2018 was the year we saw a record number of women elected to Congress. However, we’re missing that same energy behind the camera in the film industry.
While 2018 marked the beginning of drastic change in terms of representation in Hollywood, there is still a long way to go. In survey of the top 250 films of 2018 at the domestic box office, it is revealed that women made up only a minuscule 8 percent of the directors involved. This represents a decrease a women directors, as last year, this amount was logged in at 11 percent. This comes on the heels in which 2018 saw female directors break glass ceilings. Ava DuVernay became the first Black woman to have a film cross $100 million at the domestic box office with her adaptation of the children’s classic, A Wrinkle In Time. In case anyone needed to be reminded, it also made DuVernay woman of color to direct a live-action film with a budget of over $100 million. DuVernay is also one of the spearheads for more female directors, as her OWN drama, Queen Sugar, is first television show to feature female directors for every episode of the series.
However, this sobering report comes courtesy of The Celluloid Ceiling, an annual study released by Dr. Martha Lauzen that documents the amount of women that served as directors, writers, producers, editors and cinematographers on the top 250 domestic grossing films of the year.
However, there is a silver lining. According to the report, women writers made up 16 percent of the top 250 films this year. This represents an increase from last year, when it was 11 percent. In addition, editors and cinematographers made up 21 percent and 4 percent of women, respectively. 21 percent of women were counted as executive producers, while 26 percent were counted as producers. While this counts as progress, these are still small numbers in the grand scheme of things and reminders that we still have a long way to go to see equality for women behind the camera.
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