2016 was a record year with female protagonists making up 29 percent of the top 100 highest-grossing films, according to a study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, 7 percent higher than the previous year.
Both the highest grossing film all year, Rogue One, and the highest grossing Best Picture nominee, Hidden Figures, were led by female protagonists. Studios are continuing to be reminded that female-led films are finding audiences that are hungry for more women in film. Films such as Arrival, Moana, and Hidden Figures all had critical and commercial success.
Martha Lauzen, the center’s director and author of the study spoke with Variety about the study, “We have now seen over and over and over that female characters, when done well, they’re good box office…They’re not being relegated to a single genre like romantic comedies…Their fate is not tied to the fortunes of a single genre, and that suggests a more stable pattern.”
Still though, women were shown less than their male counterparts in leadership roles and also were significantly less likely to be shown in a work environment.
The study also shows that the gender gap behind the camera is not getting better. In 2016, only 17 percent of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers in the top 250 domestic grossing films were women. This percentage is down two percentage points from last year and the same as it was in 1998.
Read more about the study here.
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