Films Directed by Women, People of Color Plateaued in 2024, Study Finds

Little progress has been made for women and people of color as directors in Hollywood, according to a new study he conducted University of Southern California‘s Annenberg Inclusion initiative.

In a year that had been hoped to signal recovery after the writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023, 2024 saw no major changes for the female directors of the highest-grossing films, according to the study. Of the 112 directors, 13.4 percent were women, roughly equivalent to 12.1 percent in 2023. However, some progress has been made since 2007, when 2.7 percent of board members were women.

“The film industry has proven that it can increase the proportion of female directors and maintain this progress,” said Dr. Stacy Smith. “However, there is much more room for improvement. There are still far fewer female directors than women, and they 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.”

Last year, 24.1 percent of directors were also from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group, which is equivalent to 22.4 percent in 2023 but well above the 12.5 percent in 2007. The high point for underrepresented directors remains in 2021 when 28.6 percent of managers were people of color. Additionally, 5.3% of managers were women of color, according to the report.

The report found that none of the major studios have released at least 10 films by women of color in the past 18 years. Universal and Walt Disney Studios have released the most films with female directors of color since 2007, with seven and six, respectively.

The study also looked at critic review scores over 18 years, and found that while films with male directors had higher critic scores than films directed by female directors in 2024, there was no difference over the 18 years. There were also no differences in critics’ scores in 2024 or across the study’s time frame for underrepresented directors. According to the report, women of color actually had the highest average and average critics’ scores over the 18 years it was evaluated, compared to white women and men, as well as underrepresented men.

“These findings clearly indicate that women of color bring skills and talents to the craft of filmmaking that result in high-quality productions,” Smith added. “Yet, they still receive the fewest opportunities to work behind the camera on top films. It is fair to conclude that talent and qualifications are not the primary basis for hiring decisions.