Evolution of Women’s Roles in the Global Film and Television Industry (1995–2025)

Introduction

Over the past 30 years, women’s participation in the film and television industry has undergone significant change. In the mid-1990s, women were grossly underrepresented both on-screen and behind the scenes – from the roles they played in front of the camera to the leadership positions (directors, writers, producers, etc.) off-camera. Since then, concerted efforts and cultural shifts have gradually expanded opportunities for women. This report examines how women’s roles in the global film and TV industry have evolved from 1995 to 2025, highlighting key data, milestones, challenges, and achievements. It covers both on-screen representation (actresses, female characters, hosts) and off-screen roles (directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, editors, and executives), illustrating trends over time with supporting statistics. Key movements promoting gender equality (such as #MeToo and Time’s Up) and profiles of influential women leaders are also discussed. The findings draw on credible industry studies and reports to provide a comprehensive overview of women’s inclusion and leadership in entertainment worldwide.

Women On-Screen: Representation and Roles (1995–2025)

Women in Film – Evolving On-Screen Representation

In the late 20th century, female characters in major films were often limited to supportive or stereotypical roles, and female-led blockbusters were relatively rare. However, the 1995–2025 period saw a clear upward trend in women’s on-screen presence, especially in feature films. In the early 2000s, only about 16% of top-grossing films had a woman or girl as the lead protagonist. This figure has climbed substantially: by 2019, a study found 40% of top films featured female protagonists. Although there was a dip during 2020 (29%, likely due to pandemic-related disruptions in releases), the long-term trajectory remains positive. Notably, by 2024 women achieved parity with men in lead roles for the first time – 42% of the 100 top-grossing U.S. films that year had female protagonists (equal to the 42% with male protagonists, with the rest being ensemble casts). This marked a historic milestone in on-screen gender balance.

Figure 1: Share of top 100 films with female protagonists, 2002–2024. The proportion of female-led films rose from just 16% in 2002 to 42% by 2024, reflecting long-term gains in women’s on-screen representation. (Data source: Dr. Martha Lauzen’s It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World studies)

Accompanying this rise in female-led stories, the overall presence of women in film casts has also improved. In 2020, women accounted for 38% of major characters and 36% of speaking characters in the top 100 films, modest increases from the prior year. By 2024, females comprised roughly 37% of speaking roles in top films, up from about one-third in the early 2000s. This indicates that while male characters still outnumber female characters in films, the gap has narrowed. Moreover, the types of roles women play have expanded beyond traditional archetypes. Since the mid-1990s, Hollywood and global cinema have seen more women starring as complex protagonists – from action heroes and fantasy leads to comedic headliners. For example, the 2000s introduced female action stars in franchise films (e.g. Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider), and the 2010s saw critical and commercial hits centered on women, such as The Hunger Games (2012) with Jennifer Lawrence and Wonder Woman (2017) directed by Patty Jenkins. The success of female-driven films peaked in the late 2010s and early 2020s: Wonder Woman grossed over $820 million globally (at the time, a record for a female-directed film), and in 2023 Greta Gerwig’s Barbie became the first-ever film by a solo female director to surpass $1 billion at the global box office. Barbie’s record-breaking performance demolished the old Hollywood myth that “female-centric ‘girl’ movies’ are limited in appeal,” proving that films made by and about women can achieve the highest level of commercial success. It is also noteworthy that several of the handful of billion-dollar-grossing films centered on women in recent years have been animated or family films (e.g. Frozen in 2013, co-directed by Jennifer Lee), but Barbie’s achievement in 2023 showed a live-action female-led film dominating globally.

Another aspect of on-screen roles is how women are portrayed and whether opportunities extend to women of different ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds. While progress has been made, some gaps persist. Studies by the Geena Davis Institute and others have highlighted ongoing disparities – for instance, as of the late 2010s, only about one-third of speaking characters in films globally were female, and women on screen were often younger on average than their male counterparts, reflecting ageist casting tendencies. Women over 40 remain underrepresented in lead roles, though there have been positive exceptions (e.g. actresses like Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, and Frances McDormand continued to land high-profile roles and awards well into their 40s, 50s, and beyond, challenging age biases). There have also been improvements in the representation of women of color on screen, albeit slowly. For example, the 2010s saw more films led by women of color (such as Hidden Figures (2016) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018)), and in 2018 Yalitza Apariciobecame the first indigenous Mexican woman nominated for a Best Actress Oscar (for Roma). By the 2020s, audiences also saw more diversity in genres – with women fronting superhero movies (Captain Marvel in 2019, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022 featuring a Black female lead), and genre films like horror and sci-fi increasingly featuring women leads.

Women in Television – From TV Hosts to Heroines

Television has been another arena of evolution for women’s roles. In the 1990s, women on TV were often confined to certain genres (daytime talk shows, soap operas, or as the token female character in ensemble casts). But from the 2000s onward, women have become equally central to the television narrative landscape. In fact, by the early 2020s female representation on-screen in TV approached parity with men. In the 2023–24 season, females accounted for about 43% of speaking characters across broadcast and streaming scripted series. A similar study noted that women made up 45% of major characters on TV, nearly matching their share of the population. This is a notable rise from the late 1990s, when female characters on prime-time TV were typically well below 40%.

