Re-Framing the Picture: An International Comparative Assessment of Gender Equity Policies in the Film Sector

Re-Framing the Picture presents research from the “Gender Equity Policy (GEP) Analysis” project. Building on a substantial corpus of studies and data evidencing the long history of gender inequity in the international film sector, the international team of researchers located in Germany, the UK and Canada has designed an innovative, interdisciplinary approach with the aim to “assess, understand, and model the impact of gender equity policies (GEP) in the film industry”. To re-frame the picture of gender equity in film industries, they studied the policies, practices and norms that constrain equitable industry structures. The report presents in-depth insights from three different perspectives: The Policies, the Number, and the Networks. The researchers combine an in-depth analysis of existing gender equity policies, using a specifically designed policy analysis framework and interviews with industry experts, with a quantitative analysis that looks more closely at industry data and the structures it reveals. Finally, a social network approach helps understand how different interventions might reduce the dominance of men in the three case film industries (Germany, the UK and Canada) by modelling the impact of hypothetical policies. They find that 1) fighting gender inequity remains a long-haul endeavour, 2) no one-size-fits-all solution exists, 3) policies need to be intentional and structural, 4) and we should expand the reach of policies that make access to, for instance, funding or awards nominations dependent on progress towards gender equity.