DGA Monthly

D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 4 I 1 5 Analysis of demographic hiring trends shows stable episodic television employment at studios and streamers for female Directors and Directors of color despite reduced production. Report releases a first look at data for hiring among LGBTQ+ and disabled communities. Despite gains for television Directors, inclusive hiring for Assistant Directors and UPMs remains challenging. DGA Releases Inclusion Hiring Data in Episodic Television Over the 2023-2024 Season On October 25, the Directors Guild of America released an analysis of hiring trends in episodic television for the 2023-2024 season, showing that recent gains over the past decade in employment levels for women and Directors of color have continued during the recent slowdown in television production. The report also includes hiring data for women and people of color in the directorial teams, as well as initial data on the employment of Directors and members of the directorial team who self-identify as LGBTQ+ or as a person with a disability. The Guild began tracking this data in 2022. "The good news is that the industry has made measurable gains in the employment of women Directors and Directors of color in episodic television over the past ten seasons," said DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter. "Although these gains have held steady through the beginning of 2024, we must remain vigilant in this time when employers have pulled back on production. Our Diversity and Inclusion data is critical for putting pressure on the industry to do a better job in advancing opportunities for Directors from historically marginalized communities. So, we are proud to expand the reach of our data to also include trends for the LGBTQ+ and disabled communities as we continue our commitment to advocate for an equal playing field for all." Hiring of Television Directors An analysis of 1,430 DGA-covered television episodes produced during the 2023-2024 season showed the percentage of all television episodes directed by women was 37%, which is up from 16% over the past ten years, but down 3% from its high in 2021, and 39% for those directed by people of color, which rose from 18% ten years ago. Hiring trends in specific communities since the 2014-2015 season showed the following: women of color grew from 3% in 2014/15 to 13% in 2023/24. Men of color increased from 15% in 2014/15 to 26% in 2023/24, and representation for white women expanded from 13% in 2014/15 to 20% in 2023/24. The report also shows that despite the strike-related drop in episodic television production in 2023/24 – 1,430 episodes compared to 3,926 in 2022 – hiring across six of seven demographic categories remained proportionate to prior years. To expand its research into the diversity of hiring the television industry, the DGA began tracking data of episodic television Directors who self-identity as members of the LBGTQ+ and disabled communities. Its inaugural data shows that of episodes produced in 2023, 8.6% were directed by members of the LGBTQ+ community and 0.6% by a member of the disabled community. "We encourage the studios to continue to build on the progress they have made over the prior decade as production levels recover following various disruptions to work over the last few years," said Edward Ornelas, co-chair of the DGA's Television Diversity Task Force. "We are particularly focused on finding ways to increase behind the camera representation for the Latino community, which continues to lag despite its status as a large historically marginalized group." — continued on page 16

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