The range of on-screen roles for women in television has expanded dramatically. In the late 90s and 2000s we saw pioneering female-led shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) and Sex and the City (1998) proving that series centered on women could achieve cult followings and critical acclaim. The 2000s and 2010s then ushered in a wave of successful shows created by or starring women: Shonda Rhimes launched Grey’s Anatomy (2005) and later Scandal(2012), featuring diverse women leads and ensemble casts, while Tina Fey’s 30 Rock (2006) and Lena Dunham’s Girls(2012) brought distinctly female perspectives to comedy. By the 2010s, women also fronted major dramatic series – e.g. Claire Danes in Homeland, Viola Davis in How to Get Away with Murder, and the multi-generational female ensemble of Big Little Lies. The rise of streaming in the 2010s further boosted opportunities for women-driven content: series like The Handmaid’s Tale (2017) offered powerful female-centric storytelling, and creators like Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve) garnered international acclaim. In reality TV and hosting, women likewise made strides. Iconic talk-show host Oprah Winfrey dominated through the 1990s–2000s, and by the 2010s and 2020s there were more women in prominent host roles (e.g. Ellen DeGeneres’ long-running daytime talk show, and women like Samantha Bee and Lilly Singh venturing into the traditionally male late-night arena). In news media, barriers also fell: women such as Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, and Christiane Amanpour occupied top anchor positions in the 2000s and 2010s, normalizing female authority voices on television.

Despite this progress, television still reflects some challenges. Women characters are often younger than their male counterparts and tend to be sexualized or stereotyped in certain genres. A recent analysis found that on TV, the majority of female characters were in their 20s and 30s, whereas male characters were more often in their 40s, indicating that older women are still less visible on screen. There is also unevenness across genres: for instance, unscripted reality programs have achieved gender balance more readily (one report noted women made up about 50% of participants on reality TV), whereas high-budget scripted franchises may lag in inclusion. Nonetheless, by 2025 it is evident that women on television – whether as protagonists of a drama, comedians, hosts, or newsmakers – have a far stronger presence and more varied roles than they did in 1995. The narrative landscape has shifted from one where women were often the exception to one where female-driven stories are a normal and expected part of the entertainment diet.

Women Behind the Scenes: Directors, Writers, Producers, and More

While on-screen visibility is crucial, the evolution of women’s roles behind the camera – in the creative and decision-making positions – is equally important. Historically, these off-screen roles were overwhelmingly dominated by men. Over the last 30 years, women have made inroads into directing, writing, producing, and other key filmmaking and television production jobs, though progress has been gradual and uneven across roles. Below we examine the trends in several major off-screen categories, supported by data on how women’s participation has changed from the late 1990s to mid-2020s.

Women Directors and Writers

In 1995, female directors were a rarity in high-profile film and TV projects. At that time, only a single-digit percentage of major films were directed by women. A long-running study of Hollywood shows that in 1998, women accounted for just 9% of directors on the top 250 grossing films. Two decades later, that number has about doubled – by 2022 women were 18% of directors on top films. This is a notable improvement but still reflects severe underrepresentation (over 80% of top film directors are men). In fact, the increase in women’s directing share has been a slow crawl: from 9% in the late 90s to around just 4–7% through much of the 2000s, then rising into the teens only in the late 2010s. The breakthrough year was 2020, when a record 16% of top-grossing films were directed by women – an achievement aided by the fact that several female-helmed films (like Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland and Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey) were among that year’s releases. By 2022, women’s share stood around 18%, roughly on par with the prior year.

Crucially, this period has seen historic milestones for female directors. In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman ever to win the Academy Award for Best Director, shattering an 82-year barrier. Bigelow’s win for The Hurt Locker (2009) was a turning point, signaling that women could triumph in one of filmmaking’s most prestigious arenas. It was followed a decade later by more history: in 2021, Chloé Zhao won the Best Director Oscar for Nomadland, becoming the first woman of color and only the second woman overall to receive that honor. The very next year, New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion (who had been only the second woman nominee back in 1994) won Best Director for The Power of the Dog, making her the third female winner. These achievements, along with Patty Jenkins directing Wonder Woman (2017) to blockbuster success and Ava DuVernay becoming the first Black woman to direct a $100+ million budget film (A Wrinkle in Time, 2018), have elevated the profile of women directors worldwide. Beyond Hollywood, women have been gaining recognition in other markets too – for example, in China, director Jia Ling’s comedy Hi, Mom (2021) grossed an astonishing $845 million, briefly making her the highest-grossing female film director in the world (surpassing Jenkins’ record). By 2023, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie took that title further with over $1.4 billion gross.

