The Power of Female Driven Content

the
MS.FACTOR
The Power of Female Driven Content
Created by PGA Women’s Impact Network and Women and Hollywood
copyright August 2015
CONTENTS
• Introduction
3
• Debunking the Myths
4
• The Bechdel Test
5
• What is Female Storytelling?
6
• The Power of Women as a Market
8
• The Influential Power of the Female Audience
10
• The International Landscape
11
• Distribution, Marketing, and Exhibition
12
• Independent Film
13
• The Future of Television
14
• Video on Demand & Digital Platforms
16
• Advertising & Marketing
18
• Social Media
20
• Opportunity is Knocking…Anybody Home?
22
• Brave New World…Where We Are Headed
23
• Action Steps
24
• Acknowledgements
25
• Addendums
26
• Top Grossing Female-Driven Movies
26
• Top Grossing Women Directors
27
• Citations
28
2
INTRODUCTION
Many decision-makers in the entertainment industry are operating under the misperception that female-driven content is not commercially viable. If you went to the movies in 2014, you may have
noticed that far fewer films in the top 100 grossing movies had female protagonists.1 Even worse,
only two films in the top 100 grossing movies were directed by women.2 The conundrum is that
while women working on both sides of the camera are severely underrepresented, market data
in movies and television dramatically supports the fact that female driven content is profitable.
Women are the major consumer decision makers and money spenders in the US. Even so,
there are gender barriers at each step of the pipeline (the creation and financing process)
and the value chain (marketing, distribution, and exhibition). Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Director of
USC Annenberg’s Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative, has found that female creatives, when
lining up financing for movies, face a “fiscal cliff” that amounts to a gender barrier, which helps to
explain why the stats about female representation in movies have not changed in the last fifteen
years.3 The lack of a critical mass of women decision makers at all levels of the pipeline, from development to exhibition, has created a very one-sided business.
It is time to drop the “women don’t make money” mindset because this narrative is false. The
reality is that by not supporting female-driven content in our business, there is a significant
underserved female audience, and there is a lot of money being left at the door.
The Producers Guild of America represents over 7,000 US producers in film, television, and new media.
Women and Hollywood educates, advocates, and agitates for gender parity across the entertainment
industry. PGA Women’s Impact Network and Women and Hollywood are providing a “toolkit,” with
current data and trends in one overview for all producers and filmmakers pitching female-driven
content. The goal is to provide tools that show key decision-makers and influencers – financiers,
talent agents, foreign sales agents, distributors, exhibitors and marketers – that new opportunities
abound in a very powerful market.
3
DEBUNKING THE MYTHS
Two of the film industry’s most widespread and damaging myths are that “less money is made with female stars, or female-driven properties” and that “women frequent the movies less than men do.”
In actuality, female moviegoers outnumber male moviegoers. According to the MPAA, over the last six
years, women have outnumbered male audience members.
Moviegoers by Gender4
2014: Male – 110 million; Female – 119 million
2013: Male – 110 million; Female – 119 million
2012: Male – 108 million; Female – 117 million
2011: Male – 108 million; Female – 112 million
2010: Male – 109 million; Female – 113 million
2009: Male – 104 million; Female - 113 million
In her 2014 Oscar acceptance speech, actress
Cate Blanchett asserted that movies about women make money, and thanked the audience for
rebuffing “those in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with
women at the center are niche experiences. They
are not. Audiences want to see them, and in
fact they earn money. The world is round, people!” Blanchett was not merely making claims – she was stating facts. Market data supports the reality that
there is a high demand for female-driven movies.
The New York Times writes, “The success of Catching Fire and Frozen (#1 and #3 top-grossers of 2013)
should put to rest the assumption that audiences don’t want to see female-centric movies, especially
female-led action-adventure stories, an assumption that is often trotted out as a defense of gender
imbalance on the screen.”5 Time writes, “By May, 2014, Frozen became the highest grossing animated
movie, and fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time at $1.219 billion, proving once and for all that viewers will buy tickets to movies with female leads. Audiences loved the story of two strong sisters in an icy
kingdom, for whom ‘true love’s kiss’ doesn’t have anything to do with a Prince.”6
The commercial success of these movies doesn’t make them anomalies in the world of female-centric
films: there is plenty of evidence to substantiate the fact that films about girls and women do exceedingly well at the box office. In fact, a look at the 100 highest-grossing movies of 2013 reveals that movies
with a female protagonist earned 20% more on average than movies with a male protagonist.7
Here’s the breakdown:
$116 million gross on average for female-led movies
$97 million gross on average for male-led ones
In 2014 and 2015, we have seen the continued breakthrough of female lead characters driving big-budget $100m+ Hollywood films with high worldwide box-office returns like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay–Part 1 ($752m,) Maleficent ($758m,) and The Divergent Series: Insurgent ($290). Female led films in
the $50-100m budget range also did remarkably well, such as Cinderella ($538m), and Annie ($134m).
Mid-budgeted ($25-50m) female-centric success stories include Pitch Perfect 2 ($273m) and 50 Shades
of Grey ($570m). Lower budget films (under $20m) with female protagonists also scored big numbers
at the international box-office, among them The Fault in Our Stars ($307m,) Wild ($52m,) and If I Stay
($78m).
4
The Bechdel Test
The FiveThirtyEight blog, founded by statistician Nate Silver, used The Bechdel Test – a tool to measure women’s representation in film – to analyze
the box office success of films that have women in them. To pass the Bechdel Test, a film only has to have two female characters talk to each
other about something other than a man. This is just about the lowest
bar possible, but many films fail to meet it nonetheless.
The site looked at 1,615 films released from 1990 to 2013 and found that
less than 50% of the films passed the test. The budgets afforded those films
that passed were 35% lower than ones that failed, yet those same films that
passed the test enjoyed a 37% higher return on investment in the US.8
FiveThirtyEight concludes, “Hollywood is in the business of making money.
Since our data demonstrates that films containing meaningful interactions
between women do better at the box office than movies that don’t, it may
be only a matter of time before the data of dollars and cents overcomes
the rumors and prejudices defining the budgeting process of films for, by
and about women.”
5
WHAT IS FEMALE STORYTELLING ?
“How stories are told, who tells them, when they’re told, how many stories are told, are really dependent on power. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it
the definitive story of that person...Start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans, and
not with the arrival of the British, and you have an entirely different story. Start the story with the
failure of the African state, and not with the colonial creation of the African state, and you have an
entirely different story.”
- Chimamande Ngozi Adichi
TED Talk (The Danger of A Single Story”)
S
torytelling perspectives are informed and conveyed by producers, writers, directors, and actors.
