Minority and women writers remain underemployed and underpaid in Hollywood

About a week ago, I wrote an article asking Does Hollywood 'white-wash' Asian characters in movies?

The response to that article was mixed as to how much of Hollywood's casting choices are tied to race, gender and stereotyping.

Another article I wrote asking "Should Asians have been cast in the lead roles for 'The Last Airbender'? received more favorable responses.  I got over a hundred comments from readers, most of them voicing their outrage over the casting of white actors instead of Asian or native Inuits to play lead roles.

But in a report released by Writer's Guild of America, West (WGAW), the latest data in its Hollywood Writers Report (entitled "Rewriting an All-Too-Familiar Story?) shows that minority film writers employed in Hollywood has shockingly remained flat at 6 percent since 2003.

In fact, the report points out that when compared with data from previous Hollywood Writers Reports this 6 percent share has remained unchanged since at least 1999.  So minorities have remained underrepresented by more than 5 to 1 among employed film writers.

And taking a look at the television writing side, minority television writers have lost ground relative to their white counterparts.  The minority share of employment in television declined from 10 percent in 2005 to just 9 percent in 2007.

Although the report states that since 2003, the minority share of television employment has remained remarkably stable at between 9 and 10 percent, minorities remain underrepresented by more than 3 to 1 among employed television writers.

As for women writers, the report shows the womens' share of film employment actually decreased a percentage point since the last report, from 19 percent in 2005 to 18 percent in 2007.  In television, 28 percent of the writers in 2006 and 2007 were women, up one percent from the 27 percent in 2005.

The report also shows that between 2003 and 2007, gains for women writers have not exceeded one percentage point in any of the employment areas.  Even though women account for slightly more than 50 percent of the U.S. population, they remained underrepresented in television employment by 2 to 1 and in film employment by nearly 3 to 1.

The analysts also stated in 2007 that "while the depictions of gays, lesbians and persons with disabilities have increased in film and television in recent years, it remains to be seen to what degree writers from these groups have been incorporated into the Hollywood writing workforce, particularly to work on projects where their perspectives and sensitivities might be most valued."

Also the earnings gap for minority film writers has reportedly increased each year over the five-year report period, peaking at $36,963 in 2007.  In 2003, minority film writers approached earnings parity with their white male counterparts ($87,392 versus $90,476).  But minority earnings in film had declined to $61,912 by 2007, while white male earnings had increased to $98,875.

Meanwhile, minority television writers earned $77,690 in 2005, compared to $100,000 for their white male counterparts; earnings for both minority television writers ($75,658) and white male writers ($87,984) declined in 2007 due to the strike, thereby closing the gap a bit.

Earnings for women in film writing were down from the 2003 figure of $62,500 in 2005 ($50,000), 2006 ($55,500), and 2007 ($57,151). By contrast, the earnings of white male writers increased by more than $8,000 over the period, from $90,476 in 2003 to $98,875 in 2007.

Women television writers earned about the same in 2007 ($82,604) as they did at the beginning of the five-year report period in 2003 ($82,000), despite spikes in earnings in 2005 and 2006. The television earnings of white male writers, by contrast, increased by nearly $4,000 over the report period (from $84,300 to $87,984), after peaking at $100,000 in 2005 and 2006.

The report does note that earnings for most writers across the board declined in 2007 due to work stoppages associated with the writers’ strike.

In the 2007 WGAW Hollywood Writer's Report (entitled "Whose Stories Are We Telling?") researcher Darnell Hunt also points out that his findings told "a story of an industry in which business-as-usual practices have been wholly inadequate for addressing the lack of diversity among writers."

According to Hunt's findings in 2007, "white male writers of all ages accounted for about 72 percent of guild membership throughout the period.  Meanwhile, the white female share of guild membership declined about a percentage point over the period, from 22 percent in 2000 to 21.1 percent in 2005.  Minority males and females posted small increases in guild membership over the period from 3.8 percent to 4.5 percent, and from 2.2 percent to 2.8 percent, respectively.

So what does this all mean?

It means that truth be told, the majority of stories we are watching on television and in the movies are generally based on the writings and imaginings of white men and that "white-male dominance" remains the status quo in the Hollywood writers room.

Hunt also pointed out in his 2007 executive summary that "more than 30 percent of the American population is non-white, yet writers of color continue to account for less than 10 percent of employed television writers."

Is this good or bad?  I'll let you decide.

But from my perspective as a minority, these findings show that Hollywood is way behind the times.

America just elected its first African American president and more than half of the country's population are women and nearly a third are minorities, yet when we turn on our televisions or go out to the movies we are still bombarded by stories that depict a "white-male dominated society" and lack true diversity in lead characters.

Granted the recent Hollywood writers’ strike has forced some changes to the industry.  But nevertheless, America is a diverse nation and depicting more diversity in the stories we see on television and in the movies will only come about when Hollywood nurtures the careers of more minority and women writers.

NOTES:  

"In January 2009, the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) instituted a new program designed to increase television employment for writers with diverse backgrounds. The Writers Access Project (WAP) is a script-judging contest aimed at identifying outstanding, mid-level diverse writers who appeal to showrunners looking to staff their shows.  Four categories of contestants were considered – minority writers and writers with disabilities, women writers, writers over age 55, and gay and lesbian writers. The goal was to actively engage television decision makers in the process of recognizing talent in a sizable pool of diverse writers."

Click the link to learn more about WGAW WAP.

Please feel free to leave your thoughts on any of these topics in a comment box below.

To see the WGAW Hollywood Writers Report executive summary for 2009 or view details and read the full 2007 report, please click the following links:

http://www.wga.org/uploadedFiles/who_we_are/hwr09execsum.pdf

http://www.wga.org/uploadedFiles/who_we_are/HWR07_exec.pdf

http://www.wga.org/subpage_whoweare.aspx?id=922

For More great articles visit Ed Moy's Page at Asian American Movie Examiner