Writing and showrunning (the creative leads in scripting and producing a story) have seen similar gradual improvements. In 1998 women comprised about 13% of writers on top films. By 2022 this had inched up to 19% – again, progress but not parity. In the television realm, women have made a bigger mark as writers and creators of content. The 2010s were sometimes dubbed the era of the female showrunner, with prolific TV creators like Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Bridgerton), Jenji Kohan (Weeds, Orange Is the New Black), Mindy Kaling, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and Issa Rae each developing successful series. Still, even in TV, recent data shows women are far from equal in the creator role: in the 2023–24 season women made up 23% of creators of broadcast/streaming series, down from a peak of 30% a couple years prior. Thus, while female writers and showrunners are far more visible now than in 1995 (when such figures were exceptionally few), they continue to face a “ceiling” in securing a proportionate share of writing gigs, especially in big-budget projects. It’s worth noting that when women do helm projects, it tends to boost overall female inclusion: films directed by at least one woman employ substantially more women writers, editors, and other crew compared to films with exclusively male directors. This multiplier effect, observed in studies, underscores how getting more women in creative leadership can open doors for others and lead to more authentic female perspectives on screen.

Producers and Executives

Women have traditionally found relatively greater representation in producing and executive ranks compared to technical crew, though still not equal. In the mid-1990s, pioneering women like Sherry Lansing and Dawn Steel had broken into the highest echelons of Hollywood as studio heads (Lansing was chairman of Paramount Pictures in the 90s, one of the first women to run a major studio). Throughout 1995–2025, more women rose to prominent executive roles: examples include Amy Pascal (Sony Pictures chair, 2006–2015), Kathleen Kennedy (longtime producer who became President of Lucasfilm in 2012), Stacey Snider (CEO of 20th Century Fox, 2016–2019), and Jennifer Salke(head of Amazon Studios since 2018). These leadership positions were almost unimaginable for women a few decades prior. By the 2010s, women CEOs or presidents at film studios and TV networks, while still the minority, were no longer a novelty.

Data on producers shows a modest upward trend. In 1998, women comprised about 24% of producers on top films. By 2022, that share was 31%. Similarly, women made up 18% of “executive producers” (senior producing roles) in 1998, rising to 25% in 2022. In other words, roughly one quarter to one third of producing roles on major films are now held by women – an improvement from roughly one-fifth or less in the late ’90s. Television producing tends to have higher female participation; in 2023–24 women were 45% of producers on broadcast/streaming series (near parity) and 34% of executive producers, significantly better than the figures in film. This may be partly because television, especially genres like daytime programming and streaming series, historically had more women in production roles, and also because the sheer volume of TV content in the streaming era created more opportunities for women to step into producer/showrunner positions.

It’s important to highlight that while women have gained ground as producers, there is an intersectional gap: women of color remain very underrepresented among top producers and executives. The #OscarsSoWhite and later inclusion discussions in the mid-2010s drew attention to the fact that Hollywood’s power brokers were still overwhelmingly white men. In recent years a few women of color have ascended (for instance, Channing Dungey became the first Black woman to head a major broadcast network, ABC Entertainment, in 2016; and Pearlena Igbokwe was named chairman of Universal Studio Group in 2020). These are notable strides, but industry surveys continue to show that women – and particularly non-white women – hold only a small fraction of influential green-lighting positions.

Technical and Other Off-Screen Roles (Cinematography, Editing, etc.)

Some of the most male-dominated jobs in filmmaking have historically been in technical fields like cinematography (director of photography), editing, sound, and music composition. From 1995 to 2025, women have made only incremental gains in these areas. For example, in 1998 only 4% of cinematographers on top films were women. Astonishingly, that percentage remained in the single digits more than two decades later – women were about 7% of cinematographers on 2022’s top films. In fact, it was not until 2018 that a woman (Rachel Morrison) earned an Academy Award nomination for cinematography – a landmark moment given that category had decades of all-male nominees. Morrison’s nomination (for Mudbound) and subsequent work on big films (like Black Panther) signaled the door cracking open, but overall, female cinematographers are still exceedingly few and often struggle to break into high-budget projects. Similar trends are seen in sound design and music scoring, where women have been traditionally underrepresented (only a handful of women, such as composer Hildur Guðnadóttir who won an Oscar in 2020 for Joker, have risen to the top of those fields in recent years).

Film editing is one behind-the-scenes craft where women historically had a foothold (going back to Hollywood’s Golden Age, many editors were women). Even so, the numbers have not improved much recently. Women were about 20% of film editors on top movies in 1998, and roughly 21% in 2022 – essentially flat over 25 years. There are eminent female editors – e.g. Thelma Schoonmaker, known for her long collaboration with Martin Scorsese, or Margaret Sixel who won an Oscar for editing Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – but in general men still hold around 4 out of 5 editing jobs on major films. In television, women do somewhat better in certain technical roles (for instance, the Boxed In 2024 report showed women as 19% of TV directors of photography and 19% of editors in TV, which, while low, is comparable to film). Overall, the technical fields remain a frontier where gender equality has a long way to go.

