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Number of women working behind-the-scenes in Hollywood is still dropping, new study finds

Rob Moran

Hollywood's gender diversity debate may have been the focus of prominent articles and award acceptance speeches recently, but the talk hasn't led to any real change, a new study has found.

Women made up only 17 per cent of all behind-the-scenes roles on the 250 highest-grossing films at the US box office in 2016, according to the report.

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We are officially in awards season and some stars shine extra bright at the Golden Globes while other celebrities, not so much.

That figure is a 2 per cent drop from last year, and sees the number return to 1998 levels.

The study, the annual 'Celluloid Ceiling Report' from San Diego State University's Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film, noted a drop for female representation in a range of production roles.

Women made up just 7 per cent of directors, 17 per cent of executive producers, 24 per cent of producers, 17 per cent of editors, and 5 per cent of cinematographers – all drops of around 2 to 5 per cent from last year's figures.

The only positive change was in the number of female writers, which rose to 13 per cent from 2015's 11 per cent.

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35 per cent of last year's top-grossers had "zero or one woman" in any behind-the-scene roles, the study found.

"I would say I'm dumbfounded," Martha Lauzen, the study's author told Variety about her findings.

"It is remarkable that with all 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," she said.

The figures come despite a prominent push calling for greater opportunities for women in the industry.

High-profile actresses including Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Chastain, Natalie Portman and Kristen Stewart are among the stars who've recently criticised Hollywood's traditional male domination.

A much-publicised cover feature for The New York Times from veteran journalist Maureen Dowd last year shed further light on how even established female filmmakers struggle to get work in the industry.

The problem received such attention that the US's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission launched a probe into the industry's hiring practices, an investigation that's currently still undergoing.

"Young female filmmakers today do exist, they graduate [from top film schools], they're good – and then they don't get hired. Why?" Streep asked in an interview last year while promoting the film Suffragette.

While the study only covers blockbuster films in the US, the issue, obviously, isn't unique to Hollywood.

In July, Screen Australia announced a $3 million 'express lane' for women in the industry, in a bid to overcome decades of poor representation in directing, producing and scriptwriting roles.

58 female-led projects received development funding behind the initiative, including Rachel Griffiths' upcoming biopic about Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne and an adaptation of Nakkiah Lui's play Kill The Messenger.