Author: Jonathan Handel

September 15, 2015 12:00am PT by Jonathan Handel

 Courtesy of RexUSA

Shows with a female creator or EP were substantially more likely to employ female writers, directors or editors.

Prime-time television shows with at least one woman executive producer or creator featured more female characters, and employed substantially greater percentages of women as directors, writers, and editors, than programs with exclusively male executive producers or creators, according to the latest Boxed In report released Tuesday by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University.

Now in its 18th year, the report’s latest edition examined the 2014-15 television season and showed, for instance, that on broadcast programs with at least one female creator, women comprised 50 percent of writers. On programs with no female creators, women comprised 15 percent of writers. Strong relations were found as well between the presence of a female executive producer and the gender of writers, directors and editors.

“The findings suggest that creators and executive producers play an instrumental role in shifting the gender dynamics for both on-screen characters and other individuals working in powerful behind-the-scenes roles,” said Dr. Martha Lauzen, executive director of the center and author of the study.

In 2014-15, females accounted for 42 percent of all speaking characters and 27 percent of creators, executive producers, producers, directors, writers, editors, and directors of photography working on prime-time broadcast programs. Lauzen said that when compared with figures from recent years, these percentages reveal that women’s forward progress in television has stalled. “There is a perception gap between how people think women are faring in television, both on screen and behind the scenes, and their actual employment. We are no longer experiencing the incremental growth we saw in the late 1990s and 2000s.”

That’s consistent with a recent DGA study, which found little improvement in gender or racial diversity among scripted television directors. Similarly, the DGA found little diversity among first-time TV directors, indicating that on-ramps to the profession were blocked.

In addition to reporting figures for dramas, situation comedies, and reality programs airing on the broadcast networks, the SDSU study also includes figures for an expanded sample including programs appearing on basic and pay cable (A&E, AMC, FX, History, TNT, USA, HBO, Showtime), and Netflix. The study examined a random sample of one episode per series, in contrast to the DGA studies, which tabulated thousands of episodes.

Earlier this year, the ACLU called on several government agencies to investigate gender bias in motion picture and television directing. There’s been no apparent response as yet to the ACLU’s requests.

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Email: jh@jhandel.com

Jonathan Handel

jh@jhandel.com

September 10, 2015 6:06pm PT by Jonathan Handel

 Courtesy of DGA

First-time episodic directors are mostly white males.

The DGA, which recently issued its annual report on diversity in TV directing, has crunched the numbers extending back six years with a focus on first-time directing, and the results won’t surprise.

In the six-year period comprising the 2009-2010 through 2014-2015 television seasons, 82 percent of all first-time episodic directors were male and 86 percent were Caucasian, the guild announced Thursday.

Those figures, which are based on a total of 611 first-timers hired, are similar to the results of the most recent annual survey, which found first-time directors in the 2014-2015 season were 84 percent male and 84 percent Caucasian.

“You can’t increase diversity in the long term without focusing on entry into the business – we challenge the networks, studios and executive producers who make all the hiring decisions in episodic television to set diversity hiring goals,” said DGA president Paris Barclay. “It shouldn’t be that hard, because we’ve found that when women and minorities do actually get their first breaks, they’re even more likely to continue on in television directing than the rest of the pool.”

That latter comment is apparently based on DGA data that show 51 percent of female and 42 percent of minority first-time episodic television directors continued directing on other series after receiving their first jobs – higher than their male (33 percent) and Caucasian (36 percent) counterparts.

The guild did not supply data that looked at what percentage of first-timers went on to direct additional episodes in either the same or different series, and it was not clear why the released data focused on different series only. A guild spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

The DGA also took aim at the source of new directors, and the frequent practice of allowing a series writer or star to direct.

“As it stands now, nearly half of the new hires are writer/producers or actors,” added Barclay. “It may sound revolutionary, but those with the power to hire may want to consider bringing in more directors – people who are committed to directing as a career – instead of approaching the assignment as a perk. There are many willing, able, and experienced women and diverse directors out there – we encourage the employers to reach out and hire them.”