To summarize the behind-the-scenes landscape: women have increased their participation since the 1990s in virtually all roles, but the extent of change varies. The table below highlights the shift from 1998 to 2022 in several key film production roles:

Role (Film – Top 250 grossing)	1998: % Women	2022: % Women
Directors	9%	18%
Writers	13%	19%
Executive Producers	18%	25%
Producers	24%	31%
Editors	20%	21%
Cinematographers (Directors of Photo)	4%	7%

Table: Women’s share of behind-the-scenes roles in top films, 1998 vs 2022. While gains have been made (e.g. the percentage of women directors doubled), women remain underrepresented across all key off-screen roles. Sources: “Celluloid Ceiling” reports by Dr. Martha Lauzen.

Notably, even at 31% of producers in film (or 45% in TV), women have not reached parity in any behind-the-scenes category except perhaps minor areas or in specific niches. However, the trend lines are generally upward. The late 2010s and early 2020s in particular saw a renewed focus on hiring women for directing, writing, and other roles, spurred by industry pledges and advocacy (discussed in the next sections). There is a growing acknowledgement that increasing women’s behind-the-camera presence not only promotes equity but can also influence the kinds of stories being told and how women are depicted on screen. As one researcher put it, change in Hollywood has been “little” and slow for women, especially women of color, even in the years following the #MeToo upheaval. Nonetheless, 2025 presents a picture of substantially more women working in film and TV creation than 30 years ago – a testament to the perseverance of women creatives and activists who have pushed for inclusion.

Challenges and Barriers Faced by Women (1995–2025)

Despite the gains in representation, women in the entertainment industry have continued to face significant challenges over the past 30 years. Many of the barriers evident in the 1990s – such as gender bias in hiring, pay inequity, and a male-dominated culture – persist in evolved forms today. This section outlines the key obstacles and how they have (or haven’t) changed over time:

Underrepresentation and the “Celluloid Ceiling”: One fundamental challenge has been simply securing a place in the industry. Women historically encountered a “celluloid ceiling,” with very few opportunities to direct or write major projects. Studios and producers often exhibited an implicit bias that big-budget or “important” films were safer in the hands of male directors. This bias was evident in the stagnant percentages of women in key jobs for many years. For example, even as late as 2016, women were only 17% of all behind-the-scenes positions in top films – virtually the same as in 1998. It took concentrated pressure in the late 2010s to start budging these numbers upward. The underrepresentation has been even more acute for women of color, who make up only a tiny fraction of film directors and showrunners; women of color often report they must overcome both gender and racial stereotypes to be trusted with large productions. The industry has slowly recognized this deficit, but opportunities for non-white female creators remain disproportionately low in 2025.
Stereotypes and Typecasting: Women have also faced the challenge of limited or stereotypical roles both on camera and off. In acting, for many years women were predominantly offered roles as love interests, homemakers, or “eye candy,” especially in high-grossing genres. Female actors often found that meaningful lead roles dwindled past a certain age, due to ageist notions that audiences only wanted to see young women. This began to change as audiences embraced more diverse stories (e.g. the success of films like The Devil Wears Prada featuring an older female lead, or TV series like The Golden Girls earlier on). By the 2010s, there was more openness to women leading action films or being complex antiheroes, but even then actresses sometimes had to fight for roles beyond the archetypes. Off-screen, stereotypes persisted that women were not technically inclined or authoritative enough for certain jobs – e.g. the false belief (cited in an Indian film industry report) that “women can’t handle the pressure” of directing or working on set. These biases resulted in women being passed over for hiring or promotion in favor of men who fit the traditional image of a director or DP. Over time, advocacy and visibility of successful women (a female director winning an Oscar, a woman cinematographer acclaimed for her work, etc.) have started to erode these stereotypes, but they have by no means vanished.
Workplace Harassment and Discrimination: A major barrier that was long an open secret came to the forefront in the 2010s: sexual harassment, abuse, and gender-based discrimination in the industry. The casting couch culture – where powerful men preyed on young actresses – was endemic in Hollywood and elsewhere. Women frequently endured harassing behavior or were pressured into compromising situations, under threat of career retaliation. For decades, this behavior was rarely challenged publicly; victims felt they had little recourse, as complaining could mean being blacklisted. This power imbalance was a significant barrier to women entering and staying in the industry. It also contributed to fewer women in leadership (as men fostered “boys’ club” networks). The watershed moment addressing this challenge was the #MeToo movement in 2017–18, sparked by revelations of sexual assault allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein. As women around the world shared their #MeToo stories, Hollywood was forced into a reckoning. High-profile men were fired or resigned, and there was a new industry-wide scrutiny of workplace behavior. While #MeToo led to greater awareness and some reforms (e.g. strengthened anti-harassment policies, the downfall of serial abusers), its long-term impact on daily life in Hollywood is still developing. By 2025, there is a sense that the flagrant abuses are less likely to be swept under the rug, yet critics note that deep-seated power dynamics have not fully shifted – subtle retaliation and bias can still silence women, especially in regions or sectors of the industry less touched by the media spotlight.
Pay and Opportunity Gap: Women in film and TV have historically also faced pay inequity and fewer opportunities for advancement. Top actresses in the 1990s and 2000s often earned significantly less than their male co-stars. A famous example came from the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, which revealed actresses like Jennifer Lawrence were paid a lower share of profits than their male counterparts on certain films – spurring outcry from stars about equal pay. While some A-list actresses have since negotiated better deals, the pay gap persists in many areas. Moreover, women are less often hired for the most lucrative projects (e.g. directing a big franchise film), which in turn limits their earning potential relative to men. This is slowly changing as studios intentionally hire women for tentpole films (for instance, Chloé Zhao directing Marvel’s Eternals in 2021, Patty Jenkins for Wonder Woman, Nia DaCosta for The Marvels in 2023). Each such hire helps chip away at the notion that women “can’t handle” big-budget or action movies, potentially leading to more equal opportunity. In TV, the explosion of content on streaming platforms provided more chances overall, but women creators have still found it tough to access the highest-budget, marquee projects compared to male showrunners.
Industry Culture and Leadership Imbalance: Another persistent challenge has been the male-dominated culture at the top echelons of entertainment. For many years, women struggled to get into the informal networks where decisions are made – whether that’s an executive boardroom, a guild leadership committee, or an elite cinematographers’ society. The culture often unintentionally catered to men’s comfort, sometimes marginalizing women’s voices (e.g. meetings held in male-only clubs, deal-making on golf courses, etc., where women were historically excluded). This is gradually improving as more women attain leadership roles and as there’s increased awareness of inclusion. But even as of 2025, women frequently report having to work harder for the same recognition. Directors like Ava DuVernay have spoken about not getting a second chance if their film underperforms, whereas male directors might be given more leeway to fail and try again. This double standard means the stakes can feel higher for women, creating pressure and discouraging risk-taking. Organizations such as ReFrame (launched in 2017 by Women in Film and the Sundance Institute) have been pushing studios to commit to more balanced hiring, but changing entrenched corporate habits has been slow.

