Number of Women Directing Indie Films Far Outweighs Those Working on Studio Projects

Turns out there are plenty of women with directing experience, according to a new study. The problem is, they’re not the kind of films that most people can see in theaters, where mainstream films from the Hollywood studios are for the most part the only option.

Women directed 29 percent of independent documentaries over the past year, and 18 percent of the narrative features not made by major Hollywood studios, according to the study released by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. These figures stand in stark contrast to the 7 percent of women who were among the directors of the top grossing films of 2014, as reported in a January study by the same group. “The findings drive home the point that women who direct are much more plentiful than the numbers from the mainstream film industry would lead us to believe,” said Dr. Martha Lauzen, executive director of the center, about this latest study. “Claims that qualified women directors don’t exist or are in short supply are at odds with the data.”