Living Archive: The Celluloid Ceiling Documenting 26 Years of Women’s Employment in U.S. Films
EXCERPT
Since 1998, the annual Celluloid Ceiling study has tracked women’s employment in some of the core crafts of filmmaking, including directing, writing, producing, editing, and cinematography. It is the longest-running and most comprehensive study of women’s behind-the-scenes employment available. The Living Archive compiles the findings from every year of the project in a single reference document. The takeaway from this report is that while the percentages of women working in the roles considered have risen over the last quarter century, many of those gains have been meager. The percentage of women working as editors on the 250 top grossing films increased by a single point from 20% in 1998 to 21% in 2023. The percentage of women working as producers climbed 2 points, from 24% in 1998 to 26% in 2023. The percentage of women working as cinematographers rose just 3 points over the last 26 years, from 4% in 1998 to 7% in 2023. The percentage of women writers increased 4 points from 13% in 1998 to 17% in 2023. The percentage of women working as executive producers rose 6 points from 18% in 1998 to 24% in 2023. Directors, who have received the lion’s share of attention on industry panels and in media reports, experienced the largest increase, climbing 7 percentage points from 9% in 1998 to 16% in 2023. The extended timeline highlighted in this report provides a sobering historical record of the unrelenting underemployment of women in the U.S. mainstream film industry.