Number of women in film has shrunk slightly in last two decades, says report 

The overall percentage of female crew members on top grossing films has barely increased between 1994 and 2013 and has in fact shrunk slightly, particularly in technical and creative roles, according to a report on gender in film.

The study, Gender within film crews by writer and producer Stephen Follows, found that in 1994 the average percentage of women crew members was 22.7% and by 2013 it had shrunk slightly to 21.8%.

However, whilst the overall percentage of women has not increased, the jobs performed by women have changed. The percentage of women has grown in Make-up, Art and Costume departments and decreased in the increasingly technical fields of editing and animation.
The three most significant creative roles (writer, producer and director) have all seen the percentage of women fall over the past 20 years.

The study covers the 100 highest grossing films at the US Box Office. It found 22.6% of the crew members on the 2,000 highest grossing films of the past 20 years were female. In 2013, women accounted for 21.8% of crew members on the 100 highest grossing films.

Of all the departments, the Camera and Electrical department is the most male, with only 5% women. The only departments to have a majority of women are Make-up, Casting and Costume, the study found. Visual Effects is the largest department on most major movies, but only has 17.5% women

Casting Directors and Costume Directors are mostly female, whereas all other key creative roles are overwhelmingly male, says the report. In 2013, less than 2% of the Directors of the top 100 grossing films were women. Out of the top 100 films of 2013, only one had a female Composer.

Musicals and Music-based films have the highest proportion of women in their crews at 27%. Sci-Fi and Action films have the smallest proportion of women, at 20% and 21% respectively.

All of the films that were most popular with men were written and directed by men. Some 42% of the films that were most popular with women were written by women. The films with the highest proportion of men in the audience were Action films. Over the past decade, the films with the highest percentage of men in the audience were United  93, V For Vendetta and Captain America. The films with the highest percentage of women in the audience were Penelope, Jane Eyre and Wild Child.

Picture credit: stockimages and www.freedigitalphotos.net.

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