Entertainment

Hollywood Accused of Gender Bias in Hiring Female Directors

Published

11 years ago

May 12, 2015

This photo released by Universal Pictures shows director/producer Elizabeth Banks on the set of “Pitch Perfect 2.” (Richard Cartwright/Universal Pictures/AP)

SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The ACLU is asking federal and California civil rights agencies to investigate what it calls “the systemic failure” to hire female directors in the entertainment industry.

The ACLU of Southern California and the national ACLU Women’s Rights Project said Tuesday they were moved to act after compiling statistical evidence of “dramatic disparities” in the hiring of women as film and television directors. This was bolstered, they said, by anecdotal accounts from more than 50 female directors.

“Hearing such an outcry about it, and when it’s backed up with statistics, it’s a pretty solid sign there’s discrimination going on,” Ariela Migdal, a senior attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, said in an interview Tuesday.

Fewer women are working as directors today than two decades ago, according to the ACLU. It cites research that shows women represented only 7 percent of directors on the 250 top-grossing movies last year. That is 2 percentage points lower than in 1998.

“Women directors simply aren’t getting a fair opportunity to succeed,” Migdal said. “Our hope is that the involvement of the civil rights agencies and calling it what it is — a civil rights issue — will lead to concrete solutions.”

Recent research by the University of Southern California’s Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative found a general perception in Hollywood that stories by or about women are more niche than mainstream, and therefore less profitable. A recent study commissioned by the Sundance Institute and the advocacy group Women in Film shows women have comprised fewer than 5 percent of directors of top films during the past two decades.

The executive director of Women in Film said in a statement Tuesday that the organization is proud its study “provided a statistical foundation to the ACLU in addressing systemic failure to hire women directors in the film and television industry.”

The statistics reflect the reports the ACLU gathered on its website from female directors “who were incredibly frustrated by the barriers they face in TV and film,” Migdal said.

Filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, whose 2011 Sundance documentary explores how media portrayals of women have led to fewer women in positions of power, said in a statement Tuesday that she’s personally witnessed discrimination against women in the entertainment industry. She said this was particularly true “against female directors, who are repeatedly told they’re not as qualified to direct as men and who are blacklisted for speaking out.”

The gender of the director matters because it influences what’s seen on screen, said Melissa Silverstein, founder of Women and Hollywood, which advocates for gender parity in the entertainment industry. Movies directed or written by women are 10 times more likely to show a female protagonist than those written and directed by men, she said.

“When we don’t see women reflected behind the scenes and on the screen, it basically tells us that we don’t count,” she said. “I want to live in a world where a little girl can dream of being a hero just as much as a little boy can because she sees multiple examples of heroic women. … We need examples of heroic women making changes in our lives so boys and girls can see that it’s not just a boy thing.”

The Directors Guild of America’s own research confirms the gender disparity. A study released in January shows men have made up 82 percent of first-time directors in episodic television over the past five years. Another DGA report found that only nine percent of guild-covered releases in 2013 were directed by women. That’s 18 female directors (including co-directors) out of 191 films.

Calls and emails seeking comment from the directors’ guild were not immediately returned.

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Activism

OP-ED: AB 1349 Puts Corporate Power Over Community

Since Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged in 2010, ticket prices have jumped more than 150 percent. Activities that once fit a family’s budget now take significant disposable income that most working families simply don’t have. The problem is compounded by a system that has tilted access toward the wealthy and white-collar workers. If you have a fancy credit card, you get “presale access,” and if you work in an office instead of a warehouse, you might be able to wait in an online queue to buy a ticket. Access now means privilege.

Published

18 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

By Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

As a pastor, I believe in the power that a sense of community can have on improving people’s lives. Live events are one of the few places where people from different backgrounds and ages can share the same space and experience – where construction workers sit next to lawyers at a concert, and teenagers enjoy a basketball game with their grandparents. Yet, over the past decade, I’ve witnessed these experiences – the concerts, games, and cultural events where we gather – become increasingly unaffordable, and it is a shame.

These moments of connection matter as they form part of the fabric that holds communities together. But that fabric is fraying because of Ticketmaster/Live Nation’s unchecked control over access to live events. Unfortunately, AB 1349 would only further entrench their corporate power over our spaces.

Power over live events is concentrated in a single corporate entity, and this regime operates without transparency or accountability – much like a dictator. Ticketmaster controls 80 percent of first-sale tickets and nearly a third of resale tickets, but they still want more. More power, more control for Ticketmaster means higher prices and less access for consumers. It’s the agenda they are pushing nationally, with the help of former Trump political operatives, who are quietly trying to undo the antitrust lawsuit launched against Ticketmaster/Live Nation under President Biden’s DOJ.

That’s why I’m deeply concerned about AB 1349 in its current form. Rather than reining in Ticketmaster’s power, the bill risks strengthening it, aligning with Trump. AB 1349 gives Ticketmaster the ability to control a consumer’s ticket forever by granting Ticketmaster’s regime new powers in state law to prevent consumers from reselling or giving away their tickets. It also creates new pathways for Ticketmaster to discriminate and retaliate against consumers who choose to shop around for the best service and fees on resale platforms that aren’t yet controlled by Ticketmaster. These provisions are anti-consumer and anti-democratic.

California has an opportunity to stand with consumers, to demand transparency, and to restore genuine competition in this industry. But that requires legislation developed with input from the community and faith leaders, not proposals backed by the very company causing the harm.

Will our laws reflect fairness, inclusion, and accountability? Or will we let corporate interests tighten their grip on spaces that should belong to everyone? I, for one, support the former and encourage the California Legislature to reject AB 1349 outright or amend it to remove any provisions that expand Ticketmaster’s control. I also urge community members to contact their representatives and advocate for accessible, inclusive live events for all Californians. Let’s work together to ensure these gathering spaces remain open and welcoming to everyone, regardless of income or background.