The vast majority of first-time television directors hired over the past six seasons were men, and most were white, highlighting a failure in efforts to increase diversity among the directing ranks, according to a study released Thursday by the Directors Guild of America.
According to the study, 611 first-time directors were hired for television series between the 2009-10 season and the 2014-15 season — 82 percent of them were men and 86 percent were white.
“You can’t increase diversity in the long term without focusing on entry into the business — we challenge the networks, studios and executive producers who make all the hiring decisions in episodic television to set diversity hiring goals,” DGA President Paris Barclay said. “It should be that hard, because we’ve found that when women and minorities do actually get their first breaks, they’re even more likely to continue on in television directing than the rest of the pool.”
According to the study, writers/producers made up 26 percent of the first-time director pool during the study period, while actors made up 20 percent, cinematographers/camera operators were 8 percent and editors totaled 5 percent.
About 27 percent of first-time television directors had previously directed in other media, such as independent film, commercials, music videos and documentaries.
“As it stands now, nearly half of the new hires are writer/producers or actors,” Barclay said. “It may sound revolutionary, but those with the power to hire may want to consider bringing in more directors — people who are committed to directing as a career — instead of approaching the assignment as a perk.”
— City News Service