Female film-makers made up 19% of top Hollywood jobs in 2015

A new study has shown that women made up just 19 per cent of the top behind-the-scenes jobs in Hollywood in 2015.

The report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film looked at the gender of all directors, writers, producers, editors and cinematographers and found that the figure had risen just 2 per cent from 2014. However the figure matched that achieved in 2001, showing little progress.

The study found that women were most visible in producer roles (26 per cent) but struggled to be seen as directors (9 per cent) and cinematographers (6 per cent). This is despite two of 2015’s biggest films being directed by women.

Fifty Shades of Grey, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, made $570 million (Dh2 billion) worldwide while Pitch Perfect 2, directed by Elizabeth Banks, made $287 million globally.

“It’s very easy to be mislead by a few high-profile cases,” Martha M Lauzen, who oversaw the report, said. “Easy to name a few high-profile women directors. And then the assumption everything is OK and things have changed, which is why I think counting the numbers of women’s employment is so important. I would hope it grounds the conversation in reality.”

Traditionally the report focuses on the top 100 highest grossing films of any given year but for the first time, it was expanded to look at the top 500. While the top 100 films had women in just 16 per cent of production roles, the other 400, which included more indie movies, had a more representative 21 per cent.

In 2016, there are a number of high-profile films directed by women that will hope to redress the balance, including Kung Fu Panda 3, Money Monster, Bridget Jones’s Baby and Underworld 5.