While opportunities for women and people of color to serve in directorial roles have improved in the last couple of decades, a new study by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative shows a plateau in 2024. Despite high expectations following 2023’s writers and actors strike, no major changes occurred.

In 2024, 13.4 percent of those directing top-grossing Hollywood films were women, compared to 12.1 percent in 2023. These percentages, however, represent progress since 2007, when the total was 2.7 percent.

“The film industry has demonstrated that it can increase the percentage of women directors and hold that progress. Yet, there is much more room to improve,” said Dr. Stacy L. Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which is the “leading global think tank studying issues of inequality in entertainment.”

The study also examined movie review scores by critics. While movies directed by men received higher scores in 2024, there was no significant difference across the 18 years included in the study. Furthermore, films directed by women of color received the highest median and average scores across the period compared to white women, white men, and underrepresented men.

According to Smith, the findings demonstrate that women of color possess the talent and skills necessary to achieve a high-quality product, but they lack opportunity. “Women directors are still significantly outnumbered and rarely get multiple opportunities behind the camera. Hollywood cannot be satisfied with the change that has occurred when there is still work to be done,” said Smith.