In summary, while the overt exclusion of women has lessened – nobody today would openly say “women can’t direct,” for instance – subtler forms of bias and structural hurdles remain. The period 1995–2025 has seen these challenges confronted more directly than ever before. The next section details some of the major initiatives and movements that have arisen precisely to combat these barriers and accelerate the pace of change.

Initiatives and Movements Promoting Gender Equality

Beginning in the mid-2010s, and building on decades of activism, there has been a surge of organized efforts to improve gender equality in film and television. These initiatives have tackled issues from multiple angles: raising awareness of representation gaps, advocating for policy changes and inclusive hiring, and calling out harassment and discrimination. Below are some of the key movements and programs from the last 30 years:

#MeToo (2017) and the Shift in Culture: The #MeToo movement started in late 2017 as women (and men) across industries shared personal stories of sexual harassment and abuse. In Hollywood, #MeToo was catalyzed by investigative reports on Harvey Weinstein’s decades of predatory behavior. As the movement went viral, hundreds of powerful figures in entertainment were accused or investigated, leading to what has been called a “cleaning house” of sorts. The impact of #MeToo on the film/TV industry was profound: it ended the silence around harassment and emboldened more women to speak up. In practical terms, studios and guilds established more robust mechanisms for reporting misconduct, intimacy coordinators were introduced on sets to ensure safe filming of sensitive scenes, and there’s now greater reputational risk for companies that ignore harassment claims. However, activists caution that true cultural change (“ending the casting couch”) requires continued vigilance. By shining a light on the pervasiveness of abuse, #MeToo also strengthened the resolve to improve gender balance – as the movement underscored how power disparities (so few women in top roles) enabled abuse. Time’s Up, described below, was one direct offshoot addressing this link between safety and equality.
Time’s Up (2018): Launched in early 2018 by a coalition of Hollywood women (including actors like Reese Witherspoon, Eva Longoria, and others), Time’s Up began as a legal defense fund and advocacy group to fight sexual harassment and push for workplace gender equality. It was founded by some of the industry’s most high-profile women in the wake of #MeToo. Time’s Up advocated for tangible changes such as equal pay, equitable hiring, and better representation of women and minorities at all levels. It also pressured talent agencies and studios to diversify their leadership. One concrete idea promoted by Time’s Up was the “50/50 by 2020” pledge – a goal for gender parity in Hollywood decision-making roles by the year 2020. While parity wasn’t achieved by that date, the pledge did lead several companies to examine their hiring practices. Time’s Up also inspired chapters in other countries (e.g. Time’s Up UK) to address similar issues in their entertainment industries. The organization itself faced some struggles and leadership changes by the early 2020s, but its initial burst helped keep gender equity in the spotlight.
50/50 by 2020 and Industry Pledges: Around 2018, movements like 50/50 by 2020 gained momentum, especially in Europe. At the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, dozens of prominent filmmakers (led in part by the French collective 5050x2020) gathered on the red carpet – 82 women representing the number of female directors who had ever been in competition at Cannes (a fraction of the number of men) – to demand change. Cannes leadership and other major festivals responded by signing a gender parity pledge, committing to transparency in selection and efforts to reach a more balanced inclusion of female filmmakers. This was a landmark moment: Cannes, long criticized for its lack of women, formally agreed to work toward parity in its ranks and programming. Similarly, broadcasters like the BBC launched their own 50:50 initiatives (the BBC’s 50:50 Project aimed to ensure women made up 50% of experts and contributors in their programs, though this was more on-screen representation in news media). Various national film bodies also set targets – for instance, the Swedish Film Institute achieved an equal split of funding to male and female-directed projects by the mid-2010s through firm policy decisions. These pledges signaled a shift from merely hoping for progress to actively engineering it.
