Despite some ofs ‘buzziest’ blockbusters being helmed by women, they are still grossly underrepresented behind the camera, a new report has confirmed.
Written by the head of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, it issues a stark warning for the future of show business.
The Celluloid Ceiling has collated figures from behind the scenes of 2024’s top-grossing movies (those released at the box office) and has done so for the past 27 years.
And unfortunately, even in light of major wins for women in 2023 such as ’s astonishing , the opportunities remain few and far between.
– which examined 3,300 credits – found that women made up only 16% of directors in 2024’s top 250 movies. This decreased to 11% in the top 100 (down three per cent from 2023).
What’s more, as directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers in the top 100 films, women only made up 22% of these positions, down one per cent from 2023.
This is further proven by the bleak statistic that while 70% of films employed 10 or more men in the key behind-the-scenes roles, a poor 8% employed 10 or more women.
This is in a year that saw many impressive films helmed by women including, Rose Glass’ , Zoe Kravitz’s and Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera.
As the author said: ‘Women directed and wrote some of the year’s buzziest films, including The Substance and Babygirl. But their directors, Coralie Fargeat and Halina Reijn remain exceptions, not the rule.
‘The stunning successes enjoyed by high-profile women in the last few years – including Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion, and Chloé Zhao — have not translated into opportunities for greater numbers of women.
‘Visibility for a few has not generated employment for many.’
Men were overrepresented in every single field investigated, although women did make some gains.
Cinematographers were up five per cent on last year at 12% and writers were up three per cent to 20.
Elsewhere in the study, taking into account over a quarter of a century’s worth of research, Lauzen concluded that women remain ‘dramatically underrepresented in many key behind-the-scene roles’.
She added, via Variety: ‘These numbers are astounding. We could blame the current environment rocked by contraction and consolidation, but Hollywood writ large has dragged its feet on this issue for decades.’
This total lack of recognition for women in Hollywood has been perpetuated externally as well.
As recently as 2023, no female filmmakers were nominated in (a recurring issue).
And Hollywood stars such as (star of Halina Reijn’s Babygirl) have been vocal about uplifting female directors in the work they choose.
In a recent chat on , Nicole revealed she has worked with 15 female directors over seven years.
The 57-year-old actor said at a Variety : ‘As a woman in this industry, if you have a little power, if you have the chance to get something greenlit, if you have the chance to say who you want to direct it, if you go, “I want a female to do this,” that will help.’
Her sentiment was echoed by Kirsten Dunst as far back as 2016 who said it was ‘up to us as actresses to give the opportunity to first-time directors’ to .
In an interview with The Guardian last year Greta, who became the first-ever female Cannes jury president, reflected on the serious lack of female representation.
‘I’ve been making movies for almost 20 years. And this has never not been a question: increasing the number of female directors. In my lifetime it’s changed and gotten better.
‘Every year I cheer because there are more women directors. We’re not done yet, but we are certainly moving in the right direction. It’s all about the long arc of history.’
