Women and people of colour saw little progress in their representation among directors of Hollywood’s most successful films in 2024, according to the latest annual Inclusion in the Director’s Chair report from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.
The study shows that of the 112 directors of 2024’s 100 highest grossing releases 13.4% were women, only slightly up on the 2023 figure of 12.1%. Directors from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups made 24.1% of 2024’s top films, compared to 22.4% in 2023. Underrepresented individuals make up 41.6% of the US population.
Representation of women directors was only 2.7% in 2007, when the report first began tracking. Over the 18 years since then the figure is 6.5%. The level of directors from underrepresented groups was just 12.5% in 2007, with the level over the full 18 years now standing at 16.3%.
Commenting on the new figures, Annenberg Inclusion Initiative founder Dr Stacy L Smith said: “The film industry has demonstrated that it can increase the percentage of women directors and hold that progress. Yet, there is much more room to improve. Women directors are still significantly outnumbered and rarely get multiple opportunities behind the camera. Hollywood cannot be satisfied with the change that has occurred when there is still work to be done.
“While the industry mantra may be ‘survive until ‘25,’ that simply isn’t viable for women and people of colour working as directors,” Dr Smith added. “Even with the progress made, there are too few opportunities and too few repeat chances for skilled, talented and qualified directors to work on some of the most globally recognisable entertainment content today. If we are to say that real change has occurred, we must see continued increases across the board on these metrics.”
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