Film industry budgets favor male-only teams despite higher female-led returns

A study published in Frontiers in Communication reveals a significant gender disparity in film industry budgeting. Analyzing nearly 200,000 films released between 1994 and 2023, researchers found that male-only production teams receive the vast majority of the largest budgets, despite data suggesting women in creative roles can drive higher profitability.

Specifically, films featuring a woman screenwriter but no woman director saw a 34% higher median profit than male-only productions and a 25% higher median return on investment (ROI). Furthermore, films with women in both directing and screenwriting roles achieved similar median ROIs to male-only teams but on roughly half the budget.

The disparity is most pronounced at the highest spending levels. Of the 44 films in the top 1% of production budgets, 39 were male-only productions and none featured a woman director. While the share of films crediting at least one woman as a director or screenwriter rose from 21.5% in 1994 to 29.4% in 2023, women remain underrepresented in high-budget filmmaking.