The Celluloid Ceiling
When Kathryn Bigelow won the Best Director Oscar in 2010, it was thought that the “Bigelow Effect” would prove a watershed moment in the recognition of women in Hollywood. However, a recent study into women in behind-the-scenes roles shows that women are still vastly underrepresented.
The study analysed 2,636 people working on the 250 top-grossing (Hollywood) films of 2011 and found:
***The percentage of women directors has declined since 1998 while the percentages of women writers and producers have increased slightly. The percentage of women executive producers, editors and cinematographers have remained the same.
***94 percent of the top films of 2011 were directed by men.
***Women made up 14 percent of writers in the top films.
***77 percent of the major films of 2011 had no female writers.
***Women made up 25 percent of all producers on the top 250 films of 2011.
***Women made up 20 percent of editors in the biggest films of 2011, but 76 percent of those films had no female editors.
***There were fewer female cinematographers than directors on the top films of 2011: only 4 percent of cinematographers were women.
Source: Martha M. Lauzen, “The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 250 Films of 2011”, Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, USA
