Hollywood failing to keep up with rapidly increasing diversity, UCLA study warns
Women enjoyed proportionate representation in just one category: On broadcast TV, they appeared as leading actors in about 52 percent of comedies and dramas in 2011–12. But they fared worse elsewhere. In fact, in the study's single greatest example of disparity, women were underrepresented by a factor of 12-to-one as film directors. As film writers, they were underrepresented by a factor of three-to-one. In the other film and TV categories, they were represented at only 50 percent to 70 percent the expected rate.
Prominent talent agencies contribute little to promoting diversity in Hollywood, according to the study. Three dominant talent agencies represented more than two-thirds of the writers, directors and lead actors in the 172 leading films in 2011. Yet less than 10 percent of this talent was minority, according to the study.
In broadcast television, the same three agencies represented more than two-thirds of show creators and more than half of the leads. Yet minorities accounted for only 1.4 percent of these creators and 5.5 percent of these leads during the 2011–12 broadcast season.
In cable, the situation was only slightly better. The three agencies represented more than two-thirds of show creators and nearly half of all leads, but only 6.1 percent of these creators and 13 percent of these leads were minorities.
"There are certain major projects that you just don't get to be part of unless you have a connection with one of these top agencies," Ramon said. "Or maybe you get to be a part of it, but you're not going to be the lead. So the tendency of top agencies to pack their talent rosters with whites really restricts access to opportunities for underrepresented groups."
Industry awards proved no better at reflecting diversity. No minority-directed film from 2011 won an Oscar, and no film with a minority lead actor won an Oscar, the study shows. More than 90 percent of the Oscar-winning films in 2011 had male directors, and more than 80 percent of Oscar-winning films featured male leads. Exceptions included "The Help" and "The Iron Lady."
The situation was only slightly better with TV awards. Only 5 percent of Emmy-winning comedies and dramas on broadcast TV in 2011–12 were minority-created, and a single show — "Grey's Anatomy" — accounted for that entire share. (The show's creator is Shonda Rhimes, an industry whiz who happens to be African-American.) On cable TV, no minority-created comedies or dramas won Emmy awards.
Programming created by women fared better, but only slightly. Of the Emmy-winning broadcast comedies and dramas, 20 percent were created by women; about 7 percent of the Emmy-winning cable programs were created by women.
The new report documents a similar phenomenon in film: Those with a relatitively high amount of minority involvement (21–30 percent) on screen posted the highest median global box office receipts ($160.1 million). In contrast, films with the least minority involvement (10 percent or less) posted much lower box office receipts ($68.5 million).
The findings come at a time of increasing diversity in the U.S., with minorities actually outpacing whites as consumers of entertainment. Even though minorities account for 36.3 percent of the overall U.S. population, they represent 44.1 percent of frequent moviegoers and tend to watch more hours of television each week than white viewers. Meanwhile, California is expected to become a majority–minority state this year, and forecasts predict the entire nation will follow by 2042.
"The situation is better than it was in the 1950s, but Hollywood is falling further and further behind," Hunt said. "America is infinitely more diverse than it was. So the gap has gotten bigger between where America is going and where the industry is going."
Hunt is the author of the "Hollywood Writers Report," an ongoing analysis for the Writers Guild of America focusing on employment, access and earnings among television and film writers. He was also the principal investigator on "The African American Television Report," released by the Screen Actors Guild in 2000. In 1993, he served as a media researcher for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights hearings on diversity in Hollywood.
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