After years of growth toward equity in scripted series production, women lose ground in nearly every position analyzed; gender-balanced series are down 8.5% from last year and 20% from peak in 2020-21
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–IMDbPro and ReFrame, an initiative of Sundance Institute and WIF (formerly known as Women In Film, Los Angeles), announced that 77 of the 200 most popular scripted series of the 2023-24 season have been awarded the ReFrame Stamp for gender-balanced hiring (full list below). The 77 awardees represent 38.5% of the 200 most popular scripted series, which is a decrease of 8.5% from last year and 20% from the peak in 2020-21. The Stamp acknowledges gender-balanced hiring and demonstrates the potential for every production—regardless of subject matter or the gender of its creator or lead talent—to achieve gender equity
The ReFrame TV Stamp, launched in 2018, is awarded to scripted series that hire women or people of other underrepresented genders (including those who are trans, nonbinary or gender nonconforming) in at least 50% of key roles including: showrunner, writers, directors, executive and line producers, leads, co-leads, and department heads. Additional points are awarded to productions that hire women of color in these positions, and to those with overall gender parity in their crews. View full criteria here.
ReFrame founders, Keri Putnam and Cathy Schulman, responded to this year’s data, “ReFrame is thrilled to congratulate the 77 series that achieved equity in their hiring this year. However, 38.5% of series reaching this benchmark falls far short of the 100% fair hiring standard we should all aspire to. The ReFrame Stamp’s criteria of gender balanced hiring should be the goal of all productions.” They continued, “Positive trends in mitigating bias often flatline or roll-back after a period of progress. It’s a testament to the efforts of many across the field that there are nearly twice as many Stamped series this year as when we began in 2018, but the drop of 20% over the last four years indicates a troubling trend. If this pace of reduction continues, all the progress made in diversifying the talent shaping media in the U.S. will be erased in two years.”
CEO of WIF and ReFrame Council Member Kirsten Schaffer added, “The contraction in the business resulted in 204 fewer episodes across the Top 200 series than in prior years analyzed. This should impact writers and directors equally, with lost jobs split evenly between men and women but this year’s findings suggest that women are disproportionately impacted and demands further study.” ReFrame Council Member and Founding Senior Director of Artist Programs at Sundance Institute Michelle Satter concluded, “The value of a pipeline of support for underrepresented storytellers on both sides of the camera cannot be understated. Renewed attention to inclusion, collaboration and transparency are needed for our field to be equitable.”
Key findings of the full ReFrame Report on Gender and Hiring in TV, released today and determined by ReFrame’s extensive analysis of IMDbPro data, include:
- Lead cast surpassed the 50% mark last year with 54% of lead roles being portrayed by women or gender diverse performers; this year representation dropped to 41% (13% decrease).
- Pilot writing and directing jobs and their many financial benefits remain primarily in men’s hands and pockets. There is a consistent average gap of nearly 12% for directors and 14% for writers year-over-year in hiring for pilot episodes versus episodes overall. Of the 102 pilot episodes in this year’s list, 26 (25.5%) were directed by women, including one trans woman, and 33 (32.4%) were written by women.
- All 13 series in the top 200 that are showrun by women of color obtained the ReFrame Stamp. Though any project can achieve the Stamp through gender-balanced hiring in key positions, there is still an overwhelming correlation between showrunner identity and overall equity. Nearly 60% of Stamped series are showrun by women, compared to 32.5% of series overall.
- This year’s gains were for line producers, directors of photography, composers and intimacy coordinators. With the exception of intimacy coordinators (where qualifying candidates hold 49% of positions), even with this year’s increases, women and gender-diverse people hold fewer than 20% of positions in these other important roles.
- Of the 77 series receiving the Stamp, 59 (76.6%) were released on streaming services, 9 (11.7%) on cable and 9 (11.7%) on networks.
- For the third consecutive year, the majority of Emmy Nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series received the Stamp. Five of the eight (Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows) met the gender-balanced production criteria as well as three of the eight nominated series in the Outstanding Drama category (Fallout, The Morning Show and Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and three of the five Limited or Anthology Series (Baby Reindeer, Lessons in Chemistry, True Detective: Night Country).
The ReFrame Report includes a company report card which further breaks out the streaming, network and cable shows captured in the Top 200 to determine the percentage of series from each distributor that met ReFrame Stamp criteria. With the exception of Amazon MGM Studios (which had 60.9% of their series this year meet ReFrame Stamp criteria), every distributor reflects a lower percentage of gender-balanced series than in 2020-21 (the first year this data was collected).
The ReFrame Report also highlights actionable resources that empower studios and distributors to find historically excluded cast and crew to hire and collaborate with. The ReFrame ReSource includes more than 100 tools, best practices and insights highlighting the work of countless advocacy experts and organizations. Decision-makers can discover and hire inclusively with IMDbPro and its advanced search feature, which is available to all IMDbPro Premium members. Professionals can find cast and crew based on self-identified demographic information, including gender/gender identity and race/ethnicity. IMDbPro members with a claimed name page can self-identify this information, which is intended to support talent, particularly from under-represented communities, looking to be discovered and advance their careers.
