Women directed 7 percent of the top 250 grossing films of 2010
Women wrote 10 percent of the top 250 grossing films of 2010
Women comprised 15 percent of all executive producers
Women comprised 24 percent of all producers
18 percent of all editors were women
2 percent of all cinematographers were women, the same as 2009.
3 of the top 100 grossing films in 2010 were directed by women.
There’s only been one female to win a Best Director Oscar (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)
Only 8 women have won an Oscar for Best Original screenplay
And yet …
Given a similar budget, movies created by female filmmakers gross similar box-office numbers to male filmmakers
Given a similar budget, movies featuring female protagonists gross similar box-office numbers as films with male protagonists
Females make up 55 percent of the movie-going population; there’s a higher percent of female movie-goers in every age group. In 2009, there were 9 million more female moviegoers than male moviegoers
In Television
Women accounted for 27% of all creators, executive producers, producers, directors, writers, editors, and directors of photography working.
Between 2004 and 2009, depictions of violence against women on television increased 120 percent on the networks.
Thanks to Seth Macfarlane, Fox is also highlighted for using violence against women as a punch line.
Oh, Seth McFarlane, you are such a national treasure.
Posted by: tamatha at March 8, 2011 11:32 AM
Ew. I've got a bad taste in my mouth now. And I just finished reading Michelle Rodriguez's interviews on Screen Junkies and Celebitchy about female roles, too.
Posted by: Jos at March 8, 2011 11:33 AM
And the two prevailing depictions of women in TV/movies are:
1. Desperate to get married at any cost
2. Nasty frigid career bitch
Posted by: PaddyDog at March 8, 2011 11:35 AM
In the interests of balance
isn't violence against anyone and everyone a standard Family Guy punchline?
babies
dogs
chickens
the disabled
Nazis
paedophiles
Posted by: PyD at March 8, 2011 11:35 AM
Bloody lazy, aren't they?
On a serious note, this is a sad state of affairs for 2011.
Very sad indeed.
That said, I like International Women.
I'm glad they have their own day.
Posted by: Odnon. at March 8, 2011 12:20 PM
I'm not questioning the 120% increase of violence against women. That's just bad. Even if it's caused by a greater number of shows on TV, it's not excusable.
I'm questioning the validity of a statistic, however, that paints an incomplete picture of the facts when taken alone. Does the statistic include all violence against women, which could include women abusing women, or just men committing acts of violence against women? Does it include violence against children, too, which would suggest that it's ok to hurt boys but not girls? Is there a similar statistic for overall rise of violence on TV or even rise of violence against men on TV?
It seems like this article is trying to blame the majority of male writers for inflicting violence against female characters where it could be a consistent rise in violence across the board. Shoot, without more statistics, it could even mask a more significant rise in violence against men, children, or even specific races, nationalities, and sexual identity on TV. I looked through those links, too, and they're all excerpts or summaries of studies, not the actual studies. I can't even tell for most of it how what controls were used to ensure statistical accuracy or they compiled their data.
The problem isn't who the violence is committed against, even if their is a significant gender disparity; the problem is violence for the sake of violence being viewed as entertainment. Stick to what the story needs to be told properly and TV and film will improve as a whole.
Although I really have been noticing that many tv show episodes are being written a lot by women alone: that's good eh?
And of course I don't think that we should ignore the organization Women in Film and Video that is doing such good work putting women front and center.
Speaking of how we depict women, I wonder if it's appropriate or just plan, unrelatedly unfortunate that "I Spit on Your Grave" just hit Netflix Instant...
Posted by: Markus at March 8, 2011 12:26 PM
Is it right for me to feel all stabby right about now?
You want sobering statistics, try being a black woman in Hollywood.
Posted by: Pookie at March 8, 2011 12:43 PM
I was just wondering the other day if there were any notable female cinematographers. As far as I can tell, no woman has ever won or even been nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar.
Posted by: Todd at March 8, 2011 12:47 PM
"You want sobering statistics, try being a black woman in Hollywood."
Tell us all about your experiences, Pookie.
Posted by: PaddyDog at March 8, 2011 12:57 PM
Well there's always stripping and waitressing at Hooters to fall back on.
Posted by: superasente at March 8, 2011 1:07 PM
"You want sobering statistics, try being a black woman in Hollywood."
Tell us all about your experiences, Pookie.
