ReFrame, an initiative of the Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles, and IMDbPro has announced that 47% of the 200 most popular scripted series of the 2021-2022 season earned the ReFrame Stamp for gender-balanced hiring, reports Deadline.
For the first time, ReFrame has also issued a Company Report Card, indicating where studios, streamers, and networks have met the ReFrame Stamp standard. Apple TV+ had the highest percentage of its content earn the Stamp – 75% of its eligible series met gender-balanced hiring criteria – and the majority of the major studios saw at least 40% of their content earn the Stamp.
Presented in partnership with IMDbPro, the ReFrame Stamp serves as a mark of distinction for projects that have demonstrated gender-balanced hiring. The Stamp criteria were developed in consultation with ReFrame Ambassadors, producers, and other industry experts.
The Stamp is awarded annually to Feature Films and Television content. Productions that have received the Stamp are granted permission to include it in end credits and marketing materials and will receive additional promotional support from ReFrame.
The latest ReFrame Stamp report shows a 7% decrease from the previous season, but more than double the number of shows that qualified when ReFrame Stamp first launched in 2018. ReFrame and IMDbPro have now renewed their collaboration on the Stamp initiative through 2025 according to Deadline. Key findings of the 2021-2022 report include:
- The majority of showrunners are men, and the majority of women showrunners are white. Of the 200 shows analyzed, 59 had a woman showrunner (29.5%). Of those shows, only 7 had a woman of color showrunner (3.5%).
- Men directed the majority of episodes; many women directed multiple episodes. Of the 2008 episodes analyzed, 723 (36%) were directed by 293 women. 194 episodes (9.7%) were directed by 88 women of color.
- We are nearing gender parity for episodes written by women, but not for women of color writers. Of the 2008 episodes analyzed, 973 were written by women (48.5%). 325 episodes (16.2%) were written by women of color.
- More women cinematographers are getting hired, but very few women of color. 44 of the 200 shows (22%) hired a woman cinematographer for at least one episode, which indicates an increase of over 100% from prior year. However, only 7 shows hired a cinematographer who was a woman of color (3.5%).
- 62.5% of shows in the Emmy Awards Outstanding Comedy Series category received the Stamp (“Abbott Elementary,” “Hacks,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “What We Do In The Shadows”), as did 60% of shows in the Outstanding Limited Series category (“Inventing Anna,” “Pam and Tommy,” “The Dropout”) and 37.5% of shows nominated in the Emmys category of Outstanding Drama Series (“Severance,” “Euphoria,” “Yellowjackets”).