To determine the 2023-24 Stamp recipients, ReFrame examined IMDbPro data on the 200 most popular narrative television and streaming shows with a full season of episodes released during the Emmys eligibility period of June 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024. See the full list here. Each show was considered for the list based on its top-performing four weeks during the eligibility period on the IMDbPro proprietary ranking of titles, factoring in the removal of sports, news, non-fiction and reality programs. IMDbPro rankings are based on the actual page views of the more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide. IMDb is the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities, and its vast and authoritative database features more than 500 hundred million searchable data items.
ReFrame encourages all productions to implement equitable hiring practices and apply to earn the ReFrame Stamp year-round. Through an open application process, numerous television and streaming productions outside of the Top 200 earned the Stamp in 2023-24, including The Ms. Pat Show: Season 3 (BET+), SKYMED: Season 2 (CBS), The Other Black Girl: Season 1 (Hulu) and Station 19: Season 7 (ABC). The list of all 2023-24 Stamped shows is available below, on ReFrame’s website and at IMDb.com/ReFrame.
About ReFrame
Founded and led by Sundance Institute and WIF (formerly known as Women In Film, Los Angeles), ReFrame is an initiative that employs a unique strategy: a peer-to-peer approach, in which ReFrame Ambassadors engage with senior industry decision-makers at over 50 Partner Companies to implement ReFrame systemic change programs. The initiative’s goals are to provide research, support, and a practical framework that can be used by Partner companies to mitigate bias during the creative decision-making and hiring process, celebrate successes, and measure progress toward a more gender-representative industry on all levels.
The ReFrame Council, which leads the strategic direction of the organization with ReFrame Program Director Erica Fishman, includes the initiative’s founding members: WIF CEO Kirsten Schaffer, Producer and Former Sundance Institute CEO Keri Putnam, and Oscar-winning producer, WIF President Emerita and founder of Welle Entertainment Cathy Schulman, alongside Channing Dungey (Chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group), Franklin Leonard (Founder, The Black List), Rena Ronson (Head of UTA Independent Film Group), and Michelle Satter (Founding Senior Director, Artist Programs, Sundance Institute).
ReFrame is made possible by support from Netflix’s Creative Equity Fund, IMDbPro, The David and Lura Lovell Foundation, WME, Adobe and the Women at Sundance Leadership Council.
About IMDb
IMDb is the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows and celebrities. Products and services to help fans decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and X-Ray on Prime Video. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb licenses information from its vast and authoritative database to third-party businesses worldwide; learn more at developer.imdb.com. IMDb is an Amazon company. For more information, visit imdb.com/press and follow @IMDb.
About IMDbPro
IMDbPro is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals. This membership service empowers professionals with information and features designed to help them achieve success throughout all stages of their career. IMDbPro membership includes the following: detailed contact and representation information; tools for members to manage and showcase their IMDb profile, including selecting their primary images and the credits they are best “known for”; exclusive STARmeter rankings determined by page views on IMDb; the IMDbPro app for iPhone, iPad, and Android; IMDbPro Track, which empowers members to receive personalized entertainment industry news and notifications on the people and film and TV projects they want to follow; and a convenient feature that generates custom digital assets to promote their work on social media and other platforms. IMDbPro membership includes features for professionals to self-identify and manage the display of certain information about themselves and their careers on IMDb and IMDbPro and limited access to industry news, research, and cast and crew notices. IMDbPro is a division of IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Industry professionals can join IMDbPro today at www.imdbpro.com. Follow IMDbPro on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
About Sundance Institute
As a champion and curator of independent stories, the nonprofit Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists across storytelling media to create and thrive. Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute’s signature labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. Sundance Collab, a digital community platform, brings a global cohort of working artists together to learn from Sundance advisors and connect with each other in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences and artists to ignite new ideas, discover original voices, and build a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Through the Sundance Institute artist programs, we have supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Big Sick, Bottle Rocket, Boys Don’t Cry, Boys State, Call Me by Your Name, Clemency, CODA, Drunktown’s Finest, The Farewell, Fire of Love, Flee, The Forty-Year-Old Version, Fruitvale Station, Get Out, Half Nelson, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hereditary, Honeyland, The Infiltrators, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Little Woods, Love & Basketball, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Mudbound, Nanny, Navalny, O.J.: Made in America, One Child Nation, Pariah, Raising Victor Vargas, Requiem for a Dream, Reservoir Dogs, RBG, Sin Nombre, Sorry to Bother You, The Souvenir, Strong Island, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Swiss Army Man, Sydney, A Thousand and One, Top of the Lake, Walking and Talking, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, and Zola. Through year-round artist programs, the Institute also nurtured the early careers of such artists as Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Gregg Araki, Darren Aronofsky, Lisa Cholodenko, Ryan Coogler, Nia DaCosta, The Daniels, David Gordon Green, Miranda July, James Mangold, John Cameron Mitchell, Kimberly Peirce, Boots Riley, Ira Sachs, Quentin Tarantino, Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao. Support Sundance Institute in our commitment to uplifting bold artists and powerful storytelling globally by making a donation at sundance.org/donate. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube.