Female storytellers bring a unique point of view to
their stories. Melissa Silverstein from Women and Hollywood observes, “Women tell stories differently. We
have different life experiences and those experiences
inform our stories and the lens with which we view the
world.”
many different aspects in my personality…It just hit
me like a ton of bricks. And I was so mad. And then I
thought: ‘Why am I so upset about this? Why don’t I
do something about it?’” She decided to start her own
production company, Pacific Standard, to address this
dilemma and in 2014, Witherspoon produced Gone
Girl as well as the adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild,
in which she stars, and for which she received a Best
Actress Academy Award nomination. “To me, I find the
More female storytelling would diversify the cinematic character in Wild much more likeable than a lot of
characters I’ve played, but somehow, I have had
landscape. For instance, one study examined 900
this reductive experience where I’m put
motion pictures released between 2001 and
into this tiny little box. To me, likeable is
2005 including the number of women
“I feel like
human, and real, and honest.”10
working as producers, directors, writers,
it’s really my reand actors. The results demonstrated
sponsibility as a femthat “the greater the participation
In a Q&A following a screening
inist and as a filmmaker
of women, the more thought-proof Selma, director Ava DuVernay
to take the opportunity to
voking but less violent and fear-intalked about taking over the film
place the camera in terms of
ducing is the resulting cinematic
that previously had four different
how it feels to be a woman,
product.”And because female charmale directors attached, and
instead of how women
acters are often oversexualized,
how the number of female charlook,”13
including in marketing materials, it
acters changed in the script. Not
is worth noting that the same study
only was she intent on democrati-Jill
Soloway
found that “sex and nudity do not, on
cally honoring the major civil rights
the average, boost box office perforactivists, it was also important to her
mance.”9
to give visibility to the women involved
on these front lines.11
In general, however, stories about women are not
valued in the same way as stories about men. Even Similar waves are happening in television where womwith successful track records, films with a story driven en are pushing for stronger female characters on the
by a clear female protagonist are a small percentage small screen. The Good Wife just completed its sixth
of all films. After winning the Oscar for playing June season and has received five Emmy awards. Shonda
Carter Cash, Reese Witherspoon realized that other Rhimes and Betsy Beers are breaking new ground with
than one studio, nobody was developing films with every new series coming from their company, Shondaa female lead. In a conversation with The New York land. Lori McCreary, PGA President and the Executive
Times, Witherspoon shared her reaction to this lack Producer of Madam Secretary, shares that the show
of opportunities: “I’m a complex person with so has a 60% overall female audience and averages a
6
FEMALE STORYTELLING (ctd.)
12.5 rating with women 50+, who comprise 49% of the audience. It is the most watched scripted series on
Sunday.12 McCreary says, “After seeing Hillary Clinton, Condi Rice and Madeleine Albright in operation, our lead
character is simply a reflection of who we really are as women, what we can be, and how the world should see us
in the year 2015. We strive week after week to give the viewers, male and female, a character who is a believable
strong woman, a reflection of so many of the women who we see in our lives every day.”
• The Good Wife, CBS, averages 10.66 million viewers, up 13.35% from 2013
• Scandal, ABC, 10.11 million viewers, up 11.03% from 2013
• How To Get Away With Murder, ABC, 10.4 million viewers (new)
• Mom, CBS, averages 9.98 million viewers up 31.8% from 2013
• The Mysteries of Laura, NBC, 8.7 million (new)
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8.66 million viewers, up 1.49% from 2013
• 2 Broke Girls, CBS, 7.75 million viewers
• Once Upon A Time, ABC, 7.43 million, up 4.97% from 2013
• Nashville, ABC, 5.46 million viewers, up 2.31% from 2013
Streaming companies are also hiring women to bring bold and frank storytelling to the screen. Jill Soloway found
a platform for the unconventional representations of female desire and sexuality on the wildly popular Amazon
Prime series Transparent. This 2015 Golden Globe-winning series portrays queer and transgender individuals
with a powerful honesty and sense of humanity. “I feel like it’s really my responsibility as a feminist and as a filmmaker to take the opportunity to place the camera in terms of how it feels to be a woman, instead of how women
look,” Soloway has explained.13
7
THE POWER OF WOMEN AS A MARKET
Women have tremendous
spending power in America today,
and in fact make upwards of 85% of all
consumer buying decisions – and this power is
growing.14 By 2018, wives will outearn husbands in
the U.S.15
Women have money, spend money, and make the majority of
household decisions. And the scope of that spending is
notably vast. In addition to handling the bulk of the
purchasing decisions for consumer goods in the
The emergence
U.S., women are also likely to influence or
of shifting demographics
manage many other big ticket purchases
involves two key dynamics. First,
– homes, autos, appliances, furniture,
women are earning money in places
etc. – not to mention a large portion
they’ve never earned money before, and
of the apparel, groceries and evsecond,
more women are living independent
eryday purchases.”16 Women are
lives than ever before. Women and men are crealso powerful influencers for
ating families in nontraditional ways, with spouses
colleagues, friends and famtaking on more responsibility, and women are also
ily.
creating family structures outside of marriage. (Almost
half of first births are now to unmarried women).17
Women are now closing the gap
on middle management, and yet at the
top, the numbers are still small and barely increasing. But those who follow society’s shifting values with
a precision lens see a world moving in a female direction.18
Here’s the changing picture of women today:
• Women earn roughly 77 cents on the dollar when compared to white men, but the average American woman is expected to earn more than the average American male by 2028.19, 20
• In education, women now earn more than 57% of all bachelor’s, 59% of master’s and 52% of doctoral degrees, as well as from one-third to half of professional degrees–and in every case, these
proportions are increasing.21
• Women now account for nearly half of the overall labor force (as compared with just over 38% in
1970).22 More than 9 million firms, or 30% of all privately held firms, are owned by women.23
•
Women have been starting businesses at a higher rate than men for the last 20 years.24
8
Women are Key Drivers
of Economic Growth
“Investing in women
is not only the right
thing to do, but also
the smart thing to
do.”
-Hillary Clinton
8M
$$$
48%
Women own nearly
8 million businesses in the United
States, accounting
for $1.2 trillion of
our GDP
Women tend to
spend more of their
earned income than
men on the health
and education of
their families.
In the US, women
went from holding
37% of all jobs to
holding nearly 48%
over the past forty
years.
BUSINESSES
MORE INCOME
OF ALL JOBS
BY ADDRESSING CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS FACING
WOMEN, WE CAN TRANSFORM OUR ECONOMIES
Reductions in
barriers to female
labor force participation would
increase the size
of the GDP.
+9% America
+13% Euro Zone
+16% Japan
66%
Companies with
more women
board directors
outperform those
with the least by:
Reduction in barriers
to women’s equal
access to productive
resourses.
Could raise total
agricultural output in
developing countries
by 2.5 to 4%
Reduce the number
of hungry people in
the world by up to
150 million people
ROI capital
53%
return on equity
42%
return on sales
The World Economic Forum Gender Gap report states that the U.S. has experienced 11% growth over the last
40 years as a direct result of the increased participation of women in the economy, which has translated into $3.5
trillion.25 A recent report “All in For Her” from Women Moving Millions cites a 2009 Boston Consulting Group
report estimating that women control 27% of the world’s wealth – this translates into approximately $20 trillion
dollars. It is estimated that “by 2030 women-controlled wealth [will be] be $75.4 trillion.”26 Fleishman-Hillard
Inc., a global communications firm, posits that women will control approximately “two-thirds of the consumer
wealth in the U.S. over the next decade and be the beneficiaries of the largest transference of wealth in our
country’s history.”27
As gender power dynamics evolve, women have greater access to vastly increased kinds of practical choices.
A clear trajectory is becoming apparent: Women constitute an immensely powerful market, and one that is
growing exponentially in strength and influence.
9
THE INFLUENTIAL POWER OF
THE FEMALE AUDIENCE
T
he power and influence of female fandom is looming large and filmmakers are
taking notice. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who wrote and directed The Lego Movie,
recently said the film’s sequel will have more
female characters. “It’s important to us that
the movie plays broadly and that we inspire
young women as much as we inspire young
men,” Lord said. The Lego Movie pulled in
more than $468 million worldwide.28
Consider the outstanding success of the Twilight franchise. Twi-Mania was driven by girls
and women. The first Twilight film, directed
by Catherine Hardwicke, brought in nearly
$70 million in its opening weekend – almost
double the film’s budget, and females comprised 75% of its audience.29
In many of these successful films, it is not only
the leads, but the overall casting that reflects
reality in their gender balance. The entire
ecology of the film matters. Female characters comprise 40% or more of the films listed
below. Gender balance succeeds at the box
office. Here is the breakdown of female characters for some films based on Dr. Smith’s
MDSC research:30
Gender balance succeeds
at the box office:
Female characters per film
Film
% Female
Characters
Twilight
41%
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
47%
If I Stay
50%
The Fault in Our Stars
53%
Winter’s Bone
45%
Maleficent
44%
The trend of female-oriented youth movies
with huge box office successes has broken
the barrier to making films targeted at the
under-25 female demographic. In the past,
studios have stayed focused on romantic
comedies, fantasy, and adventure stories for
girls and young women. As studios begin to
have more confidence in making a variety of
different genres for this age group, doors are
opening for dramatic films like the recent hit
The Fault in Our Stars.
One of 2014’s biggest success stories, The
Fault in Our Stars, grossed over $300 million
worldwide – $125 million domestically and
over $180 million in foreign box office – on
a modest $12 million budget.31 These huge
numbers can be attributed to female audiences: The group constituted 82% of the film’s
viewers opening weekend, and 80% of those
women were under 25.32 In turn the studios
are rewarded because the girls are showing
up again and again, creating repeat business,
multiple engagements and additional revenue streams.
But girls and women aren’t the only ones interested in female protagonists. The first installment of the Hunger Games franchise grossed
over $152 million on opening weekend, and
its audience was made up of 61% women and
39% men. Catching Fire, its sequel, earned
over $158 million opening weekend, and this
time around, women accounted for 49% of
moviegoers.33 The third installment, Mockingjay–Part 1, landed the biggest domestic
box office weekend of 2014, with women
comprising 60% of the audience.34 Catching
Fire and Mockingjay– Part 1 were the first
and second top-grossing domestic movies in
2013 and 2014 respectively. Prior to 2013, a
female-led film had not topped the box office
in 40 years since The Exorcist.35 Female audiences and protagonists have become powerful catalysts in achieving box office success.
10
THE INTERNATIONAL
LANDSCAPE
In recent years, the DVD market has
crashed and the US market for theatrical is battling for survival due to
issues including saturation, a shift
to digital platforms, and piracy.36 In
addition, the power of global filmmaking has shifted the balance of
power away from the US domestic
market. An average of seventy-two
cents of every dollar of revenue for
a US studio film is now made overseas.37
Foreign sales is an area where the
significance of the female audience
has also been neglected. “As the
vast majority of films are now financed through the independent
market – not by major studios – an
increasingly important source of
funding is foreign pre-sales,” said
Cathy Schulman, Oscar-winning
producer of Crash (2004) and president of Women In Film.38 What this
means is that in advance of filming,
producers will sell the rights to distribute their films to international
buyers. Producers say they stand a
better chance of selling these rights
at a high price if the movies are attached to internationally popular
male actors.
The analysis referenced earlier by
FiveThirtyEight regarding the Bechdel Test shows that the higher
return on female-centric films in investment in international markets is
comparable to male-centric films.
This research debunks the myth
that the growing foreign box office
is made up of viewers interested
only in male-driven films.39
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media recently released results of an international study which
stated, “While Hollywood is quick
to capitalize on new audiences and
opportunities abroad, the industry is slow to progress in creating
compelling and complex roles for
females. This tendency to under
and misrepresent women is not just
an American phenomenon. Gender
imbalance occurs on a worldwide
scale”40
This 2014 study, conducted by Dr.
Stacy L. Smith and her team, illustrates how many female characters
appear in popular films (roughly
equivalent to a G, PG and PG-13
rating in the US) from the top eleven box office grossing countries
around the world. The study found
that only 23% of the films distribut-
ed internationally from 2010-2013
featured female leads or co-leads
and only 31% of the speaking characters were women. A few countries
fare better than the global norm.
More speaking characters appear
in the UK (38%), Brazil (37.1%), and
Korea (35.9%) – but two samples fall
behind, US/UK hybrid films (23.6%)
and Indian films (24.9%). These last
two samples show female characters in less than one quarter of all
speaking roles.
This international study also noted
that when girls and women did appear onscreen, they were often sexualized: they wore more revealing
clothing, were thinner, and more
likely to be partially or fully naked
than their male counterparts. Of
particular concern is that teen females (13-20) were just as likely as
adult females (21-39) to be sexualized. In terms of career depictions
in films, women characters were
less likely than men to have accomplished careers: only 14.8% of doctors in movies were women; 9.5%
of high-level politicians; 13.9% of
executives; 9.1% of lawyers; 8.9%
of engineers; and 4.1% of sports
figures.