Inclusion Riders: In March 2018, the term “inclusion rider” entered the popular lexicon when Frances McDormand mentioned it in her Oscar acceptance speech. An inclusion rider is a contract clause that A-list actors or directors can use to require a certain level of diversity in the cast and crew of a project. The concept, developed by Dr. Stacy Smith of USC and colleagues, essentially leverages the power of top talent to enforce hiring of underrepresented groups (women, people of color, etc.) in meaningful roles on a production. After McDormand’s shout-out, several major stars and producers announced they would adopt inclusion riders. Michael B. Jordan, for example, committed to using inclusion riders for his company’s productions. While it’s hard to quantify the exact effect, the inclusion rider movement contributed to the normalization of discussions about crew diversity during contract negotiations. It gave advocates a concrete tool to demand change on a project-by-project basis.
Research and Advocacy Organizations: Throughout 1995–2025, various organizations have been collecting data and advocating for women. The Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film at San Diego State University (run by Dr. Martha Lauzen) has published the annual “Celluloid Ceiling” and “Boxed In” reports cited in this report, which hold the industry accountable with hard numbers. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, led by Dr. Stacy L. Smith, has released influential studies on diversity (including the percentage of female speaking characters, and the employment of women in top-grossing films) that garner wide media coverage. These studies often reveal the glacial pace of change and bust myths (for example, USC’s research showed no financial disadvantage for films with female leads – a fact that studio executives have increasingly had to acknowledge). Another key player, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (founded in 2004 by actress Geena Davis), focuses on researching how women (and girls) are represented in media. Their motto, “If she can see it, she can be it,” encapsulates the idea that improving on-screen representation can inspire real-life aspirations. The Institute’s studies (such as a 2019 global study with UN Women) have highlighted issues like the hypersexualization of female characters and the lack of women in speaking roles in many markets, providing evidence to push content creators for change. Industry guilds and groups like Women in Film (WIF) and Women in Television and Radio International (WIFTI) have also expanded mentorship programs, grants, and networking events to support women’s careers. In the 2010s, WIF in Los Angeles teamed up with studios on the ReFrame project, which awards a “ReFrame Stamp” to productions that meet certain gender-balanced criteria in staffing; this kind of positive reinforcement encourages content buyers (like networks and streamers) to favor projects with equitable hiring.
Mentorship and Training Initiatives: Recognizing that a pipeline problem contributes to women’s underrepresentation, numerous programs were launched to train and mentor female talent. For instance, the Sundance Institute and WIF began a fellowship for female filmmakers in the mid-2010s. Studios like Disney and WarnerMedia established director programs aimed at women (and minorities) to provide experience on TV episodes or smaller projects, helping them build resumes for bigger jobs. In cinematography, organizations like the International Collective of Female Cinematographers (ICFC) and programs such as the ASC Vision mentorship (by the American Society of Cinematographers) have emerged to support women DPs. These efforts have yet to yield large statistical shifts in those departments, but they have elevated a new generation of women who are now poised to break into what used to be impenetrable boys’ clubs.

Collectively, these movements and initiatives have begun to change the industry’s expectations. By the mid-2020s, there is far greater awareness of gender imbalance and a public relations incentive for studios to improve. It’s increasingly common for studios to tout when a project has a female director or when an executive team achieves 50/50 gender split, which reflects changing norms. Still, as various reports note, change in practice remains slower than rhetoric. For example, even five years after #MeToo, one study observed “Hollywood has evidenced little change for women and underrepresented directors — particularly women of color” in hiring. The hope is that sustained pressure from these advocacy efforts will continue chipping away at resistance and accelerate the trend toward parity.

