The share of work for women and minority directors who are members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) declined during calendar year ’98. That was the bottom-line finding of the DGA’s annual report on women and minority hiring.
"In light of the repeated assurances from the employers that they have been working to address this problem, it is very disappointing that industry hiring practices remain virtually unchanged," said DGA president Jack Shea. "These numbers once again reinforce the message that we have been delivering for over a decade about the severe underemployment of women and minorities on the directorial team."
The report breaks out the total days worked in ’98 by DGA women and minorities as a percentage of the number of total days worked by all DGA members. It also tracks that percentage since ’83 in film and ’86 in tape, the first years that women and minority hiring statistics became available to the DGA from employers. In addition to the overall results, the report breaks the numbers down into three categories of DGA employment: theatrical film, non-theatrical film production, and videotape.
The combined film and tape employment results for women and minority directors were:
DGA women directors worked 10.2 percent of the total days worked by Guild directors during ’98, down from 10.7 percent in ’97. This is the lowest employment percentage for DGA women directors since ’90, and marks the third consecutive year that employment levels for female helmers have declined.
DGA minority directors worked 8.4 percent of total days worked by Guild directors in ’98, down from 8.6 percent in ’97. Employment of African-American directors was static at 4.4 percent, while Latino directors fell to 2.3 percent from 3.1 percent.
"Hiring practices that yield the results indicated by these overall employment numbers are a grave disservice to the entire industry," stated DGA national executive director Jay D. Roth. "For many years, the DGA has held meetings with employers about this problem, but these results are an indication that the companies have an urgent need to do more in order to expand their hiring of women and minorities. For our part, the DGA remains committed to aggressively pursuing the goal of a level playing field for women and minority Guild members."
The report discloses that women and minority directors bore the brunt of an overall decline in tape days worked by all categories of DGA members:
DGA women tape directors went from 19.5 percent of total days worked in ’97 to 16.3 percent in ’98. As in the overall numbers, this is the third consecutive year that employment levels for women have declined in tape, and it ties ’90 for the lowest employment level of the decade.
DGA minority tape directors dropped from 14.1 percent of total days worked in ’97 to 10.8 percent in ’98. African-American directors fell from 6.9 to 5.2 percent, while Latino directors dropped from 5.1 to 3.9 percent.
In the film areas, DGA women and minority directors showed an increase in their percentage of total days worked:
DGA women film directors (theatrical and non-theatrical) went from 7.1 percent of total days worked in ’97 to 8.5 percent. DGA women directors of theatrical films went from 5 percent in ’97 to 6.5 percent in ’98. Women directors of non-theatrical film productions went from 8.6 percent in ’97 to 9.6 percent.
DGA minority film directors (theatrical and non-theatrical) went from 6.4 percent of total days worked in ’97 to 7.7 percent. DGA minority theatrical film directors went from 7 percent in ’97 to 8.4 percent. Minority non-theatrical film directors went from 6 percent in ’97 to 7.3 percent last year.
These gains in theatrical and non-theatrical film were more than offset by the marked reduction in employment for these groups in tape, resulting in the decline in overall employment levels.
The report also tracks employment figures for other members of the directorial team. It is noteworthy that in the two senior DGA employment categories in film, employment declined for both women and minorities.
Women unit production managers (UPMs) dropped from 19.9 percent in ’97 to 19.2 percent in ’98, while women first assistant directors (first ADs) slipped from 20.8 to 19.4 percent.
Minority UPMs fell from 4.6 to 4.1 percent, while minority first ADs decreased from 10.4 to 10.1 percent.
In other DGA categories, employment of women and minorities showed some increases. Women film second assistant directors (2AD) rose from 37.8 to 38.5 percent, and minority 2ADs increased from 12.1 to 14.9 percent. In tape, DGA women associate directors (AD) increased their percentage of days worked from 48.8 to. 52.1 percent. Women stage managers showed an increase from 29.3 to 30.4 percent in their percentage of days worked. Minority ADs saw their percentage of total days worked decline from 11.4 to 7.8 percent.
"The DGA has been working hard to bring to light the fact that women and minority directors and director’s team members are terribly underrepresented," said DGA first vice president Martha Coolidge. "We will continue this struggle for equality and do all that we can to provide more opportunities for our women and minority members to further their careers."
Tim Burton Discusses His Dread Of AI As An Exhibition of His Work Opens In London
The imagination of Tim Burton has produced ghosts and ghouls, Martians, monsters and misfits — all on display at an exhibition that is opening in London just in time for Halloween.
But you know what really scares him? Artificial intelligence.
Burton said Wednesday that seeing a website that had used AI to blend his drawings with Disney characters "really disturbed me."
"It wasn't an intellectual thought — it was just an internal, visceral feeling," Burton told reporters during a preview of "The World of Tim Burton" exhibition at London's Design Museum. "I looked at those things and I thought, 'Some of these are pretty good.' … (But) it gave me a weird sort of scary feeling inside."
Burton said he thinks AI is unstoppable, because "once you can do it, people will do it." But he scoffed when asked if he'd use the technology in this work.
"To take over the world?" he laughed.
The exhibition reveals Burton to be an analogue artist, who started off as a child in the 1960s experimenting with paints and colored pencils in his suburban Californian home.
"I wasn't, early on, a very verbal person," Burton said. "Drawing was a way of expressing myself."
Decades later, after films including "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman," "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Beetlejuice," his ideas still begin with drawing. The exhibition includes 600 items from movie studio collections and Burton's personal archive, and traces those ideas as they advance from sketches through collaboration with set, production and costume designers on the way to the big screen.
London is the exhibition's final stop on a decade-long tour of 14 cities in 11 countries. It has been reconfigured and expanded with 90 new objects for its run in... Read More