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The Celluloid Ceiling Report 2014 – Jennifer Merin reports

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The Celluloid Ceiling is the longest-running and most comprehensive study of women’s behind-the-scenes employment in film available. Currently in its 17th year, this annual study is helmed by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University.

This year’s stats show that there has been no progress in numbers parity for women working in Hollywood films. In fact, overall, there’s been a slight regression. Read more>>

Here are some of the most salient stats:

In 2014, women comprised 17% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 250 (domestic) grossing films. This is the same percentage of women working in these roles in 1998.

Women accounted for 7% of directors, up 1 percentage point from 2013, but down 2 percentage points from 9% in 1998. In 2014, 93% of films had no female directors.

A historical comparison of women’s employment on the top 250 films in 2014 and 1998 reveals that the percentages of executive producers and cinematographers have increased. The percentages of women directors, writers, producers, and editors have declined.

A comparison of women’s employment on the top 250 films in 2014 and 2013 reveals that the percentages of women directors, writers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers have increased. The percentage of women producers has decreased.

Women comprised 7% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2014. This represents an increase of 1 percentage point from 2013 but a decline of 2 percentage points from 1998. Ninety-three percent (93%) of the films had no female directors.

Women accounted for 11% of writers working on the top 250 films of 2014. This represents an increase of 1 percentage point from 2013 and a decrease of 2 percentage points from 1998. Seventy nine (79%) of the films had no female writers.

Women comprised 19% of all executive producers working on the top 250 films of 2014. This represents an increase of 4 percentage points from 2013 and an increase of 1 percentage point from 1998. Fifty six percent (56%) of the films had no female executive producers.

Women accounted for 23% of all producers working on the top 250 films of 2014. This represents a decrease of 2 percentage points from 2013 and a decrease of 1 percentage point from 1998. Thirty eight percent (38%) of the films had no female producers.

Women comprised 18% of all editors working on the top 250 films of 2014. This represents an increase of 1 percentage point from 2013 but a decline of 2 percentage points from 1998. Seventy eight percent (78%) of the films had no female editors.

Women accounted for 5% of all cinematographers working on the top 250 films of 2014. This represents an increase of 2 percentage points from 2013 and 1 percentage point from 1998. Ninety six percent (96%) of the films had no female cinematographers.

Women were most likely to work in the documentary and comedy genres. They were least likely to work in the action and horror genres.

The full report, which also indicates findings for composers, sound designers and supervising sound editors, can be found on the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film Website.

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Jennifer Merin

Jennifer Merin is the Film Critic for Womens eNews and contributes the CINEMA CITIZEN blog for and is managing editor for Women on Film, the online magazine of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, of which she is President. She has served as a regular critic and film-related interviewer for The New York Press and About.com. She has written about entertainment for USA Today, The L.A. Times, US Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Endless Vacation Magazine, Daily News, New York Post, SoHo News and other publications. After receiving her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts (Grad Acting), Jennifer performed at the O'Neill Theater Center's Playwrights Conference, Long Wharf Theater, American Place Theatre and LaMamma, where she worked with renown Japanese director, Shuji Terayama. She subsequently joined Terayama's theater company in Tokyo, where she also acted in films. Her journalism career began when she was asked to write about Terayama for The Drama Review. She became a regular contributor to the Christian Science Monitor after writing an article about Marketta Kimbrell's Theater For The Forgotten, with which she was performing at the time. She was an O'Neill Theater Center National Critics' Institute Fellow, and then became the institute's Coordinator. While teaching at the Universities of Wisconsin and Rhode Island, she wrote "A Directory of Festivals of Theater, Dance and Folklore Around the World," published by the International Theater Institute. Denmark's Odin Teatret's director, Eugenio Barba, wrote his manifesto in the form of a letter to "Dear Jennifer Merin," which has been published around the world, in languages as diverse as Farsi and Romanian. Jennifer's culturally-oriented travel column began in the LA Times in 1984, then moved to The Associated Press, LA Times Syndicate, Tribune Media, Creators Syndicate and (currently) Arcamax Publishing. She's been news writer/editor for ABC Radio Networks, on-air reporter for NBC, CBS Radio and, currently, for Westwood One's America In the Morning. She is also a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association. For her AWFJ archive, type "Jennifer Merin" in the Search Box (upper right corner of screen).