The ReFrame Report: Women in TV

The Hollywood gender parity coalition ReFrame, which was formed in 2017, began as a research project, but has – according to their website – transformed into a movement among a supergroup of Hollywood insiders who are poised to lead concrete, lasting change.

ReFrame consists of influential executives and creatives from across film and TV, who invest in people like strategists, leaders and dreamers; developing the skills, acumen and networks needed to advance just narratives, using powerful technology to understand those narratives across society in real time; and curating stories to mobilize networks that can light the way to justice, liberation, healing and freedom.

The coalition recently released a report on gender and hiring in TV, and for the first time since the group’s formation, the majority of the most popular shows on television and streaming were topline by women.

That report showed that 108 of the top 200 scripted series in the 2022-2023 TV season featured a woman in the lead role; that is 54 percent, up from 45.5 percent last season. Additionally, women of color were number 1 on the call sheet on 39 shows, which is up from 21 last season. The report also showed that the ensembles of 152 shows were composed of at least 50 percent people from an underrepresented gender identity with 129 of them featuring casts of at least 25 percent women of color.

On the production side, 50.08 percent of episodes were written by women, which is up from 48.4 percent from last year while women directors went up from 36 to 40 percent. As for female showrunners, they take up 32.5 percent of those roles with 9.5 percent being showrunners who are women of color.

Also, ReFrame evaluates staffing on scripted TV shows and awards its Stamp to those who meet its criteria for gender-inclusive hiring in key positions within cast and crew. Just like last year, 94 of the top 200 shows qualified for the ReFrame TV Stamp. You can see that full list here. The ReFrame Stamp is also some major media companies like Apple, Netflix, Disney and NBCUniversal, but this season saw a steep drop-off from last year.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter