Number of female directors in the movie business falls

The number of female directors working in Hollywood today has fallen, according to data in a new report.

The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film has found that a mere seven percent of the top 250 films of 2016 were directed by women.

That’s two percent down from last year’s figure.

Speaking to Variety, Martha Lauzen, the center’s executive director, revealed her sadness at the figures.

“I would say I’m dumbfounded,” she said.

“It is remarkable that with all of the attention and talk over the last couple of years in the business and the film industry, the numbers actually declined. Clearly the current remedies aren’t working.

“The industry has shown little real will to change in a substantive way. For real change to occur we may need some intervention by an outside source.”

The findings showed a general decline in women working in the film and TV industries.

According to the report, 35 percent of movies employed no women in key roles such as writing, producing, editing, cinematography and directing.

Meanwhile, women made up just 24 percent of producers working on last year’s top 250 movies, and 13 percent of writers, though that figure was an increase of two percent from 2015.

Films made by women in 2016 included ‘Money Monster’ helmed by Jodie Foster, Sharon Maguire’s UK hit ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’, Ava DuVernay’s celebrated documentary ‘The 13th’, Mira Nair’s ‘Queen of Katwe’ and ‘American Honey’, directed by Andrea Arnold.

Movies directed by women tended towards employing more women in other roles, the report also found.

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