Gender-balanced hiring dips in TV production, ReFrame report on the 200 most popular shows
Distributors like Paramount, NBCU, Apple TV+ and more received lower scores than in previous years.
As diversity takes a hit after gaining progress in the past few years, a new study shows the gender divide in hiring for TV production in front of and behind the camera.
According to a new report on gender and hiring in TV presented by IMDbPro and ReFrame — an initiative of Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles (WIF) — there's been reduced opportunity for women and all underrepresented genders (this includes trans people of all genders, nonbinary and gender nonconforming individuals, however, they choose to identify).
Since 2018, ReFrame has evaluated staffing on scripted television shows — using data from partner IMDbPro — and awards its stamp to those who meet its criteria for gender-inclusive hiring in key positions in the cast and crew, such as showrunners, writers, directors, executive, and line producers, leads, co-leads and department heads. Additional points are given to productions that hire women of color in those positions and to shows with overall gender parity in crews. To determine this year's roster of recipients, ReFrame pulled IMDbPro data on the 200 most popular narrative TV and streaming shows with an entire season of episodes released during Emmys eligibility from June 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024.
The new report details a decrease in lead roles, falling to 41% compared to 54% in last year's report. While the dip is alarming the report highlights ReFrame and IMDbPro award a Stamp to recognize gender-balanced hiring to 77 of the 200 most popular TV and streaming series of 2023-24 (or 38.5%). The total shows a dip of 8.5% from 2022 – 2023 and 20% down from the peak in 2020 – 2021.
Those shows awarded a stamp of approval this year include Emmy nominees for best comedy series Abbott Elementary, Hacks, The Bear, and Reservation Dogs. The stamp recognizes gender-based hiring and shows the potential for productions to achieve gender equity.
"Positive trends in mitigating bias often flatline or roll back after a period of progress," ReFrame founders Keri Putnam and Cathy Schulman explain in a joint statement. "It's a testament to the efforts of many across the field that there are nearly twice as many Stamped series this year as when we began in 2018, but the drop of 20 percent over the last four years indicates a troubling trend. If this pace of reduction continues, all the progress made in diversifying the talent-shaping media in the U.S. will be erased in two years."
The new data also includes a company report card determining the percentage of series from each distributor that meets the ReFrame Stamp criteria. Except for Amazon MGM Studios, distributors like Paramount, NBCU, Apple TV+ and more received a lower percentage of gender-balanced series than in 2020 – 2021, the first year of the report.
The report's findings also show the impact of women and women of color in key roles. All 13 series in the top 200 with women of color showrunners earned a ReFrame Stamp, while nearly 60 percent of Stamped series employ women as showrunners compared to 32.5 percent of series overall.
All shows that received the stamp are available on ReFrame's website.