Study says women are underrepresented in top animation jobs

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Women make up roughly half of all executives in animation, but a new study says the numbers fall significantly when it comes to female directors.

The study released Monday by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and the nonprofit advocacy group Women in Animation says that in the past 12 years, only 3% of animated film directors were women and only one was a woman of color.

In some areas, like producing, animation has better female representation than live-action films. Women also made up 13% of directors of popular animated television shows from 2018. But women of color were underrepresented in all areas.

Marge Dean, the president of Women in Animation, says this better understanding of the numbers will help push the industry toward achieving 50-50 gender representation by 2025.