Record number of major Hollywood films had female directors in 2020 | Movie

A record number of female directors have taken on major Hollywood films in the past 12 months, according to an annual gender study that found an “amazing imbalance” when it comes to other off-camera roles.

San Diego State University’s annual Celluloid Ceiling report found that women made up 16% of directors working on the 100 top-grossing films in 2020, up from 12% in 2019 and just 4% in 2018.

Dr Martha Lauzen, founder of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, which is leading the survey, said the increase in the number of female directors leading major projects for two years running could show that the gender balance was finally improving.

“Even without the release of some of this year’s most anticipated big-budget female films – including Chloe Zhao’s Eternals and Cate Shortland’s Black Widow – the percentage of women working as directors has increased slightly in 2020,” he said. said Lauzen.

“The good news is that we have now seen two consecutive years of growth for women in leadership. This breaks a recent historical pattern in which the numbers tend to increase one year and decrease the following year. The bad news is that 80% of the best movies still don’t have a woman at the helm. “

Despite the improvement when it comes to directors, the study found that other off-camera roles were still dominated by men.

Lauzen added that “the imbalance in behind-the-scenes roles remains astonishing,” with nearly 70% of films employing fewer than five women in key positions of director, writer, executive producer, producer, editor or cinematographer.

The study, which has been underway for more than two decades, also attempted to take into account the on-demand digital audience, significantly increased by home orders from the Covid-19 pandemic. In this analysis, just under 10% of directors were women, compared to 16% of Best Box office hitmakers.

Despite the reduced release schedule due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced festivals to go digital and theaters to close, filmmakers such as Birds of Prey Cathy Yan and Wonder Woman 1984’s Patty Jenkins have taken charge. some of the biggest releases of the year.

This year’s Oscar race could see a woman winner of the Best Director Award in a category that has produced just five female nominees in its history.

Emerald Fennell (promising young lady), Kelly Reichardt (first cow), Zhao (Nomadland) and first-time director Regina King (One Night In Miami) are all considered potentials this year and if any of them they won, they would become just the second woman to win the award after Kathryn Bigelow for the Hurt Locker in 2010.

Ahead of last year’s awards season, the Guardian’s analysis found that the gender divide was still evident, especially when it came to Oscar-nominated films.

The Guardian discovered that Taron Egerton, Michael B Jordan and Adam Driver – three of the youngest actors who wanted to be the best actor Oscar last year – had never worked on a film directed by a woman.

Category favorite and future winner, Joaquin Phoenix, has only worked with a female director once in her 34-film career.