reports and studies
The Demographics of Movie Stardom: Who Sells the Most Tickets, Gets the Best Reviews
What makes a box office winner? Conventional wisdom, inferred by the business decisions of studios and distributors, is that movies starring white male protagonists — the most relatable of human beings — are the most reliable guarantor of high ticket grosses. As such, those are the films in which companies place the lion’s share of […]
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Independent Film Slowly Moves Toward Gender Parity, Study Finds
Independent film has always been seen as faster to give opportunities to people who are historically excluded, and a new report from San Diego State’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film indicates that continues to be the case. In Indie Women, the center surveyed 754 features screened at 20 major American […]
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Culture Shift: Asian Representation in Movies Rose 12.5 Percent in 16 Years, Study Finds
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has released its signature comprehensive report on the diversity of movies in front of and behind the camera. Analyzing the 100 highest-grossing movies at the box office each year since 2007, AI2’s sample size has now reached 1,600 titles and 69,858 […]
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Women Star in Majority of the Most Popular TV Shows, Study Finds
For the first time since the Hollywood gender parity coalition ReFrame was formed in 2017 by the Sundance Institute and Women in Film, the majority of the most popular shows on television and streaming were toplined by women. According to the ReFrame Report on Gender & Hiring in TV, 108 (54 percent) of the top […]
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Latin Representation in TV and Film Reverts to 2019 Levels, Study Finds
Latin representation in television and film has dropped to 2019 levels, according to a new diversity report from the Latino Donor Collaborative, a nonprofit that researches the Latin community in the U.S. According to its 2022 report, the percentage of Latin stars, co-stars, showrunners and directors all decreased from 2021 to 2022. Last year saw […]
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Intersectionality and Overseas Content Drove Diverse Film and TV in 2021 and 2022 (Study)
The rising popularity of overseas content is partially behind an expansion of diverse representation on film and television, according to the new Entertainment Diversity Progress Report released today by Luminate from the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas. (Luminate, the new name for the collection of data brands formerly known as Nielsen/MRC Data […]
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Racial and Gender Diversity in Theatrical Film Regresses to 2019 Levels (Study)
The regression from the so-called racial reckoning of 2020 can be seen in representation and inclusion in film as well, according to the latest UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report. For this year’s study, in separating employment data between theatrical and straight-to-streaming features released in 2022, “the gains in diversity for theatrical releases melted away,” researchers found, […]
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Men Out-Talk Women Almost Three to One in the Movies, Study Finds
In the movies, women are talking (as Mark Wahlberg put it) — but not as much as the men. Male-speaking characters outnumbered their female counterparts 63 percent to 37 percent in the 100 highest-grossing domestic films of 2022, according to the latest “It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World” report from San Diego State’s Center for the […]
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Movies Starring Women of Color Hit 16-Year High in 2022, Study Finds
The latest Hollywood diversity study actually has some positive news to report: Popular movies starring women of color hit a 16-year high in 2022, according to USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. The research group’s annual breakdown of the demographics of movie leads has added the latest yearly batch of 100 domestic top-grossing films, making “Inequality Across […]
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Latest Diversity Reports From USC, SDSU Reveal Room for Improvement Behind the Camera
As 2023 dawns, two major academic organizations that measure the progress of inclusion in Hollywood are looking back at the track record for 2022 in film. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s latest “Inclusion in the Director’s Chair” report analyzes the gender and race/ethnicity of the directors behind last year’s 100 highest-grossing movies in the U.S., […]
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Study: Latino Immigrant Representation on TV Decreases, Black and API Immigrants Up (Exclusive)
Representation of immigrant characters continues to be a work in progress, according to the third study between the immigrant culture change organization Define American and the USC Norman Lear Center’s Media Impact Project. Over the past two television seasons, representation of Black and Asian Pacific Islander (API) immigrant characters at least doubled, but that coincided […]
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Study Finds Racial Disparity in Writers’ Compensation and Showrunner Opportunities
In 2019, the upstart Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity, a diverse consortium of working television writers, released its first official project, the Behind the Scenes: The State of Inclusion & Equity in TV Writing report, which surveyed 282 peers — approximately a tenth of all staffed writers at the time — about the barriers […]
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