Directors Guild of America Reveals Lack Of Diversity Hiring.

The Directors Guild of America released a report on the employment of women and minority directors by television networks on the “top forty” prime time drama and comedy series in 2000-2001. The report shows that 80 percent of the episodes were directed by Caucasian males, and that women and minority directors were totally missing from some of the best-known series line-ups.

“The report reveals that once again the networks have failed to fulfill their good faith obligation to hire more women and minority directors,” said DGA President Jack Shea. “Although for many years we have challenged the industry to open up employment opportunities for women and minorities, it is clear from this report that their commitment to diversity is not reflected in their hiring of directors.”

For years, the DGA has tracked the entertainment industry hiring practices. However, this is the first time the Guild has singled out the records of the top forty prime time drama and comedy television series. The report shows that of the 826 total episodes in 2000-2001, Caucasian males directed 663 (80%); women directed 89 (11%); African Americans, 27 (3%); Latinos, 15 (2%); and Asian Americans directed only 11 episodes (1%).

The following are some of the most egregious examples of the exclusion of women and minority directors:

Nine of the top forty prime time series hired absolutely no minority directors: Becker, Boston Public, Dark Angel, Ed, Judging Amy, Malcolm in the Middle, Providence, What About Joan, and Yes Dear;

Nine of the top forty hired absolutely no women directors: CSI; Everybody Loves Raymond; JAG; King of Queens; My Wife and Kids; Nash Bridges; The District; Walker, Texas Ranger; and The X-Files

Three of the top forty prime time series hired absolutely no women or minority directors: The Drew Carey Show, Friends and Law & Order.

(Although Will & Grace, The Geena Davis Show, That ’70s Show, Spin City and Big Apple did not employ women or minorities, they are not cited here because they had no more than two directors for the entire series.)

The Guild is also currently reviewing the 2001-2002 season. It is noteworthy that with nearly half of the season’s episodes scheduled to date, four of last year’s worst offenders have shown little or no improvement in women and minority hiring:

Everybody Loves Raymond continues to shun both women and minority directors, choosing instead to hire only Caucasian males for the 12 episodes scheduled to date.

The Drew Carey Show, which did not hire a single woman or minority to direct any of its episodes last season, has continued that trend, hiring no women or minorities to direct its 16 episodes scheduled to date.

Friends, which hired no women or minority directors in 2000-2001, has hired one African American to direct one episode out of 14 already scheduled.

Law and Order, which failed to hire women or minorities to direct any of its episodes in 2000-2001, has hired a woman to direct one of the 12 episodes scheduled to date.

“The networks and the producers have repeatedly promised to do everything in their power to provide more employment opportunities for women and minority directors,” said DGA President Jack Shea. “Each year they have failed to fulfill their promises, and each year this talent pool continues to be ignored.”

While employment opportunities for women and minorities on these top forty prime time television series were dismal overall, there were four series that defied the networks’ trends:

Frasier: NBC/Grub Street Productions chose two women to direct 10 of its 19 episodes and one African American for two episodes;

Just Shoot Me: NBC/Universal Pictures hired two women to direct 17 of its 23 episodes and one African American directed one episode.

Three Sisters: NBC/NBC Studios picked three women to direct 11 of its 16 episodes and one Asian American to direct two episodes.

What About Joan: ABC/Columbia Tri-Star Television chose a woman to direct seven of its 16 episodes.

Although three of these four series were produced for NBC, that network failed to hire a single woman director in four of its other series and averaged only two women directors in its remaining six series.

“The DGA and its Women and Minority Committees have held countless meetings with networks and studio representatives to explore ways to increase employment opportunities, but these meetings appear to have been fruitless,” said Shea. “We challenge the industry yet again to demonstrate a real commitment to diversity.”

Related Reports

2000-2001 Television Season-Top Forty Prime Time Series Directors hiring statistics report. CLICK below (Adobe Acrobat required):
http://www.dga.org/news/images/Top%20Forty%2012802.pdf

2000-2001 Television Season-Top Forty Prime Time Series Directors hiring report – followup. CLICK below (Adobe Acrobat required):
http://www.dga.org/news/images/Top%2040%20Followup.pdf

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