Influential Women Leaders and Trailblazers (1995–2025)

Behind the statistics and movements, individual women have made a remarkable impact on the industry over the last 30 years. By excelling in their fields, these trailblazers have opened doors for others and shown what’s possible. Below are profiles of a few influential women – in creative, technical, and executive roles – whose accomplishments have been emblematic of progress:

Kathryn Bigelow (Director): Bigelow’s career reached a pinnacle in 2010 when she won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker, making her the first woman in history to receive that honor. Active since the 1980s, Bigelow broke the mold by directing muscular action and thriller films (genres traditionally dominated by male directors). Her Oscar win was more than symbolic; it challenged Hollywood to reconsider its biases about women’s capabilities in directing high-stakes drama and war movies. Bigelow’s achievement inspired countless young female filmmakers and remains a milestone frequently cited in discussions about women’s advancement in film.
Ava DuVernay (Director/Writer/Producer): DuVernay emerged in the 2010s as one of the most influential Black female filmmakers in the world. She was the first Black woman nominated for a Golden Globe Best Director and the first to have a film (Selma, 2014) nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. In 2018, with Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, she became the first African-American woman to direct a film with a budget over $100 million. DuVernay also created the critically acclaimed TV series Queen Sugar, on which she hired only women directors for its first seasons, providing opportunities to dozens of women who had never directed television before. Beyond her own projects, DuVernay has been a vocal advocate for inclusion, launching initiatives like the ARRAY Alliance to support filmmakers of color and female creatives.
Shonda Rhimes (Writer/Producer/Showrunner): Often cited as one of the most powerful women in television, Shonda Rhimes ushered in a new era of female-led TV both on screen and behind the scenes. She created hits like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder, all of which featured women (including women of color) in complex lead roles. As a showrunner and head of Shondaland (her production company), Rhimes cultivated inclusive writers’ rooms and gave many women directors early breaks directing episodes of her shows. In 2017, she signed a landmark development deal with Netflix, reportedly making her one of the highest-paid showrunners in the industry – a testament to her clout. Rhimes’ success has not only delivered beloved female characters to global audiences, but also demonstrated the commercial viability of content created by and about women.
Geena Davis (Actor/Activist): An Academy Award-winning actor (known for The Accidental Tourist, Thelma & Louise, etc.), Geena Davis used her Hollywood stature to launch the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004. Frustrated by the lack of female characters in the children’s programs she watched with her young daughter, Davis spearheaded research into gender representation. The Institute’s studies (like the 2010 “Gender Bias Without Borders” analysis) provided concrete evidence of inequality, such as the finding that only 30.9% of speaking characters in global films were female. Davis famously quips, “If she can see it, she can be it,” emphasizing the need for girls to see women as protagonists, scientists, leaders, etc. on screen. Through behind-the-scenes advocacy (meeting with studios, presenting data to creators), Davis has influenced content creators to consciously increase female presence in media. Her institute’s work is credited with contributing to improvements in the ratio of female characters in family films and TV over the last decade.
Kathleen Kennedy (Producer/Executive): With a career spanning back to the 1980s as Steven Spielberg’s producing partner, Kathleen Kennedy is one of Hollywood’s most successful producers (credits include E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List). In 2012, she was appointed president of Lucasfilm, becoming one of the highest-ranking women in the industry. At Lucasfilm, Kennedy oversaw the new Star Wars trilogy and spin-offs – and notably put a woman (Deborah Chow) and people of color in charge of directing Star Wars live-action series for the first time. She also hired female writers and producers for the franchise in greater numbers. Kennedy’s leadership illustrates the influence one executive can have on improving diversity; under her tenure, Star Warsbegan featuring more prominent female characters (Rey, Jyn Erso, etc.) and talent. Throughout her career, Kennedy has mentored young filmmakers and spoken about the importance of inclusion, leveraging her power to champion women in an industry where female studio chiefs are still uncommon.
Chloé Zhao (Writer/Director/Editor): A more recent trailblazer, Chinese-born Chloé Zhao directed Nomadland(2020) to sweeping awards, culminating in the Oscars where she became the first woman of color to win Best Director. Zhao’s success is striking because she not only directed but also wrote, produced, and even edited her early films – showcasing multifaceted talent. With Nomadland, she told a deeply human story about an older woman (played by Frances McDormand) and in doing so, brought attention to underrepresented perspectives (elderly women, working-class nomads). Zhao’s achievement in the awards arena – being only the second woman to win the directing Oscar – further cemented that top-tier accolades are achievable for women. She has since gone on to direct a Marvel superhero film (Eternals), indicating that doors are opening for women in all genres. Zhao’s calm, humble persona and her success in independent film prepared the way for her to operate in the blockbuster space, perhaps inspiring studios to consider more nontraditional candidates for big projects.
Rachel Morrison (Cinematographer): Morrison made history as the first woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, for Mudbound (2017). As a director of photography, she had already shot the groundbreaking superhero film Black Panther (though she did not receive an Oscar nod for that). Morrison’s Oscar nomination was a glass-ceiling moment in a craft that had been 100% male at the Oscar level for 90 years. Her presence and success have encouraged other female cinematographers to pursue big-budget work. In interviews, Morrison often discusses combating the skepticism she faced and how she proved that women can excel in the technical, lighting, and action-heavy demands of cinematography. By 2022, women were still only 7% of cinematographers on top films, but the visibility of Morrison (and peers like Mandy Walker, who in 2023 became the second woman Oscar-nominated in this category) is slowly chipping away at the bias.
Oprah Winfrey (Media Mogul/Producer/Actor): No discussion of influential women in media is complete without Oprah. Already a dominant TV host by the mid-90s, Oprah in the subsequent decades expanded her empire to include film and TV production (through Harpo Productions), a magazine, and her own cable network (OWN). She has produced acclaimed projects such as Selma (2014) – she was a producer on the film and also acted in it – and championed stories about African-American women (e.g. the TV miniseries Queen Sugar on OWN deliberately employed women directors for every episode under her and Ava DuVernay’s guidance). Oprah’s personal journey from talk show host to billion-dollar entrepreneur has been hugely inspirational, and she has leveraged her clout to elevate other women’s voices. For instance, she was instrumental in bringing Hidden Figures (the story of Black women mathematicians at NASA) to a wide audience through her platform. Oprah’s interview specials and documentaries also often center on women’s issues and empowerment. As an executive, she has been one of the few Black women at the helm of a network, highlighting both the heights that can be reached and the rarity of such representation which future generations might aim to normalize.

