Do women in film have a harder time than men?
This is the fourth of ten articles revealing the results of my survey of 1,235 film industry professionals. More details of the survey and my methodology can be found here and for any questions or clarification please contact me.
Key Findings - Women in film
Overall, 63% of respondents agreed that women in film have a harder time in the industry than men.
68% of professionals working predominantly on low budgets felt that women in film had it harder, compared with just 37% of those on budgets over $10 million.
There is a clear divide between those who make films and those who distribute and show films. The vast majority of filmmakers strongly agree than women in film have a harder time than men, compared with only a minority of those in sales, distribution and exhibition.
Only a quarter of those in Exhibition feel women have a harder time than men.
The sectors which were most pessimistic about gender equality were Development and Other (which includes those working in training, finance, festivals, legal, among others).
Do film pros think women in film have it harder than men?
I figured that asking outright "Is the film industry sexist?" would create a skewed result so I used a sneaky method to get closer to the truth. I presented one group three general statements and then a similar group were show the same three statements but mixed with a fourth statement about women having a harder time in the film industry than men. Both groups were asked how many of the statements they agreed with in total (0, 1, 2, 3 or 4). By comparing the two sets of results we can deduce the average effect of the additional gender statement.
Breakdown by sector
The 'filmmakers' in the industry are much more likely to agree that women in film have it harder than men, than those in sales, distribution and exhibition.
Breakdown by budget level
As budgets rise, the belief in the sexist nature of the film industry falls.
About the survey
The survey involved 1,235 film industry professionals, all of whom have attended at least one of the three major film markets (Cannes, Berlin or AFM) within the past five years. I asked questions on a variety of hot topics including piracy, the appeal of 3D, gender, and how optimistic industry professionals are for 2014. More details of the survey and my methodology can be found here and for any questions or clarification please contact me.
