Major Hollywood studios have failed to live up to their promise to hire more female and minority directors, according to a new study.
Hollywood’s DEI hypocrisy is laid out in full view in a new report by USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative, which blasted the entertainment industry’s pledges to embrace diversity as “performative acts” and “not real steps towards fostering change.”
The study acknowledged that Barbie, directed Greta Gerwig, topped the box office for the year.
But “one film or one director are simply not enough to create the sea change that is still needed behind the camera,” the study’s authors warned. ”
Until studios, executives and producers alter the way they make decisions about who is qualified and available to work as a director on top-grossing films, there is little reason to believe that optimism is warranted.”
USC’s study, which was provided to Variety, found that of the 116 directors who were attached to the 100 top-grossing domestic films in 2023, just 14 of them, or 12.1 percent, were women.
That marked an improvement from the 9 percent in 2022. But the report noted the percentage of female filmmakers on top movies has not changed notably since 2018, when 4.5 percent of directors were women.
The study found only four “women of color” directed any of the 100 top-grossing films of 2023. They were: Nia DaCosta (Disney’s The Marvels), Fawn Veerasunthorn (Disney’s Wish), Adele Lim (Joy Ride), and Celine Song (the critical darling Past Lives).
Both The Marvels and Wish were major box-office disappointments for Disney.
Universal Pictures hired four female directors — the most of any major distributor. Lionsgate hired three while Disney hired two.
As Breitbart News reported, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative recently put out another study finding Hispanic and Latino actors and filmmakers are still being left behind in Hollywood.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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