→ Movies By Women.com: Statistics on Women Directors
After you've seen these statistics, please refer to the full list of our articles. FYI, the following documents and reports are listed chronologically.
Movies By Women.com would like to thank Dr. Martha Lauzen, Ph.D., for her tireless work.
→ The Statistics
→ NEW!!! THE CELLULOID CEILING STUDY 2006 Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 250 Films of 2006. The latest figures from Dr. Martha Lauzen's exhaustive study of the top 250 films of 2006. (Released in 2007)
→ THE CELLULOID CEILING STUDY 2005 (Released in 2006) Dr. Martha Lauzen's study of the behind-the-scenes employment of women in the Top 250 Films of 2005.
→ BOXED IN 2004 - Women On Screen and Behind the Scenes in the 2004-05 Prime-time Season - Dr. Martha Lauzen's brand spankin' new 2005 study & statistics.
→ THE CELLULOID CEILING STUDY 2004 (Released in 2005) Dr. Martha Lauzen's 2004 study.
→ BOXED IN 2003 - Women on Screen and Behind the Scenes in the 2003-04 Primetime Season (Released in 2004) from Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D.
→ THE CELLULOID CEILING STUDY 2003 - (Released in 2003) Behind-the-Scenes and On-Screen Employment of Women in the Top 250 Films of 2002 from Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D.
→ Archived Statistics
Please note: As we transition to our new site and content management system, older articles from our Statistics and Articles sections will be restored from our archives and linked to on the site. Our entire archive will be updated by March 1st. In the meantime, please "enjoy" the following archived tidbits:
→ The excellent sticker campaign and billboard campaign by The Guerrilla Girls highlights the unacceptably low numbers of women working behind the scenes in film today. This is from 2001-2002.
→ A study of women working behind the scenes in the film industry is entitled "The Celluloid Ceiling" from Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D., Professor, School of Communication, San Diego State University.
The study analyzed employment of 2,462 individuals working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2000. Here are some of the findings:
→ For the third year in a row, women comprised 17% of all executive producers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, and editors.
→ Gains made by women in certain behind-the-scenes roles were met by losses in others. For example, while the percentage of women executive producers increased slightly (15% in 1999, 16% in 2000), the representation of women producers declined (27% in 1999, 24% in 2000). While the percentage of women writers increased by two percentage points (12% in 1999, 14% in 2000), the representation of female cinematographers fell by two percentage points (4% in 1999, 2% in 2000). Only women directors experienced a notable gain from 5% in 1999 to 11% in 2000 (9% in 1998).
→ Films with female executive producers and directors employed significantly greater percentages of women than films with male executive producers and directors.
Here's a smattering of other statistics generated from the study of the top 250 films released in 1999:
→ Women comprised only 17% of all executive producers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, and editors.
→ Women comprised 15% of all executive producers. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of films had no female executive producers.
→ Women accounted for 27% of all producers. Thirty-six percent (36%) of films had no female producers.
→ Women comprised 12% of all writers. Eighty-three percent (83%) of films had no female writers.
→ Women accounted for 4% of all cinematographers. Ninety-six percent (96%) of films had no female cinematographers.
→ Women comprised 18% of all editors. Eighty percent (80%) of films had no female editors.
→ It is impossible to look at these numbers and claim that discrimination is a thing of the past.
Information given by Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D. Professor, School of Communication, San Diego State University, CA.