not very good at staying out of it," she says. Perfectly played by Thomasin McKenzie, Purdy is both vulnerable and strong, learning through the process to be a better human. James Norton plays Edwards with charm, self-doubt and calm spirit.

    Jack Thorne's script nicely explains the massive pressure the trio faced. IVF may have become common and uncontroversial over the last decades, but back in the late '70s it was experimental and shunned. The Anglican church called it a sin, the newspapers labeled it Frankenstein-ish and other... Read More

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