DGA survey finds little diversity in prime-time TV hiring
Further evidence has emerged that Hollywood has made little progress in hiring women and minorities to work on prime-time television shows.
A survey conducted by the Directors Guild of America of more than 2,600 television episodes from 170 scripted TV series for the 2010-11 season found that white males directed 77% of all episodes, and white females directed 11% of all episodes. Minority males directed 11% all episodes and minority females directed just 1% of the shows, according to the DGA survey.
The directors guild, which over the years has prodded production companies to establish diversity programs and improve hiring practices, expressed disappointment with the findings, noting that the results showed little change from a similar survey in the 2009-10 television season.
The guild singled out nine shows that hired no women or minority directors for the 2010-11 season, including HBO’s “Bored to Death” and FX’s “Justified.” Sixteen other shows hired women and minorities for fewer than 15% of episodes, including Fox’s “House” (produced by NBC) and Lifetime’s “Army Wives” (produced by ABC).
“It’s not enough to just give lip service to the idea of increasing diversity behind the camera,” said Paris Barclay, the DGA’s first vice president, co-chair of its diversity task force and an executive producer for the FX show “Sons of Anarchy.” “These programs are so far failing to live up to their promise. So we’re going to take the discussion straight to the people on each show who make hiring decisions.”
The DGA negotiated a new provision in its most recent contracts, which took effect July 1, that allows union officials to meet directly with executives responsible for hiring at the individual show level.
The guild’s findings echo those of other recent surveys, including a recent report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. The report found that during the 2010-11 season women constituted 15% of writers for prime-time dramas, comedies and reality shows on broadcast networks, down 29% from the 2009-10 season. Among directors, 11% were women, compared with 16% the previous year.
A report released by the Writers Guild of America, West in May found that the earnings gap between minorities and white writers more than doubled from 2007 to 2009.
