Home » US business news • US Employment News » Hollywood studios lack diversity in director hires

Hollywood studios lack diversity in director hires

By Nithya Bose in US business news, posted January 4, 2024

A study has revealed Hollywood studios are still failing to address the lack of diversity in film director hires.

The University of Southern California's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study finds progress has been made in hiring women and people of color as film directors.

But it has stalled last year, despite successful films like "Barbie" and the "Eras" and "Renaissance" concert movies.

While figures like Greta Gerwig, Taylor Swift, and Beyoncé were lauded for their contributions, the study blamed major Hollywood studios' hiring practices.

It criticized the studios for what it deemed as "performative acts" following movements like #StopAsianHate and the response to George Floyd's murder.

It argues that these promises lacked real steps toward fostering change.

The study, examining top-grossing films from 2007 to 2023, revealed that in 2023, only 12.1 percent of the 116 directors surveyed were women, a marginal increase from nine percent in 2022.

Women of color faced even greater challenges, comprising just 3.4 percent of top-grossing directors in 2023.

The study cited Adele Lim, Celine Song, Fawn Veerasunthorn, and Nia DaCosta as examples, with DaCosta being the sole Black female director.

Directors from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups also struggled, constituting less than a quarter of all directors in 2023.

This marked a regression from 2022, where people of color comprised approximately 20 percent, and a further step back from 2021's nearly 30 percent.

Looking to boost your online brand? Create your FREE business profile at WhatBiz? here.

USC professors Stacy Smith and Katherine Pieper, authors of the study, emphasized underlying issues contributing to the lack of progress.

"It is nowhere near solved"

Stacy Smith said: “For the companies and industry members who want to believe that the director problem is fixed, it is nowhere near solved.

"To see real progress, the process for making hiring decisions must change, and the reasons women and people of color still face obstacles must be addressed."

The authors pointed to obstacles such as limited project funding access, resulting in a lack of sample work for studios to consider during hiring.

Need Career Advice? Get employment skills advice at all levels of your career

The research urged studios to diversify their pool of candidates during project hires, challenging the notion that a film featuring a white male lead necessarily requires a white male director.

It also encouraged dispelling the idea that appointing a woman or a person of color to direct a movie is still considered a "risk."

The authors said: “When the entertainment industry thinks director, they still think male. In particular, they think white male.”

Follow us on YouTube, X, LinkedIn, and Facebook.