11
DISTRIBUTION, MARKETING
AND EXHIBITION
J
ohn Fithian of the National Association of Theatre Owners
(NATO) notes, “Perhaps the dominance of men in the creative side
of the business can be explained
partially by the overwhelmingly
male bias in the way production,
distribution and exhibition decisions are made. If men decide
which movies will be made and
distributed, and men decide which
movies will be licensed and exhibited, it seems logical that movies
reflecting a male creative vision
might hold greater appeal.”41
Fithian continues, “Of the top ten
companies in North America – all
the top film buyers are men. So
what gets booked and decisions
around show times, etc. are being
made by men. We ask the question – if these numbers were more
even – would we be making different decisions and selling more
tickets? We know that the dynamic in most American families
is that women are making the entertainment decisions. NATO has
been involved in messaging the
concept that more women mean
more business for the theatres.
But it’s the underrepresentation of
women in all elements of film, and
in marketing and distribution that
is hurting the business.”
This lack of understanding presents a major problem because
“most of a movie’s opening gross
is about marketing,” explains the
president of Sony Screen Gems,
Clint Culpepper.42 He elaborates:
“You can have the most terrific movie in the world, and if you
can’t convey that fact in fifteenand thirty-second TV ads it’s like
having bad speakers on a great
stereo. If you don’t understand
who you are trying to sell your
movie to – and how to sell it to
them – it’s going to be a challenge
to get as many women to the theatre as possible.”
Fithian notes there are a few companies that are starting to collect
granular data on movie audiences.
But while plenty of analysis has
been performed on the content of
movies and their overall revenue at
the box office, there has not been
enough emphasis on studying the
business side of decision-making
in distribution, marketing, exhibition, and ticket buying. These
resulting numbers would help to
educate decision-makers across
the value chain and prove to theatre owners, cable broadcasters,
and DVD sellers that more women
– and diversity-centric movies –
translate into more profit.
It is also important to note that
we need to look beyond gender
as well for growing markets, as
change is happening across the
demographic spectrum in the
US. The multi-cultural segment
is growing at a rapid rate and by
2 0 3 5 , wh i t e s wi l l b e c o m e a
mi nority in the US.43
12
INDEPENDENT FILM
G
iven the rapidly changing
landscape for content distribution, perhaps it’s time that
we redefine what amounts to a
successful film. NATO recognizes that women have always
been important in the theatrical release industry and that
women have a great participation in independent films.
They see the support of independent films as a way of addressing the shrinking theatrical numbers and garnering
more support from the female
audience.
For example take 2010 Jennifer Lawrence’s breakout vehicle
Winter’s Bone. It earned “only”
$16 million at the box office –
but it was made on a $2 million
budget.44 The film, which was
directed and written by women
– Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini – and focused on a female
protagonist went on to garner
critical acclaim with Lawrence
and the film receiving an Academy Award nomination. That
same year marked the release
of The Kids Are All Right (written
and directed by Lisa Cholodenko) which was made for $3.5 million and grossed $36 million in
theaters.45 In addition to being a
box office success story, the film
and its stars were recognized
throughout awards season. The
film focused on women, and (two
middle-aged lesbian women, no
less) and filmgoers showed up en
masse. These films certainly don’t
compare to the numbers that super hero films draw on their opening weekends – not even close –
but remember, they weren’t made
on super hero budgets.
Women are succeeding on even
smaller film budgets as well. Actress Lake Bell made her directorial debut with 2013’s In a World…
offering an empowering narrative
about a woman, played by Bell,
navigating – and ultimately succeeding in – a male-dominated
industry. Bell, who also wrote the
script, worked with a budget of
less than a million dollars and the
film earned $3 million at the domestic box office.46,47 It was one
of the year’s ‘freshest’ movies on
Rotten Tomatoes. 2014’s Obvious Child, directed and written by
Gillian Robespierre, focused on
subject matter that many women
can relate to but are rarely given
the chance to see represented
on screen – abortion. In her first
feature-length project, Robespierre was able to take her modest
budget and deliver a $3.1 million
domestic gross48, getting rave reviews and awards kudos in the process.
13
THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION
W
omen have been the majority of the mainstream network audience for a long time now.
That is only becoming more true as
men – especially young men – are
peeled off from the audience by
gaming and other forms of digital
entertainment.
Programs airing on ABC featured
the highest percentage of female
characters (44%), followed by CBS
(42%), Fox (41%), CW (40%), and
NBC (39%).49
Understanding who pulls the strings
behind the scenes helps to contextualize who we see – and see less
of – on the small screen.
• For programs airing on the
broadcast networks, cable
channels and Netflix in 201314, women comprise only 25%
of all individuals working as
creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers,
editors, and directors of photography.50
• Women create 19% of the
shows, account for 26% of writers, and make up 40% of major
characters and speaking roles.51
• When there is a female writer,
women characters appear onscreen 46% of the time compared with 39%, and TV shows
with at least one woman writer
had casts that were 43% female. Additionally, shows with
at least one female creator had
casts that were 47% female.52
Women producers are on the rise
in television, accounting for 40%
of all producers (21% of executive
producers). Still lagging, however,
are women directors, who made up
13% of all television directors this
year, only an increase of only five
percent since 1997-98.53 According
to the Directors Guild of America,
of more than 3,500 episodes produced in the 2013-2014 network
television season and the 2013 cable television season, Caucasian females directed 12% of all episodes
and minority females directed 2%
of all episodes.54
Character goals also differed by
gender. Female characters were
more likely than male characters
to have the goal of helping others
(15% vs. 9%), whereas male char-
14
acters were more likely than female
characters to have work-related
goals (52% vs. 35%).55
Female characters were more likely
than male characters to play personal life-related roles (such as wife,
mother, girlfriend) (43% vs. 24%).
Male characters were more likely than female characters to play
work-related roles (66% vs. 41%).56
Movie-star actresses went to cable in previous years because the
platform has allowed for more
complexity in the writing of multidimensional female characters.
Recently there has been a sea
change in network TV, and, along
with creation of additional digital
platforms there are now more interesting leading roles for women
than ever before. In the past, female leads on network had to be
funny and “likeable” – and that’s
about it. Fortunately we are now
seeing more diverse roles – from
quirky (Zooey Deschanel, New Girl),
to bi-polar (Claire Danes in Homeland), to morally ambiguous (Viola
Davis, How to Get Away with Murder), and to Machiavellian (Robin
Wright, House of Cards). As The
Atlantic observes, “Strong Female
Characters on network TV make
up a sizable chunk of the pie – and
their numbers have increased dramatically in the last three years.”57
Also, at long last we are being offered more racially diverse female
characters and casts in series such
as Empire, Jane the Virgin, Orange
is the New Black, and Black-ish.
Cable continues to bring unique female stories forward. The Atlantic
details the renaissance occurring in
the world of female characters on
TV: “The idea that a woman could
be truly unlikable, like so many male
characters, [used to be] anathema.”
Fortunately, audiences are no longer restricted to seeing idealized
and conservative depictions of what
it means to be a woman on the small
screen. Would we have ever seen
a female character who looks and
behaves like Girls’ Hannah Horvath
if Lena Dunham hadn’t created the
character and maintained control of
Hannah’s evolution through writing
and directing the popular HBO series? The story of Virginia Johnson,
the pioneering sex researcher, has
became more widely known thanks
to Lizzy Caplan’s portrayal in Showtime’s Masters of Sex (created by
Michelle Ashford). Virginia is having
an affair with a married man, often
neglects her children, and manipulates situations and people to advance her professional career, yet
audiences remain captivated by the
character and her narrative arc.
Peggy Olsen, who New York Magazine has identified as the secret
protagonist of AMC’s Mad Men,
has also played the role of ‘the other woman’ and is often cast in an
unflattering light, engaging in conflict with coworkers and plagued by
insecurity and stubbornness.58 Despite these characteristics, or arguably because of them, it is Peggy
who is consistently referred to – by
both the media and viewers – as
the most relatable character on the
series.
The significance of the female audience in television is still underestimated partially due to prevailing
myths about what women want to
see on the screen. Producer Gale
Anne Hurd, executive producer of
AMC’s The Walking Dead, shares
a recent experience: “When I was
in Europe promoting the Season 5
premiere, women journalists (even
more so than men!) assumed that
very few women watched the show.
I asked them what statistics they
were relying upon to come to that
conclusion and they said they were
assuming that women would not
watch a show about zombies. I explained to them that (at least in the
US), The Walking Dead is the top
rated show among women. They
were utterly and truly shocked. I reiterated that the series focuses on
the characters, a multi-racial group
which includes strong women in a
number of roles; in fact, The Walking Dead refers to the survivors of
the zombie apocalypse and NOT to
the zombies!”
As the 2013-14 pilot season got underway, Broadcasting & Cable reported, “With the Big Four broadcast networks ordering 100 or so
pilots during the current development season, it will be interesting
to see what they ultimately select
and how many of those series will
aggressively target men. Based on
the ratings numbers, the shows that
do skew more male will be facing
an uphill battle.”59
15
VIDEO ON DEMAND AND
DIGITAL PLATFORMS
Over the last two years, video on demand (VOD) has arrived as a significant platform for content delivery. Available in over 60% of households, VOD is increasingly contributing to greater viewing potential.60
U.S. women watch more content onscreen across all platforms. In 2012, Females 18 and older watched an average of 191:34 hours of video each month. Comparatively men watched 174:51 hours.61
MONTHLY TIME SPENT WATCHING VIDEO: WOMEN AGES 18+
Quarter
Time-Shifted TV
(all homes)
Traditional TV
On the Internet
On a Mobile Phone
Q4 2012
179:20
15:06
7:12
5:02
Q4 2011
174:33
14:03
4:58
4:41
Read as: Women ages 18+ watched 179 hours and 20 minutes of live TV in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Source: Nielsen62
Copyrighted information @2013, of The Nielsen Company, license for use herein.
Technology has enabled increased choice and consumers have become accustomed to controlling the wide
array of content at their fingertips. At the center of it all is the consumer experience in interacting and accessing
that content. Some people want their content live on their TV screen delivered via a traditional or broadbandenabled connection. Some will want to watch it at a different time, while others will increasingly look for it on the
go and on demand, on their mobile devices. With smart phones topping 70% penetration and tablets inching
toward the 50% mark, the growth in digital consumption will only increase.63
A LOOK AT SMARTPHONE AND TABLET USERS BY GENDER
MONTHLY USAGE OF APPS AND MOBILE WEB
Smartphone
WOMEN
30 HRS 58 MINS
AP P
MEN
29 HRS 32 MINS
WOMEN
27 HRS 45 MINS
89% of their time spent
on media is through
mobile apps
WOMEN
3 HRS 46 MINS
MOBILE
WE B
Tablet
APP
MEN
22 HRS 41 MINS
81% of their time spent
on media is through
mobile apps
MEN
3 HRS 45 MINS
11% of their time spent
on media is through the
mobile web
Source: Nielsen Mobile via Electronic Mobile Measurement,
Qtr 4, 2013 & 2012, P18+
Copyrighted information @2014, of The Nielsen Company, license for use herein.
WOMEN
6 HRS 30 MINS
MOBILE
WE B
MEN
4 HRS 7 MINS
19% of their time spent
on media is through the
mobile web
Source: Nielsen iPad via Electronic Mobile Measurement,
Qtr 4 2013, P18+. Data is unweighted.
Video Streaming Services Gain Popularity67
% of people in the U.S. who use or subscribe to video streaming services
(free version)
US AUDIENCES ON YouTube BY AGE AND GENDER71
Demographics
Total
Audience
US Online
Audience Reach
US Monthly Users
58%
128.2 M
Ages 18-34
67%
38.7 M
Ages 35-49
59%
34.2 M
Ages 50-64
52%
25.7 M
Ages 65+
48%
10.9 M
Male
58%
60.5 M
Female
58%
67.7 M
T
ime-shifted viewing has become
increasingly important to networks
and advertisers, with some networks
seeing over 50% of their 18-34 aged
viewership coming in the seven-day
window after the live airing.64
Netflix is the world’s leading Internet
television network with over 50 million members in nearly 50 countries
enjoying more than two billion hours
of TV shows and movies per month,
including original series.65 Additonally, women account for more of the
unique visitors to Netflix and Hulu.66
Netflix Senior Data Scientist Mohammad Sabah has said that the company
is capturing and analyzing an incredible amount of data to try and figure
out what you want to watch next.
Netflix, and other services like Amazon Prime lean hard on data-driven
approaches to determine their programming. Netflix looks at 30 million
“plays” a day (including when you
pause, rewind and fast forward) four
million ratings by Netflix subscribers,
three million searches, as well as the
time of day when shows are watched
and on what devices.
Using this collected data to predict
audience taste and behaviors, they
are able to give viewers what they
want, when they want it. And once
gathered, Netflix and Amazon are
able to corral audiences to reveal
themselves even more. Although
you can only sort by genre from the
menu, scrolling through your home
page will reveal some of Netflix’s
signature quirkily-specific recommendation categories, like “Romantic movies featuring a Strong Female
Lead,” or “Crime Dramas featuring a
Strong Female Lead.”68 The prominent reference to gender in its
categorization algorithm suggests
that this is a reflection of significant
audience demand.
Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer
for Netflix, has stated that those at
Netflix were initially surprised that
female audiences were watching
House of Cards, perhaps because it
had a “strong male lead” rather than
a “strong female lead.” In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter
last year, he noted that women liked
the show due to the presence of
Robin Wright and Kate Mara. When
asked how he knew this is why women watched, he answered, “You see
it in what else they watch – the algorithmic similarities to what else
they’re watching and why they’re
watching. And then we can very directly focus-group with them and
survey them about what their attractions are. So we found that there’s
overlap with Gossip Girl and House
of Cards.”69
The busiest “television” platform in
the world is YouTube, which is owned
by Google and has a billion unique
visitors watching six billion hours of
video every month. Ynon Kreiz, the
executive chairman of Maker Studios, the world’s largest provider of
online content, noted that its series
“Epic Rap Battles of History,” broadcast on YouTube, and which offers
comical face-offs between, say, a
faux Miley Cyrus and Joan of Arc, attracts on average forty million viewers – almost four times the viewership of the finale of AMC’s Breaking
Bad.70
17
ADVERTISING AND MARKETING
Television is different from the movies in that it is driven by advertising. And even as advertising is changing, considering the spending power that women wield in today’s marketplace, it’s particularly important for marketing
messaging to resonate with them.
Research shows that the female audience is discerning. They often make decisions after speaking with friends
and seeking recommendations.
A new survey72 found that:
• 51% of women liked pro-female ads because they felt they broke gender barriers.
• 4 out of 5 women thought it was important for younger generations to see a positive portrayal of women.
An overwhelming majority felt that how women are seen in campaigns has a direct effect on girls’ self esteem.
• 71% said brands should be held responsible for how they use their advertising to promote positive messages about women – and 3 out of 5 women believed that any brand can be pro-women.
• 94% said that using women as sex symbols was harmful to the gender. More desirable qualities were sense
of humor, creativity, compassion, care.
• 75% said they liked ads that featured everyday women.
In terms of connecting with women today, two important segments are seen as “Chief Household Officers” and
“Young Women on the Go.”73
Chief Household Officers represent
33% of women and have huge buying power in a number of big-ticket
categories, including food, auto,
furniture, investments, and travel.
They have learned to manage their
hectic lives and can be reached by
appealing to their desire to balance
between health, career and family
and self-assured decision-making.
18
Young Women on the Go (YWG)
represent 15% of women 18-54
and have huge buying power and
influence across multiple categories
such as financial services, groceries,
restaurants, education, and travel.
YWG are very self-reliant and don’t
typically depend on others. They
desire to make the most informed
decisions possible. Their priorities
in 2014 were education, healthcare,
the job market and fuel costs. They
are tech savvy, extremely social
with a large network, and love new
brands.
“Marketing to women in ways that are empowering isn’t just good for women –
it makes economic sense.Young women easily see hundreds of advertisements a
day. As industry influencers, either we continue marketing in ways that perpetuate stereotypes or, instead, we can use messages that educate and empower.
We can continue to accept images of women being sexualized and subjugated
or replace them with images of women with agency and power. Marketing more
effectively to women will improve the bottom line of our companies – and lead to
greater equality in our society.” 74
- Sheryl Sandberg
19
SOCIAL MEDIA
Any discussion of women as a market would be incomplete without considering their social media usage – and
acknowledging their formidable clout across these platforms.
Not only do women have tremendous buying power, women also drive the conversation online. “Digital Women
Influences,” a survey conducted by Weber Shandwick and KRC Research, showed that marketers would be in
peril if they “ignore the strength – in number and influence – of women who use social media.”75
Since 2000, women have surpassed men in internet usage.76 In December 2012, 116 million U.S. women were
active on the Web, compared with 102 million males.77 Women represent the majority of the online market and
use the top social media channels more than men in almost every network.78
•
33% of US online adult females use Pinterest, compared to 8% of men.
•
76% of US online adult females use Facebook, compared to 66% of men.
• Brands are more likely to get a response on social media from females vs. males: 54% of females
will show support for a brand and 53% will access offers, compared to 44% and 36% of males,
respectively.
•
55% of the Twitter account holders are women and women tweet 30% more.
More women also use social media as a creative outlet, particularly for blogging and uploading/sharing photos
(28% women vs. 23% men) and for entertainment purposes (48% women vs. 45% men).79 Twitter has become a
popular destination where fans can talk about their favorite TV shows in real-time. Nielsen has provided a study
that shows statistical evidence of a link between broadcast TV tune-in for a program and the Twitter conversation
around that program. The study used time series analysis to determine if Twitter activity drives increased tune-in
rates for broadcast TV and if broadcast TV tune-in leads to increased Twitter activity. By analyzing minute-to-minute trends in Nielsen’s live TV ratings and tweets for 221 broadcast primetime program episodes using Nielsen
Social, the study found that live TV ratings had a meaningful impact in related tweets among 48 percent of the
episodes sampled. The results also showed that the volume of tweets caused significant changes in live TV ratings among 29 percent of the episodes.80
“Social media saved my career,” says Mara Brock-Akil, creator of Being Mary Jane and The Game: “When the
CW cancelled The Game in 2008, the social-media outcry led BET to pick the series up. It’s now in its seventh
season. Netflix and Hulu offer viewers the opportunity to catch up on an entire season of shows they may have
missed, and that’s good for the networks because these ‘catch-up’ viewers can then join the existing loyal fan
base.”81
Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal became a success story – but it didn’t start off as one. Critics and viewers were not
immediate converts, or “Gladiators,” as the fan’s most ardent supporters are known as. Indeed, the series was
almost cancelled after its first season due to poor ratings. By the conclusion of season two the tide had turned:
The season finale boasted 9.12 million U.S. viewers.82 Scandal’s turnaround is attributable largely to Twitter – the
show generates approximately 350,000 tweets per episode.83 Writers and actors used their Twitter accounts
to promote upcoming episodes, live-tweet while they aired, and engage directly with their audience using
hashtags (#Scandal, #ScandalABC, #AskScandal). Scandal transported the TV water cooler into the Twitterverse
– and its ratings skyrocketed.
