Number of women directors in Top 100 films rises, but lead roles drop 21%: Study

80 per cent of the films directed by women on the list earned the Stamp.

PUBLISHED MAR 1, 2024

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie attend the "Barbie" European Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on July 12, 2023 in London, England.

Los Angeles, California (Release): ReFrame, the initiative launched in 2017 by Sundance Institute and WIF to advance gender equity in the screen industries, and IMDbPro, has announced that 29 of the 100 most popular films of 2023 will be awarded the ReFrame Stamp for gender-balanced production. The findings of the 2023 ReFrame Report examined hiring across key roles on all 100 films based on IMDbPro data.

ReFrame is an initiative launched in 2017 by Sundance Institute and WIF to advance gender equity in the screen industries, and IMDbPro.

Since 2020, the number of films in the annual Top 100 that qualify for the ReFrame Stamp has not increased. Notably, despite the increase in women and gender-diverse directors hired on popular projects last year (from 14 films in 2022, to 20 in 2023), there was no corresponding increase in projects qualifying for the Stamp (in both years, 29 films qualified for the gender-balance award). Overall, 80 per cent of the films directed by women on the list earned the Stamp; only 16.25 per cent of the films directed by men qualified.

Key Findings of the Report Include:

19 films in the Top 100 were directed by women, and 1 by a non-binary director, an increase from 14 women directors in 2022.

9 of these films were directed by women of color, an increase from only 2/100 films in 2022.

There was notable growth for women in the Visual Effects Supervisor role, with 17 films hiring a woman over 8 in 2022.

Women cinematographers experienced a sharp drop-off in hiring on top films in 2023 -- three films on the list hired a woman as Director of Photography, a decrease from seven films in 2022. This role is the most male-occupied at 97 per cent male hires in 2023, followed by 1st Assistant Directors (91 per cent male) and Composers (90 per cent male).

ReFrame’s report notes a 21.74 per cent drop in lead roles for women, from 46 in 2022 to 36 in 2023. Similarly, research released by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative on February 20, 2024 found that the percentage of girls and women as protagonists (30 per cent) in the 100 top-grossing movies of 2023 was substantially lower than the percentage in 2022 (44 per cent).

29 of the analyzed films were exclusively released to streaming services, and 11 of these earned the Stamp (37.9 per cent). 71 films with theatrical releases were analyzed, and 18 of those earned the Stamp (25.35 per cent).

The ReFrame Stamp is awarded to features that hire women or individuals of other underrepresented gender identities/expressions (including those who are trans, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming) in at least 50 per cent of key roles roles, including Writer, Director, Producer, Lead, Co-Leads, Cinematographer, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Editor, Composer, Music Supervisor, VFX Supervisor, Line Producer, Unit Production Manager, 1st Assistant Director, Stunt Coordinator and Intimacy Coordinator. Additional points are awarded to productions that hire qualifying candidates of color in these key positions, and to those with overall gender parity in their crews.