Survey Suggests Women Are Directing Major Films In Hollywood, Is B-Town Listening?

At a time when Bollywood is vastly dominated by male directors and filmmakers, this survey comes as a startling inspiration for the tinsel town to pause and learn. A study reported by The New York Times titled, ‘Inclusion in the Director’s Chair’ suggests a major boost in the number of women directing major films in Hollywood.

From pay parity to gender equality, female stars in the Indian film industry have been constantly grappling with various issues. But Hollywood, on the other hand, is setting an example. The analysis was conducted from 2007 till 2019 and over 1,300 top films were examined in the extensive report. According to the study, 12 out of the 113 directors in last year’s 100 top movies were women, which is a historic high of all times. The researchers at Annenberg discovered that just 4.8 percent of directors (on an average) were women, yet that spiked to 10.6 percent in 2019.

The breaking away of records and stereotypes was not just restricted to box-office collections but also spread across the opportunities accorded to women. Almost 15 percent of the directors of all films released by major production houses in 2020 (in Hollywood, of course) were women. Now, doesn’t that say a lot?

Here’s a list of the top-grossing films featuring female directors in 2019.

Anna Boden (Captain Marvel)

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Jennifer Lee (Frozen II)

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Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers)

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Jill Culton (Abominable)

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Greta Gerwig (Little Women)

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In India, however, the highest-grossing films were:

1. War – ₹474.79 crore

2. Kabir Singh – ₹379.02 crore

3. Uri: The Surgical Strike – ₹342.06 crore

The only movie directed by a female filmmaker that featured in the list of top-10 is Gully Boy, directed by Zoya Akhtar. Not-so-surprisingly, this is the same movie which was India’s solo nomination for the Oscars in 2019.

Doesn’t that say it all? Shouldn’t Bollywood encourage talented women in the industry to exhibit their directorial skills? Or, are we as an inherently patriarchal society, still not willing to take ‘directions’ from a woman?