Annenberg Study Shows Women's Limited Presence in Global Film Direction at 11%

• Global film industry faces gender gap as women’s direct just 11% of top earning films, Annenberg study finds
• U.K. leads in decade-long gains for women directors
• The study highlights yearly, competitive, racial, and nonbinary representation trends

A new report from the USC Annenberg Inclusion study reveals a stark imbalance in directorial roles, with women at the helm of only 11% of highest-grossing films worldwide. The study evaluates 4,532 narrative feature films that earned at least $1 million globally, originating form 11 key markets including the U.S., U.K., India, Japan, and Germany. It also assessed the gender of 4,991 directors behind these projects.

From directing films in 11 countries to holding executive roles in top studio, the study assesses women’s visibility at festivals, award ceremonies, and corporate leadership across the U.S., U.K., and France. During the University of Oxford Cultural Programme’s Women in Film conference, Dr. Stacy L. Smith presented key findings from her latest study, joined by talent such as ‘Bridgerton’ star Simone Ashley and ‘Surface’ lead Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

 “For several years, we have examined the prevalence of women directors of top-grossing movies,” Dr. Smith said in a press release. “The results of this report demonstrate that there is still a steeper climb to the top leadership position in film for women no matter what country they work in. The encouraging finding across this analysis is that there has been change in some countries and particularly in the U.K.”

Dr. Smith highlights that five countries-Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, and the U.K, have experienced notable gains in women’s participation behind the camera. Germany, the U.K., and Australia lead with highest proportion of women directors, while India, Japan, and South Korea rank lowest. The U.S. stands at 11.3% closely matching the global average. Representation of women of color has doubled over the past decade, but remains limited at 5.7%.

Covering nominations from 2015 to 2025, the report analyses women’s visibility in top categories at the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, and César Awards. The best director category showed the most significant gender gap, with only 14.8% of nominees being women, a ratio of 5.8 men for every woman.