Hollywood has a major diversity crisis and this study proves it.
The Comprehensive Anneberg Report on Diversity, conducted by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Anneneberg School for Communication and Journalism, examined 109 movies released by major studios and their art-house divisions in 2014.
Here’s a breakdown of the study results:
- Female directors are outnumbered by male directors 6 to 1 in movies and TV shows.
- 28.3 percent of all speaking roles were held by non-white actors, which is nearly 10 percent below the United States population representation of those groups.
- Women held just 33.5 percent of all speaking parts.
- 28.9 percent of all writing positions.
- Only 22.6 percent of all series creators were females.
The study examined 305 TV and digital series across 31 different networks and streaming services in addition to 11,000 speaking roles, 10,000 directors, writers and show creators, and more than 1,500 media executives.
“This is no mere diversity problem. This is an inclusion crisis,” said professor Stacy L. Smith, founding director of the MDSC Initiative. “Over half of the content we examined features no Asian or Asian-American characters, and over 20% featured no African-American characters. It is clear that the ecosystem of entertainment is exclusionary.”
“This is a landmark study,” Smith continued. “No one has looked from CEO to every speaking character across film, television, and digital content. The results speak to the landscape of media and the erasure of different groups on screen and behind the camera.”
This news comes after the Oscars backlash that had many A-list actors boycotting the Academy Awards for the lack of diversity.