These examples are just a sampling – many other women deserve recognition for pushing boundaries during this period (from Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta making strides in global cinema, to Deborah Chow and Patty Jenkins in genre entertainment, and executives like Anne Sweeney, Donna Langley, and Salma Hayek who have made their mark as producers). The common thread among these trailblazers is that their successes created ripple effects: each time a “first” was achieved or a record was broken by a woman, it expanded the realm of possibility a little further for those who followed.

Conclusion

From 1995 to 2025, the global film and television industry has seen a noteworthy evolution in women’s roles. On-screen, women have moved closer to equal footing – with female protagonists in 2024 reaching parity with male protagonists in top films for the first time, and women in television achieving near 45–50% representation in many contexts. Off-screen, women have entered fields once nearly closed to them, doubling their presence in directing and writing since the 90s (though from very low bases), and gradually increasing their share of producing and executive positions. These changes did not come easily; they are the result of decades of perseverance by women creatives, as well as collective initiatives that challenged the status quo. Critical milestones – from award recognitions like Kathryn Bigelow’s and Chloé Zhao’s historic Oscar wins to influential movements like #MeToo – have punctuated this 30-year journey and pushed the industry toward greater gender awareness.

Yet, it is equally clear that the journey is far from complete. Women still form a minority in many key behind-the-scenes roles and face systemic barriers, especially women from marginalized communities. The latter half of the 2010s and early 2020s can be seen as an inflection point, where the conversation around women’s equality in entertainment became mainstream and urgent. The true impact of that cultural shift will continue to unfold in years to come. As of 2025, we can celebrate that a young girl watching movies or TV has far more chances to “see herself” – be it a female superhero on screen or a female name in the directing credits – than she did in 1995. The industry has been forced to recognize that empowering women is not just a matter of fairness but also creativity and profitability (as diverse stories prove their wide appeal).

In conclusion, the evolution of women’s roles in film and television between 1995 and 2025 is a story of hard-won progress: one of shattering glass ceilings, amplifying women’s voices, and redefining what leadership looks like in Hollywood and beyond. Every gain has laid groundwork for the next generation of women to go further. With continued effort and accountability, the coming decades could very well see the film and TV industry move from partial inclusion to true gender parity – fulfilling the promise that the last 30 years have begun to show.

Sources:

Lauzen, M. (2023). The Celluloid Ceiling: 2022. Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, SDSU. – Key statistics on women’s behind-the-scenes employment in top films.
Lauzen, M. (2024). Boxed In: 2023-24. Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, SDSU. – Statistics on women’s on-screen and behind-the-scenes representation in TV.
Lauzen, M. – It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World reports (2019–2024). – Data on female protagonists in top-grossing films by year.
Guardian (2010). “Kathryn Bigelow makes history as first woman to win best director Oscar.” – News of Bigelow’s Oscar win (first female Best Director).
NPR (2021). “Chloé Zhao Is The First Woman Of Color To Win Oscar For Best Director.” – News of Zhao’s Oscar win (first woman of color).
The Guardian (2025). “Women achieve gender parity with men in US big screen lead roles for first time.” – Reporting parity of female/male leads in 2024 top films; quote from Dr. Stacy L. Smith.
No Film School (2023). “Why Did 2022 Fail to Represent More Women Behind the Camera?” – Summary of 2022 Celluloid Ceiling report; includes quote on lack of change since #MeToo.
The Swaddle (2022). “Indian Women Hold Only 10% of Directing, Writing Positions in Films and TV: Report.” – Example of global context: data on India’s film industry and cultural biases.
Smithsonian Magazine (2023). “‘Barbie’... First Billion-Dollar Movie Directed Solely by a Woman.” – On Greta Gerwig’s record-breaking success with Barbie (women’s box office power).
Various news/features on industry movements: e.g. AP/Guardian on Cannes 50/50 pledge, CNBC/Guardian on inclusion riders, etc. (Cited in text where applicable).