Hollywood Still Lacking in Female Minority Directors for TV

A study conducted by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) indicated that Hollywood is still not hiring a lot of female minority directors for TV.

The guild found that female directors in Hollywood have expanded more in the entertainment industry, Fox News Latino reported. However, their minority counterparts are not so lucky, according to the study, which analyzed nearly 280 broadcast, cable, and online series from the 2014-15 season.

There are 16% of women directors that have worked on nearly 4,000 episodes that aired in the last season, a 2% increase over the prior period, the news outlet wrote. Minorities, both male and female, directed 18% of the TV episodes.

Among the 27 TV shows that hired no female or minority directors in the past season are Showtime's "Masters of Sex" and HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and "The Brink," Deadline reported. Also in the DGA's Worst List are ABC Family's "Mystery Girls" and FXX's "Man Seeking Woman" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," with the latter not hiring any female directors at all in its 10-season run.

In addition, CW/WB's "Supernatural" only employed two females and three minority males to direct five out of its 197 episodes since 2005, Deadline noted.

TV shows that have made it to the DGA's Best List are Fox's "Empire," which hired nine women and minority directors to helm nine of its 11 episodes, and Showtime's "Homeland" (19 of 47 total episodes or 40% in its last four seasons), the news outlet wrote.

TV shows that have women and minorities directing 100% of their total episodes all came from the BET network: "Being Mary Jane," "The Game," and "Single Ladies." Topping the non-BET shows is CBS' "The McCarthys" (93%) followed by TBS' "Ground Floor" (90%), "Empire" (82%), and ABC's "American Crime" (80%).

Read the DGA's full report here.

"The uptick in the number of episodes directed by women -- modest but hopeful -- is just a drop in the bucket of what needs to be done by studios, networks and showrunners before we can begin to realize equal opportunities in television for our members," said DGA president Paris Bacclay, as quoted by Deadline.

He continued, "With so many more episodes and work opportunities, employers should seize the opportunity for diversity with their choices, especially when it comes to first-time episodic directors. Without employers making a concerted effort to bringing a more diverse mix of new entrants to the hiring pool, we won't see meaningful and lasting change."

Moreover, the guild found that the employment pie for directing jobs is getting larger. According to Deadline's report, there were 3,910 TV episodes in the 2014-15 season, which improved 10% from the prior season's 3,562.