About WIF
Founded in 1973 as Women In Film, Los Angeles, WIF has been fighting for gender equity for more than 50 years. Its advocacy, career programs, and research efforts are a driving force for increasing gender representation in Hollywood. WIF works to dismantle gender bias in the screen industries by building the pipeline, sustaining careers, and advocating for change. Membership is open to all screen industry professionals and more information can be found on our website: WIF.org. WIF is led by Chief Executive Officer Kirsten Schaffer and President of the Board of Directors Amy Baer. Follow WIF on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.
2023-24 ReFrame Stamp – IMDbPro Top 200 Scripted TV Recipients
Listed in alphabetical order, below are the Stamped series for the 2023-24 season. Series that applied for the ReFrame Stamp as part of their production process are indicated with a *.
Abbott Elementary / Season 3: Hulu
Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake / Max: Season 1
Ahsoka / Disney+ : Season 1
A Man in Full / Netflix: Season 1
American Horror Story / Hulu: Season 12
A Murder at the End of the World / Hulu: Season 1
Baby Reindeer / Netflix: Season 1
Based on a True Story / Peacock: Season 1
*Black Cake / Hulu: Season 1
Blue Eye Samurai / Netflix: Season 1
Bodies / Netflix: Season 1
*Cruel Summer / Freeform: Season 2
Deadloch / Amazon Prime: Season 1
Death and Other Details / Hulu: Season 1
Dr. Death / Peacock: Season 2
Echo / Disney+: Season 1
Elsbeth / Paramount+: Season 1
Expats / Amazon Prime: Season 1
Extraordinary / Hulu: Season 2
Fallout / Amazon Prime: Season 1
Fellow Travelers / Paramount+: Season 1
Found / Peacock: Season 1
Gen V / Amazon Prime: Season 1
Girls5eva / Netflix: Season 3
*Grey’s Anatomy / Hulu: Season 20
Griselda / Netflix: Season 1
Hacks / Max: Season 3
Harlan Coben’s Shelter / Amazon Prime: Season 1
Harley Quinn / Max: Season 4
Hazbin Hotel / Amazon Prime: Season 1
Heartbreak High / Netflix: Season 2
Invasion / Apple TV: Season 2
Julia / Max: Season 2
Lawmen: Bass Reeves / Paramount+: Season 1
Lessons in Chemistry / Apple TV: Season 1
*Minx / Starz: Season 2
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters / Apple TV: Season 1
*Mr. & Mrs. Smith / Amazon Prime: Season 1
My Adventures with Superman / Max: Season 1
My Life with the Walter Boys / Netflix: Season 1
Never Have I Ever / Netflix: Season 4
One Day / Netflix: Season 1
Painkiller / Netflix: Season 1
*Physical / Apple TV: Season 3
Quantum Leap / Bravo: Season 2
Renegade Nell / Disney+: Season 1
Reservation Dogs / Hulu: Season 3
Sex Education / Netflix: Season 4
Special Ops: Lioness / Paramount+ : Season 1
Star Trek: Discovery / Paramount+: Season 5
Star Trek: Lower Decks / Paramount+: Season 4
Sweet Magnolias / Netflix: Season 3
The Artful Dodger / Hulu: Season 1
The Baxters / Amazon Prime: Season 3
The Bear / Hulu: Season 2
The Buccaneers / Apple TV: Season 1
The Changeling / Apple TV: Season 1
The Cleaning Lady / Hulu: Season 3
The Horror of Dolores Roach / Amazon Prime: Season 1
The Lincoln Lawyer / Netflix: Season 2
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart / Amazon Prime: Season 1
Them / Amazon Prime: Season 2
*The Morning Show / Apple TV: Season 3
The Summer I Turned Pretty / Amazon Prime: Season 2
The Tattooist of Auschwitz / Peacock: Season 1
The Walking Dead: Dead City / AMC+: Season 1
*The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live / AMC: Season 1
The Wheel of Time / Amazon Prime: Season 2
The Witcher / Netflix: Season 4
True Detective / Max: Season 4
Under the Bridge / Hulu: Season 1
Virgin River / Netflix: Season 5
We Were the Lucky Ones / Hulu: Season 1
What We Do in the Shadows / Hulu: Season 5
Wilderness / Amazon Prime: Season 1
Will Trent / Hulu: Season 2
9-1-1 / ABC: Season 7
Scripted Series outside of the Top 200 that applied for the ReFrame Stamp:
SKYMED / CBS: Season 2
Station 19 / ABC: Season 7
The Ms. Pat Show / BET+: Season 3
The Other Black Girl / Hulu: Season 1
*Noting that Bridgerton / Netflix: Season 3 Parts 1 & 2 also applied for and received the Stamp, but due to timing are not eligible within this report cycle.
Contacts
IMDbPro:
Lindsey Brown-McLravy, SLATE PR
lindsey@slate-pr.com
ReFrame:
Chandra Jackson, WIF
cjackson@wif.org
