THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE U.S MEDIA 2015

WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER
Declining Hollywood TV writer opportunities hit women, minorities and
the more seasoned hardest of all, says the Writers Guild of America
Women and people of color who write for Hollywood television shows made small
gains since the Writers Guild of America (WGA) issued its previous semi-annual report.
But, Guild officials say, those persons are a long way from parity.
The Guild’s April 2014 Hollywood Writers Report, “Turning Missed Opportunities Into
Realized Ones,” found that:
Men were 73 percent of all Hollywood TV writers in 2012. Women were 27 percent.
Women television writers earned about 92 cents for every dollar that white male writers
earned in 2012, a penny more than the 91 cents women earned in 2009.
Men writing for film accounted for 85 percent of all screenwriters. Women represented
15 percent. That compared to 17 percent in 2009 and meant that men screenwriters
outnumbered women screenwriters by a more than 3 to 1 margin.
Women film writers earned 77 cents for every dollar earned by white male film writers
in 2012, down from 82 cents in 2009.
The share of minority television writers rose to 11 percent in 2012 from 10 percent
in 2009. But, by a 3 to 1 margin, white TV writers outnumbered minority TV writers.
Minorities represented 6 percent of film writers for the decade ending in 2009, when
that rate fell to 5 percent. In 2012, the figure remained at 5 percent, which meant that
minorities were outnumbered by 7 to 1.
While writers aged 41 to 50 got most of the gigs in Hollywood, that reality largely
reversed itself once those writers turned 60.
Women writers’ share of employment, 2008-2012
30%
28
28
28
27
27
25
25
24
24
24
20
17
17
16
16
16
10
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
All Television Film
Source: Writers Guild of America
Graphic produced by the Women’s Media Center
The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2015 TOC womensmediacenter.com 63