New report finds abysmal diversity numbers among film directors in 2017
Organizations like Time's Up are fighting long, hard battles against systemic discrimination in Hollywood. And a new study on the state of diversity among film directors shows not only how much work lies ahead, but how desperately needed these movements for change are.
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) released its annual inclusion report for 2017 on June 21, and the numbers leave a lot to be desired.
The study found that a mere 16% of women directed the 651 feature films accounted for by the DGA, which run the gamut from big budget blockbusters to modest indie productions. When it came to movies that grossed over $250,000 at the box office, that number plummeted even further down to 12%.
Though the data on ethnic diversity is less complete, numbers showed that of all 145 directors of domestic films with that made at least $250,000, directors of color only made up 10%. That means 88% of those directors were white, with the remaining 2% being labeled as "other." While previous four years have shown very similar numbers, the percentage of directors of color peaked at 17% in 2013.
These drastically low numbers (which are, at best, marginal improvements from last year) feel counterintuitive to the increased cultural conversation around diversity in Hollywood over the past year, with record-breaking box office successes like Patti Jenkins' Wonder Woman and Jordan Peele's Get Out. But these kind of reports are important reminders that systems still need to catch up to the cultural shift underway.
“It’s outrageous that we’re once again seeing such a lack of opportunity for women and people of color to direct feature films. Our new study shows that discriminatory practices are still rampant across every corner of the feature film business,” DGA President Thomas Schlamme said in a statement.
“These numbers hit home how the chips are stacked against women and people of color. We dug into our proprietary data to see if we could isolate areas that were bright spots or especially problematic. But as we kept going, it became clear that no matter how you slice the 2017 numbers, the outcome is virtually the same," he continued.
While some might expect the world of indie films to at least be more inclusive or open to taking chances on new directors, the numbers proved this to be false. "From financing and hiring, to distribution and agent representation – every aspect of the entire system disadvantages women and people of color," said Schlamme.
These numbers are disheartening, to say the least. Certainly, female and non-white directors have more than proven themselves in 2017 and long before -- despite incredible odds working against them. The DGA inclusion report once again demonstrates how systemic gatekeeping is to blame for the lack of diverse directors, rather than any lack of available talent.
For its part, DGA made clear that it was taking steps to fight these unacceptable numbers. Schlamme stated that the organization recently tried pushing new industry policies on this front, including advocating for affirmative action requirements in hiring practices, like the Rooney Rule.
"But [the industry] wouldn’t budge on the issue. Neither will we – we are committed to keeping at this for as long as it takes,” he said.
“Change is long overdue,” Schlamme concluded. “Inclusion is a fight we’ve been fighting with the industry for four decades now, and it’s been an uphill battle to get them to change."
If you want to be part of the solution and change Hollywood through what you choose to support, check out our incomplete list of recent and upcoming women-led TV and film here.
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