Backing up Barclay’s comment were DGA stats that show that 26 percent of first-time directors were writer/producer; 20 percent were actors; 8 percent cinematographers/camera operators; 5 percent editors; and 6 percent other crew.

Only about a quarter – 27 percent – of first-time hires were people who had previously directed in other genres including independent film, new media, commercials, music videos, student films and documentaries; and the remaining 8 percent was comprised of assistant directors, unit production managers and second unit directors.

The DGA did not provide data breaking out the effect of perk-based hiring on racial and gender percentages of first-time directors.

Bookmark The Hollywood Reporter’s Labor Page for the most in-depth coverage of entertainment unions and guilds.

Email: jh@jhandel.com

Jonathan Handel

jh@jhandel.com

Frank Micelotta – Invision

The LGBT panel at the TV Academy

From 1972’s Golden Globe-winning telefilm That Certain Summer to current hits Glee, Orange Is the New Black, Scandal and recently departed The New Normal, LGBT images on television have evolved dramatically. That much is a given. But as a panel Monday night at the TV Academy demonstrated, behind the kaleidoscope of change is the work of showrunners, talent, executives and advocates who have moved the business so far — and yet, see further progress still necessary.

Dan Bucatinsky — who won an Emmy for playing openly gay White House reporter James Novak on Scandal — praised the ABC drama’s showrunner, Shonda Rhimes, for allowing characters to unfold in a natural way. He quipped, though, that “when the most romantic thing you can say about your (onscreen) husband is that he called off the hit on you … .” The openly gay author and Grey’s Anatomy co-executive producer had warmer words for his real-life husband, writer-director Don Roos.

Next up was actor Wilson Cruz, who now serves as GLAAD’s national spokesman. The openly gay My So-Called Life alum pointed out that LGBT people of color are “practically invisible on television.”

STORY: LGBT TV Characters Down From 2012 Record, GLAAD Study Finds

The moderator — Stephen Tropiano, author of The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV — moved next to actress Amber Tamblyn, who was quizzed on her Two and a Half Men character’s sexuality. “Is Jenny gay? Or bi? I’m not qualified to answer; I’m not a writer (on the show).” She added, “I don’t know, but she loves to ___ ___.” (You’ll have to fill in the explicit blanks yourself.)

Panelist Paul Colichman, CEO of Here Media, talked about his company’s evolution from scripted dramas like the steamy Dante’s Cove — “It was really the gay Dark Shadows,” Colichman said, before quipping that Dark Shadows was itself pretty gay — to the upcoming From Here! on OUT. The latter is a self-referential scripted comedy, which Colichman described as a cross between Tootsie and Thirty Rock.

If Colichman represented the boardroom, the next panelist, Tony nominee Andrew Rannells, focused briefly on the bedroom, noting that on NBC’s short-lived The New Normal, his character was seen in bed with his on-screen male partner without it being an issue. Tropiano pointed out that when thirtysomething showed two men in bed together, the show lost a half-million dollars in advertising.

Sherri Saum told the approximately 300-person audience that she’s been enjoying her experience playing the lead on ABC Family’s The Fosters. “It’s been just love, love, pure love all the way!” she enthused. She added that she was moved by the stories of kids coming out because of the show.

STORY: Network Axes Fall Hard on Gay Characters

Another emissary from the executive ranks was Christy Dees, vp development at Bravo. She said that Queer Eye for the Straight Guy had relaunched the network a decade ago, and described the network’s demographic as “women and gay men — our Will & Gracers.”

Last on the panel but, as it turned out, far from least, was actor and transgender activist Laverne Cox of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. She spoke about her experiences playing a transgender character on the show — a trans person playing a trans character “is revolutionary, apparently!” — and the impact her character has had on viewers. She struck a celebrity-loving chord in the room as well: when the panel ended, Cox was mobbed by fans who waited patiently for a chance to have a picture taken with her.

Academy governors Daniel Evans III and Howard Meltzer organized the panel.

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