20
WEB SERIES
The success of women content creators and female stories in the form of web series shows that, given the opportunity and the resources, female-driven content can attract a strong and devoted audience. A number of web series by women are bringing more complex portrayals of women to the screen and succeeding as well. Indiewire
writes, “Online stories about women are quite rich as well and have been for years. A year after lonelygirl15 rose
to fame by giving geek boys their ultimate cam girl, Felicia Day’s The Guild delivered a counter-punch: a serious
awkward, geek girl, a trend that persists today. Major networks put women at the center of genre stories, as
NBC did with Gemini Division and MTV did with Valemont. Indie creators build out niches: Anyone But Me told
the story of serious teen girls who were very seriously in love. Issa Rae’s Awkward Black Girl gave black women
a complicated lead before Scandal, and put her on the map as storyteller, writer, content creator, and producer
with a necessary and unique voice.”84
When actress Felicia Day created her own web series, The Guild, in 2007 she couldn’t have imagined how popular the enterprise would become: “We filled rooms at Comic-Con that TV shows usually fill,” she notes. The
series lasted six seasons – Day was its sole writer throughout – and she was awarded the Talent Gold honor at
Adweek’s first Watch Awards, a ceremony celebrating excellence in online video. “There was never a role that I
felt really represented me,” Day has explained. “I used to get shunted to the sidelines as the third best friend or
the secretary. I have an unusual background and interests that don’t really align with mainstream entertainment,
so I wrote myself a central role.”85
Popular female-centric web series include, Broad City (now a Comedy Central TV show), Chloe and Zoe, East
WillyB, Famous Farrah, F to 7th, MisSpelled, Hellow Cupid, and Tiffany Schlain’s Emmy-nominated, The Future
Starts Here.
Aymar Jean Christian for Indiewire writes, “Web series, or independent television, are valuable because creators
can hone their voice and audience outside corporate development. Indie TV is more diverse than traditional TV,
where many networks have few or no shows by and about women and people of color. Networks like Comedy
Central and HBO should be commended for green-lighting shows by promising young women, but we’re a long
way from parity.”86
21
OPPORTUNITY IS KNOCKING…
ANYBODY HOME?
D
espite a few notable exceptions, there are very few
high-profile female directors. Women comprised just 7% of all directors, 11% of all writers, 19% of all
executive producers, and 23% of
all producers working on the top
250 films of 2014, according to the
Center for the Study of Women in
Television and Film at San Diego
State University.87 The picture is
slightly brighter on television where
women account for 20 percent of
creators yet directed only 13% of
episodes.88
Ellison of Annapurna Pictures funded the $45 million dollar budget of
Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty.
Women comprised
just 7% of all directors, 11% of all writers, 19% of all
executive producers,
and 23% of all producers working on
the top 250 films of
2014
Nina Jacobson is a former president of Buena Vista Motion Pictures
Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. She established her
own production company, Color
Force, in 2007 and is the producer
of The Hunger Games movies.
-Center for the Study of
Women in Television and
Film at San Diego State
University.
There are women out there who are
amassing power in the industry and
they’re using it to support the next
generation of female creatives. We
see that having a woman at the
helm affects the kind of stories being told. Female producers, directors, and writers are more likely to
feature girls and women on screen.
Women are also flexing their muscle
as producers. For example, Megan
“We want to make
commercial movies
and television with
strong female
characters.”
-Alison Owen
runner today is Shonda Rhimes,
who has hired multiple women and
people of color onscreen and behind the scenes for her ABC shows
Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice,
Scandal, and How to Get Away
With Murder.90
Another successful example is
Nashville, created by Oscar winning
writer of Thelma and Louise, Callie
Khouri. For the last two seasons she
had a predominantly female writing
room and hired almost 50% female
directors, a number unheard of in
TV. In addition, women directors
accounted for 50% of the fourth
season of Girls (created by Lena
Dunham with Dunham and Jenni
Konner as showrunners) and on the
first season of Jill Soloway’s Transparent all episodes were directed by
women.
Producers Alison Owen (Saving Mr.
Banks, Jane Eyre, The Other Boleyn Girl) and Debra Hayward (Les
Misérables, Tinker Taylor Soldier
Spy) are also taking a proactive approach. The two teamed up to form
Monumental Pictures, and Owen
has made their aim explicit: “We
want to make commercial movies
and television with strong female
characters.”89 The company’s first
project will be a screen adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s bestselling
semi-autobiographical novel How
to Build a Girl.
Similar waves of opportunities for
more complex characters are happening in television: when women
have power and decision making
options behind the scenes they also
use their clout to hire women and
that translates into more women
onscreen. The most powerful show-
22
BRAVE NEW WORLD…
Where we are headed
There have been a lot of discussions in the entertainment field
this past year around the value of
female perspectives in our industry.
Women are moving forward, and
businesses must evolve alongside
them in order to thrive – and survive. Women as a market are the
key to successful businesses. But
one thing is clear: to get women’s
money you need to give them the
content they want.
John Fithian CEO of NATO says,
“We need more women in the
movie business to sell more tickets
at the box office.” But while movie
studios still lag far behind proportionally in terms of gender equality,
change is beginning to happen on
all other platforms across the industry due to data being sourced from
a more direct connection to audiences in the digital age, and opportunities provided by platforms like
YouTube and Yahoo that democratically allow for more diverse storytelling.
The Sundance and Women in Film
LA Research Study on female filmmakers points to four areas for potential solutions to overcome the
obstacles for female filmmakers:
Mentorship, Financial Access, Raising Awareness, and Networking.
Several strategic priorities are indicated including the examination of
hiring and financing practices.91
Entertainment consultant Kathy Arnold writes, “Blockbusters will always be a part of a studio’s portfolio because when they hit, they hit
big. But industry executives are also
aware that their buyers—exhibitors
and advertisers—can’t sell all of
their product to men ages 18-35.
The advertisers and exhibitors need
to feed the other part of the buying audience, and quality films with
female characters are doing just
that…Gender biases are melting
away and girls are dreaming of becoming Secretary of State or even
President. Some may want to end
hunger or educate the world about
human trafficking. The young heroines in these movies feed into that
mentality and give their followers
the motivation and confidence necessary to go after those dreams.”92
We’ve seen that women want to
see more stories about their lives,
experiences, and dreams. Former
Sr Exec VP of NBC Universal Lauren
Zalaznick recently said, “The success of female driven content and
the volume of shows prominently
featuring female characters in television is unparalleled. It could be
cyclical or it could be systemic. We
hope it’s systemic change. I believe
that the opportunities for women
will change—not because it’s the
right thing to do—but because it’s
the economic thing to do.”93
“Gender biases are
melting away and
girls are dreaming
of becoming Secretary of State or even
President.”
-Kathy Arnold
23
ACTION STEPS
1
Raise awareness by educating industry members and debunking myths that perpetuate gender bias. Use these stats when you create your financing proposals to
counter financiers who see gender as limiting. When they say, “ Less money is made
with female leads, female stars, or female-driven properties, “ or “Women aren’t
our target audience”- be ready with the stats that support your film to show female
participation is connected to profitable and pro-social outcomes.