Posted by: PaddyDog at March 8, 2011 12:57 PM
Well, I can't speak as a black woman but as a black man I never see black women in any meaningful roles unless I go to cable. The networks refuse to show black women in leading roles. I think the last intact black family on t.v. was the cosby show.
Posted by: Pookie at March 8, 2011 1:35 PM
Some of those numbers are actually better than I expected (RE writing, directing).
RE the disparities, we've discussed this before: it reflects the fact that action movies make more money than romances, and that women will go to see action movies more so than men will go to see "romances" or chick flicks or whatever we want to call them. Although last year (2010), most of the highest grossing movies were kid films, and 5 of them were animated. So maybe women need to start doing more animated kid films if they want to get more director, writer and producer jobs.
Also, the 4th highest grossing movie last year was the Twilight movie, so that's kind of a chick flick. It was directed by a male (though the first Twilight movie was directed by a woman).
It's the market. You can gripe about it, or you can sign on and ride that motherfucker as far as you can. If women purposely stay in the chick flick ghetto, they're always gonna be far behind men in terms of influence in the business.
As for depictions of violence against women on TV, at least 50% has got to be the CSI and Law & Order franchises alone. At least.
Posted by: Slash at March 8, 2011 1:56 PM
I would argue that women's made/directed/written movie are probably more profitable- they're usually smaller in budget. No production/directing/writing type is near the Michael Bay, Tony Scott, Brett Ratner sets that's for sure. Those movie are lucky to break even.
I'd love someone to open a studio making only $5-20 million quality movies. Just say up front ot the actors and directors, here's your budget nobody get more than $1.5mn and show us your talent. I bet they'd recoup costs almost every time and once in a while have a runaway success.
Posted by: bananapanda at March 8, 2011 1:58 PM
I'm going to call Pookie out here on his exaggeration - yes, I am. Intact black families on basic tv since The Cosby Show, just off the top of my head:
Everybody Hates Chris
My Wife and Kids
There are other shows that come to mind without "intact" families, like Bernie Mac show and All of Us.
Posted by: Sara Tonin at March 8, 2011 2:40 PM
I think the last intact black family on t.v. was the cosby show.
Your general point isn't wrong, but... "Family Matters," "Fresh Prince," "Bernie Mac," "My Wife and Kids," and others have all existed on networks in the last 19 years since Cosby ended.
Not that it's not a problem, but let's be accurate.
Posted by: Justin at March 8, 2011 2:45 PM
Hence the fact that Hollywood can't and won't ever be the moral compass of the world.
Despite what Mr. Clooney wants to tell us about how progressive they are...
Posted by: Some Guy at March 8, 2011 2:52 PM
Maybe I didn't make myself clear, I'm not talking about some jive ass comedy. I'm talking about drama, not some buffoon shit.
Posted by: Pookie at March 8, 2011 2:55 PM
Then, yes, Pookie, you did not make yourself clear. And if you're talking about employment and creativity as an issue - then comedy fills the bill as much as drama.
Posted by: Sara Tonin at March 8, 2011 3:00 PM
And besides - the answer to "the situation sucks for [fill in the blank] demographic" shouldn't be "it sucks worse for [other demographic]". Because a study will come out a little later in the year about minorities in the industry, and we'll all express our discontent on that issue then. It's not like this is an unimportant issue either.
The flip side is - I think things are improving. I think it's going more slowly than we'd like, but I think things are improving, and that the current generation is offering women the chance to develop as artists behind and in front of the camera.
Posted by: Sara Tonin at March 8, 2011 3:18 PM
I heard about something called the Bechdel Test today, and it's pretty interesting. Right now, I can't think of a single movie in which there are
a) two named female characters
b) who speak with eachother
c) about something other than men
does this international women's thing really only last for one
day? ... hope its not a month.
Posted by: snake at March 8, 2011 4:45 PM
does this international women's thing really only last for one
day? ... hope its not a month.
Posted by: snake at March 8, 2011 4:45 PM
I hope so snake, I was already tired of it by lunch time.
Posted by: Pookie at March 8, 2011 5:34 PM
Considering that a high percentage of all females I know want to make babies and stay home to raise them this list doesn't surprise me.
Posted by: annie711pm at March 8, 2011 7:51 PM
"Considering that a high percentage of all females I know want to make babies and stay home to raise them this list doesn't surprise me."
Those monsters.
