Despite the noise surrounding diversity and gender equality, the film and entertainment sector lags behind, with tangible action appearing to be insufficient.
A comprehensive analysis by Ormax Media, Film Companion, and Prime Video of the film and streaming industry, showed the year 2022 witnessing incremental progress in some areas, however there was a concerning widening of gender disparities.
As per the report, across streaming and theatrical, incremental increases of no more than 3 percent were seen in editing, cinematography, and directing.
Production design representation decreased by 1 percent. Writing saw no change between 2021 and 2022.
Female representation in Head of Departments (HODs) within streaming films and series saw a 4 percent and 1 percent increase, respectively. However, theatrical films remained stagnant at 3 percent, leading to a wider gap between the two mediums. In the corporate realm, progress in senior management remained slow, with women making up only 13 percent, up marginally from 10 percent in the previous year.
The representation of female HODs (head of departments) in Hindi content remained at a stagnant 17 percent, making it the only language with double-digit female HOD representation.
A concerning trend was highlighted in the Bechdel Test results, which is an internationally-accepted measure of female representation in cinema. The percentage of properties passing the test decreased from 55 percent in 2021 to 47 percent in 2022.
In order to pass the test, a film must have at least one scene where two named women are talking to each other about something other than a man.
For streaming series, given their longer runtime, the criteria was modified to at least three scenes.