2
Producers can practice a modified version of the NFL’s Rooney Rule (which requires
NFL teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football
operations jobs). Make it standard practice to consider female candidates for directing and writing positions. Request that all studio and agency director lists, actor lists,
and crew lists for a specific project are balanced in gender and diversity.94
3
When creating content, think about these stats and how to balance the gender landscape of your story. If five female characters were added to scripts going into production, gender balance could be achieved across the top 100 films in 4 years.95
4
Hire women in all steps of the creative process to make sure you are getting a balanced perspective and that you are not ignoring potential audience members that
can lead to dollars. Producers have the ability to create and alter contracts in the hiring process. If top producers make it a priority to add an “equity rider” to contracts
of directors/writers, gender balance could be achieved overnight. An “equity rider”
states that onscreen, the cast should be 50% female when it makes sense for the
story. 96
5
Do not forget women when you are marketing. Pull in and engage the female audience by promoting the female perspective.
6
Use the stats and infographics, that are that are downloadable and shareable, in social media and for embedding on web pages.
7
Follow and Share your story with us:
TWITTER: @PGAWomen @WomenaHollywood
@melsil @queendean
FACEBOOK: PGA WIN, Women and Hollywood
24
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“The MS. Factor: The Power of Female-Driven Content,” written by
Lydia Dean Pilcher and Melissa Silverstein.
Lydia Dean Pilcher is an American independent film and television producer of
over 35 feature films, and founder of Cine Mosaic, a production company based
in New York City. She is VP of Motion Pictures, Producer’s Guild of America, and
Chair of PGA Women’s Impact Network.
Melissa Silverstein is a writer and speaker with an extensive expertise in the area
of women and Hollywood. She is the founder and editor of Women and Hollywood. She is the co-founder and Artistic Director of The Athena Film Festival.
Research Assistance by
Maddie Shapiro
Laura Berger
Advisors to this report include
Dr. Stacy L Smith and Dr. Katherine Pieper, Linda Evans,
and Lauren Zalaznick
Thanks to
Emily McEvoy, Claudine Marrotte, Deborah Calla, Keri Putnam, Cathy Schulman,
Martha M. Lauzen, PhD, Gale Anne Hurd, Lori McCreary, John Fithian,
Madeline Di Nonno, Susan Sprung, and Chris Green
Layout and Illustrations
Alex Kahn
25
Addendum i: Top Grossing Female-Driven Films
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Written by Catherine Johnson
Produced by Judy Craymer
Opening weekend: $27 million
Domestic Gross: $144 million
Foreign Gross: $466 million
Total: $609 million
Budget: $52 million
Twilight (2008)
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
Written by Melissa Rosenberg
Opening weekend: $69 million
Domestic Gross: $191 million
Foreign Gross: $199 million
Total: $383 million
Budget: $37 million
Twilight: New Moon (2008)
Written by Melissa Rosenberg
Produced by Karen Rosenfelt
Opening Day: $72.7 million
Opening weekend: $143 million
Domestic Gross: $296 million
Foreign Gross: $413 million
Total: $709 million
Budget: $50 million
Twilight: Eclipse (2010)
Written by Melissa Rosenberg
Produced by Karen Rosenfelt
Opening weekend: $64 million
Domestic Gross: $300 million
Foreign Gross: $398 million
Total: $698 million
Budget: $68 million
Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part
1 (2011)
Written by Melissa Rosenberg
Produced by Karen Rosenfelt
Opening weekend: $138 million
Domestic Gross: $281 million
Foreign Gross: $438 million
Total: $712 million
Budget: $110 million
Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2
(2012)
Written by Melissa Rosenberg
Produced by Karen Rosenfelt
and Stephenie Meyer
Opening weekend: $141 million
Domestic Gross: $292 million
Foreign Gross: $537 million
Total: $829 million
Budget: $120 million
Bridesmaids (2011)
Written by Kristen Wiig and
Annie Mumulo
Opening Weekend: $26 million
Domestic Gross: $169 million
Foreign Gross: $119 million
Total: $288 million
Budget: $32 million
Frozen (2013)
Co-Directed and written by
Jennifer Lee
Academy Award Winner
Best Animated Feature
Best Original Song
Highest-Grossing Animated Film Ever
5th Highest-Grossing Film of All Time
Opening Weekend:$67 million
Domestic Gross:$400 million
Foreign Gross: $858 million
Total: $1.2 billion
Budget: $ 150 million
Gravity (2013)
Academy Award Winner
Opening Weekend: $56 million
Domestic Gross:$274 million
Foreign Gross: $442 million
Total: $716 million
Budget: $100 million
Maleficent (2014)
Written by Linda Woolverton
Opening Weekend: $69 million
Domestic Gross: $240 million
Foreign Gross: $516 million
Total: $756 million
Budget: $180 million
Lucy (2014)
Produced by Virginia Silla
Opening Weekend: $44 million
Domestic Gross: $126 million
Foreign Gross: $332 million
Total: $459 million
Budget: $40 million
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Written by Linda Woolverton
Produced by Jennifer Todd and
Suzanne Todd
Opening Weekend: $116 million
Domestic Gross: $334 million
Foreign Gross: $691 million
Total: $1.025 Billion
Budget: $200 million
The Hunger Games (2012)
Produced by Nina Jacobson
Written by Suzanne Collins
Opening Weekend: $152 million
Domestic Gross: $408 million
Foreign Gross: $283 million
Total: $691 million
Budget: $78 million
The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire (2013)
Produced by Nina Jacobson
Opening Weekend: $158 million
Domestic Gross: $424 million
Foreign Gross: $440 million
Total: $864 million
Budget: $130 million
The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)
Produced by Nina Jacobson
Opening Weekend: $121 million
Domestic Gross: $337 million
Foreign Gross: $415 million
Total: $752 million
Budget: $125 million
Brave (2012)
Produced by Katherine Sarafian
Co-Written & Co-Directed
by Brenda Chapman
Opening Weekend: $66 million
Domestic Gross: $237 million
Foreign Gross: $301 million
Total: $538 million
Budget: $185 million
26
Addendum ii. Top Grossing Women Directors
Director
Film
Gross
Jennifer Lee
Frozen
$1.274 Billion
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Kung Fu Panda 2
$665 million
Phyllida Lloyd
Mamma Mia!
$609.8 million
Brenda Chapman
Brave
$539 million
Vicky Jenson
Shrek
$484.4 million
Catherine Hardwicke
Twilight
$392.6 million
Mimi Leder
Deep Impact
$349.5 million
Ann Fletcher
The Proposal
$317.4 million
Amy Heckerling
Look Who’s Talking
$297.0 million
Betty Thomas
Doctor Dolittle
$294.5 million
27
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