Posted by: becks at March 8, 2011 8:32 PM
It's international women's day-- yeah, because a MAN decided it should be. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Posted by: Mr. Stitch at March 8, 2011 10:08 PM
In all honesty, the only statistic that bothers me is the lack of strong female characters in the films and shows. I mean, if you could show me that 55% of ASPIRING directors are women, but are just shut out, then it'd be a problem. Show me some talented female cinematographers tearing up the festival circuit, but not being offered substantial jobs.
However, the Bechdel Test most certainly IS alarming. The only thing I like about it is that I heard about the test while I was in pre-production for a short I wrote and directed, which had three named female characters (in a core cast of six) who all passed the test. They had defined inter-relationships, careers and personalities too.
Is it wrong that when I heard about the test and saw that my film passed it without trying to that I screamed "Suck it, Bechdel Test!!"?
Seriously, everything I write will feature strong female characters because, quite simply, there are more talented aspiring actresses than actors out there and because I find women far more interesting than men. And I'm legitimately surprised that that's somehow a rarity.
Posted by: Steve at March 8, 2011 10:59 PM
Facts:
Indiewire: is only reprinting the results from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film's website. This does not make them a valid source.
Media Report to Women: Information compiled by Shelia Gibbons she used the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film for her compilation. Once again making this an invalid additional source.
The only real source is the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. The above results are according to the study by Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D. She published the above results in 2009 not in 2011. One woman's claim does not make it a reality. Please take into account that she does not continuing to get millions in donations to her (she founded the Center) if she reports that all is even and fair in the entrainment business. I prefer unbiased reports.
Also lack of any gender in any job does not equal discrimination. It has been consistently shown that women receive equal pay and position to men for decades. And according to multiple studies over the last decade women have been steadily surpassing men in pay and position in the professional world. This is due mainly to the large and very vocal number of female organizations who continue to claim (falsely)that women need ever more rights and freedoms then men.
Many organizations that once were needed and were important have long ago accomplished their original missions. Now they produce complete fictions of reality to continue getting money so they all still have a job. Many of the groups, centers, organizations make millions a year with their top staff making six figure salaries.
Do your own research, Google, libraries, take a look around your town. The truth is right there for all who are willing to see.
Posted by: Andy at March 8, 2011 11:17 PM
Black women get regularly shut out of these kinds of discussions because
a) all the blacks are men and
b) all the women are white.
Simone, me too. The likes of him are around on that Daniel-Craig-crossdressing- clip on youtube, too, vomiting into the comment section there with such bland disregard of reality that it makes me think that parallel universes indeed do exist, and they live in one.
Posted by: Rooks at March 9, 2011 8:03 AM
Not saying that women wanting to stay home and be mothers makes them monsters. My point is simply that I do not believe there are legions of women trying to break into films; are there many little girls dreaming of growing up to be cinematographers? No, at this point in time, most females still aspire to be teachers, nurses, mothers. (All noble, vital professions.)
Posted by: annie711pm at March 9, 2011 10:27 AM
Thank god this day is over. If there ever was an international men's day the women would make theirs into a whole month.
It probably wont ever happen though because us men can't be bothered to dedicate a day just to make ourselves feel better. We have better things to do.
Like actual work.
Posted by: Bob Dole at March 9, 2011 4:24 PM
Andy may make you angry, and I know I have a sickening Devil's Advocate disease, but this study is still meaningless. Ignore everything Andy said for a moment. If I canvas all 400 or so of my facebook friends, of which I have more female than male on average, and ask all of them
1) do you work in the film industries?
2) have you ever wanted to work in the film industries, but ended up somewhere else?
3) do you work in an industry that could have crossover work with film (i.e. writing, journalism, research, photography)?
4) have you ever wanted to work in a field a la question 3?
the answers would actually shed light on this study, and should have been asked in conjunction with this. I hypothesize based on knowing all of these people from all walks of life, age groups, and areas of the country (some from outside the country) that is most likely the primary film making nation in the world that there would be more life-long interest in being in the film industry on the whole from the males. While I would also not that question 3 and 4 would probably solicit more "yes's" from females that answered "no" to 1 & 2. Other factors like gender conditioning would then need to be addressed -- if most men want to be filmmakers but only 20% of the women, that makes the conclusions of this study worthless but another study about why that is the case extremely relevant.
We are, in fact, different as genders, and without addressing what may be a general lack of interest on the part of women to be in a certain field, then a study is irresponsible and manipulative at worst, and just plain not well-done at best.
Oh, Seth McFarlane, you are such a national treasure.