29 of the 100 Most Popular Films of 2022 Meet ReFrame Criteria for Gender-Balanced Production including Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Woman King, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Report reveals entertainment production hiring levels for women have flatlined in the last four years, following a 125% jump between 2017-2019
Los Angeles, CA - ReFrame, the collaborative initiative launched in 2017 by Sundance Institute and WIF to advance gender equity in the screen industries, and IMDbPro, the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals, today announced the findings of its most recent ReFrame Report, which shows that 29 of the 100 most popular films of 2022 meet ReFrame Stamp criteria for gender-balanced production. The ReFrame Report can be viewed HERE. Recipients include some of 2022's most critically acclaimed films from women directors, Gina Prince-Bythewood's The Woman King and Sarah Polley's Women Talking, and also films from male directors including Ryan Coogler's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All At Once, also the year's leader in Academy Award nominations.
The ReFrame Stamp is awarded to features that hire women or individuals of other underrepresented gender identities/expressions (including those who are non-binary or gender non-conforming) in at least 50% of key roles including writer, director, producer, lead, co-leads, and department heads (Cinematographer, Production Designer, Casting Director, Costume Designer, Editor, Composer, Music Supervisor, VFX Supervisor). Additional points are awarded to productions that hire women of color in key positions, and to those with overall gender parity in their crews. View full criteria here.
The report additionally reveals that despite significant growth in gender-equitable hiring among the 100 most popular films in 2018 (66% increase over 2017) and 2019 (35% increase over 2018), entertainment production hiring levels for women have plateaued over the last four years, with no significant advancement for women in key roles between 2019 and 2022.
Key findings of the ReFrame Report when compared with 2021 results:
There was no increase in the number of women directors hired across the Top 100 feature films (14% in 2022 and 2021), and a decrease in the number of women of color hired as directors (2% in 2022 vs. 4% in 2021)
There was no significant increase in the number of women writers hired across the Top 100 feature films (32% in 2022 vs. 31% in 2021), and a decrease in the number of women of color hired as writers (2% in 2022 vs. 9% in 2021)
No non-binary or gender non-conforming people were hired as writers or directors across the Top 100 feature films (0% in 2022 and 2021)
No increase in the number of Academy Award nominees for Best Picture which qualify for the Stamp (30% in 2022 and 2021)
Additional Findings:
Production Budgets: The production budgets of eligible films were also reviewed. The highest percentage of Stamped films came in at the budget level of $15-25 million, with 42% of films at this level earning the Stamp. While 17% of films at the highest budget level ($100 million or more) earned the Stamp, only one of those was directed by a woman, Domee Shi's Turning Red, which was released exclusively to the Disney streaming service.
Studio Rankings: The IMDbPro 100 most popular films of 2022 includes productions from all major studios. In a studio-by-studio analysis, Sony had the highest Stamp success rate, with 50% of their 6 listed releases earning the Stamp, followed by A24, with a 40% Stamp rate. Netflix had the most entries on the top 100 list with 28 films, and 11 of those earned the Stamp (39% of entries). Disney and its subsidiaries followed; of their 21 releases that made the top 100 List, 8 earned the Stamp (38% of entries). 40.4% of films released directly to streaming services earned the Stamp, while only 21.8% of films with a traditional theatrical release qualified.
We celebrate these new ReFrame Stamp recipients, the filmmaking teams who demonstrated a commitment to equitable hiring, and the successes of these films, which serve as a reminder that feature films can be critically well-received, beloved by audiences, and created with a commitment to inclusion, said Andria Wilson Mirza, ReFrame's Director. Our frustration lies with the stagnancy of these numbers. No more than 29% of the Top 100 films in any given year since ReFrame and IMDbPro began tracking this data in 2017 have earned the Stamp, meaning that the majority of popular titles did not meet baseline criteria for gender-balanced hiring.
ReFrame encourages all fiction feature films released in North America to implement equitable hiring practices and earn the ReFrame Stamp. Outside of the 29 films in the Top 100 receiving the ReFrame Stamp, more than 50 additional films released in 2022 also met Stamp criteria, including She Said (Universal, Dir. Maria Schrader), Aftersun (A24, Dir. Charlotte Wells), Till (United Artists, Dir. Chinonye Chukwu), and Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (A24, Dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp). A list of all 2022 Stamped films is available on ReFrame's website and at IMDb.com/ReFrame.
ReFrame determines which productions met Stamp criteria based on an extensive analysis of data provided by IMDbPro, including a list of the 100 most popular films of 2022 (based on the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide, including both theatrical and streaming releases). ReFrame reviewed additional data provided by IMDb, including the Box Office Mojo list of the top 100 domestic-grossing films of 2022, and the results remained consistent with 27 of those 100 films qualifying for the Stamp.
2022 ReFrame Stamp Recipients
* Denotes films included on the IMDbPro Top 100 List
Denotes film
