RESEARCH

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GENDER @ THE MOVIES: ON-LINE FILM CRITICS AND CRITICISM

•Executive Summary

EXCERPT

This study examined over 2,000 reviews penned by 145 writers designated as "top critics" on Rotten Tomatoes over a two-month period in the spring of 2013. Findings indicate that top male critics wrote 82% and top female critics 18% of the film reviews featured on the film review aggregator site. 78% of the top critics writing during the study period were male, 22% were female. While film critics reviewed higher proportions of films directed and/or written by individuals of their same sex (giving films made by men greater visibility), on average, critics did not privilege those films by writing longer reviews or awarding them substantially higher ratings.

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THE CELLULOID CEILING: BEHIND-THE-SCENES EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN THE TOP 250 FILMS OF 2012

•Executive Summary

EXCERPT

Women comprised 18% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2012. This percentage represents no change from 2011 and an increase of 1 percentage point from 1998.

In 2012, women accounted for 9% of directors in 2012, an increase of 4 percentage points from 2011 but even with the percentage of women directors working in 1998. In other roles, women comprised 15% of writers, 17% of executive producers, 25% of producers, 20% of editors, and 2% of cinematographers.

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BOXED IN: EMPLOYMENT OF BEHIND-THE-SCENES AND ON-SCREEN WOMEN IN THE 2011-12 PRIME-TIME TELEVISION SEASON

•Executive Summary

EXCERPT

Women comprised 26% of all individuals working as creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and directors of photography on broadcast television programs during the 2011-12 prime-time season. This represents an increase of one percentage point from last season (2010-2011) and an increase of 5 percentage points since 1997-98.

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INDEPENDENT WOMEN: BEHIND-THE-SCENES REPRESENTATION ON FESTIVAL FILMS (2012)

•Executive Summary

EXCERPT
Women are more likely to work as directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers on independently produced documentaries than on narrative features in the United States. In 2011-2012, women accounted for 31% of behind-the-scenes individuals working on documentaries compared with 23% on narrative films. This difference is especially pronounced in the directing role. Women comprised 39% of directors working on documentaries and 18% of directors working on narrative features. The percentage of women directing independently produced documentaries (39%) is stunning when compared to the percentage of women directing top grossing films in 2011 (5%).

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IT'S A MAN'S (CELLULOID) WORLD: ON-SCREEN REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN THE TOP 100 FILMS OF 2011

•Executive Summary

EXCERPT
In 2011, females remained dramatically under-represented as characters in film when compared with their representation in the U.S. population. Last year, females accounted for 33% of all characters in the top 100 domestic grossing films. This represents an increase of 5 percentage points since 2002 when females comprised 28% of characters. While the percentage of female characters has increased over the last decade, the percentage of female protagonists has declined. In 2002, female characters accounted for 16% of protagonists. In 2011, females comprised only 11% of protagonists.

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INDEPENDENT WOMEN: BEHIND-THE-SCENES REPRESENTATION ON FESTIVAL FILMS (2011)

•Executive Summary

EXCERPT
The percentage of women working as directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, and editors on domestically produced feature-length films appearing at top U.S. film festivals is substantially higher than the percentage of women working on the top 250 domestic grossing films (24% vs. 16%). In fact, in every behind-the-scenes role considered, a higher percentage of women worked on festival films than top grossing films. The differences between festival and high budget, studio films are especially dramatic in the two most traditionally male-identified roles, directing and cinematography.

This study analyzed behind-the-scenes employment of over 8,000 individuals working on feature-length films identifying the U.S. as the country of origin screening at 25 U.S. festivals (June 2008-May 2009) including AFI Fest; Ann Arbor Film Festival; Atlanta Film Festival; Austin Film Festival; Chicago International Film Festival; Cinequest Film Festival; CineVegas Film Festival; Cleveland International Film Festival; Florida Film Festival; Hamptons International Film Festival; Los Angeles Film Festival; Nashville Film Festival; New Directors, New Films; New York Film Festival; Palm Springs International Film Festival; Rhode Island International Film Festival; St. Louis International Film Festival; San Francisco International Film Festival; Santa Barbara International Film Festival; Seattle International Film Festival; Slamdance Film Festival; Sundance Film Festival; SXSW Film Festival; Telluride Film Festival; Tribeca Film Festival.

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THE CELLULOID CEILING: BEHIND-THE-SCENES EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
IN THE TOP 250 FILMS OF 2011

•Executive Summary

EXCERPT

In 2011, women comprised 18% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. This represents an increase of 2 percentage points from 2010 and an increase of 1 percentage point from 1998.

Women accounted for 5% of directors, a decrease of 2 percentage points from 2010 and approximately half the percentage of women directors working in 1998.

38% of films employed 0 or 1 woman in the roles considered, 23% employed 2 women, 30% employed 3 to 5 women, and 7% employed 6 to 9 women.

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THE CELLULOID CEILING II: PRODUCTION DESIGN, PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, SOUND DESIGN, KEY GRIPS, AND GAFFERS

•Executive Summary

EXCERPT

For over a decade, The Celluloid Ceiling study has tracked women's representation as directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers on the top 250 domestic grossing films. In an effort to assess the larger picture of women's employment in film, this study monitored their representation as production designers (20%), production managers/production supervisors (25%/44%), sound designers/supervising sound editors (5%/5%), key grips (1%), and gaffers (1%).

The study analyzed behind-the-scenes employment of 1,318 individuals working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2008 with combined box office grosses of approximately $9.4 billion.

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BOXED IN: EMPLOYMENT OF BEHIND-THE-SCENES AND ON-SCREEN WOMEN IN THE 2010-11 PRIME-TIME TELEVISION SEASON

•Executive Summary

EXCERPT

Women comprised 25% of all individuals working as creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and directors of photography on broadcast television programs during the 2010-11 prime-time season. Women fared best as producers (37%), followed by executive producers (22%), editors (20%), creators (18%), writers (15%), and directors of photography (4%). On screen, females accounted for 41% of all characters. Programs with at least one woman creator or writer featured more female characters than programs with no women creators or writers.

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WOMEN @ THE BOX OFFICE

•Full Report

This study asked two basic questions: how do films with at least one woman working in a key behind-the-scenes role fare at the box office when compared to those employing only men in the same roles, and how do films featuring female protagonists fare at the box office when compared to those featuring males.

Examining the top 100 worldwide grossing films of 2007, the study found that when women and men filmmakers have similar budgets for their films, the resulting box office grosses are also similar. In other words, the sex of filmmakers does not determine box office grosses.

In addition, when the size of the budget is held constant, films with female protagonists or prominent females in an ensemble cast earn similar box office grosses (domestic, international, opening weekend) and DVD sales as films with male protagonists. Because films featuring male protagonists have larger budgets, they earn larger box office grosses. However, the differences in box office grosses are not caused by the sex of the protagonist but by the size of the budget. Films with larger budgets generate larger grosses, regardless of the sex of the protagonist.