Union Finds TV Diversity Hiring Stalled

Women and minorities are largely shut out of the ranks of TV series directors in a stubbornly unchanged pattern of hiring, according to a Directors Guild of America study.

The report said that employers have made no significant improvement in diversity among TV directors in the last four years. White males directed the vast majority of the more than 3,500 cable, broadcast and high-budget online episodes made for the 2013-14 season. Last season, 69 percent of all TV episodes were directed by white males, with 17 percent directed by minority males and 12 percent directed by white females, the study found. Female directors made no gains in hiring last season compared to the year before. A 3 percent increase in the episodes directed by minority males can be attributed to work done by Tyler Perry on three series that he also produces, the guild said. Minority females were the least-represented among TV directors, representing only 2 percent of TV series directors.