On Wednesday, December 6, organisations and research centers in the European audiovisual sector gathered online to discuss the current state and recent developments in the audiovisual industry. They shared the latest statistics, new initiatives, best practices, upcoming opportunities, and the main challenges related to gender equality, parity, inclusion, diversity, and gender-related issues in the audiovisual industry. Watch the full webinar:

In her introductory speech, Iris Zappe-Heller, Deputy Director of the Austrian Film Institute, emphasised the importance of maintaining gender equality as a priority on the agenda of the European audiovisual sector. Iris Zappe-Heller is the chair of the Gender and Inclusion Working Group of EFAD - Association of European film and audiovisual agencies. This working group serves as a platform for exchanging best practices, knowledge enhancement, and expertise on a wide range of topics. It also collaborates with other European organisations such as Eurimages, with whom EFAD has created a European map of diversity and inclusion. EFAD successfully advocated for the European Audiovisual Observatory to establish regular European statistics, enabling year-to-year comparisons. Almost all EFAD members actively engage in gender and inclusion issues, as demonstrated by the Women's Lab study, detailed below. While acknowledging progress, EFAD is aware of the challenges and the long road ahead to promote gender and diversity in the audiovisual landscape.

Challenges

Using tools such as mapping, barometers, and reports (including those from the European Audiovisual Observatory and the Femmes de Cinéma Lab), the presented statistical data demonstrate not only the underrepresentation of women in all positions in the European audiovisual sector (directors, screenwriters, producers, cinematographers, composers, and editors) but also gender pay gaps and budget disparities between women and men.

Thus, women's presence remains low across various audiovisual professions, especially in leadership positions, decision-making roles, and in the animation sector.

For the period 2018-2022, Patrizia Simone, industry analyst at the European Audiovisual Observatory's Market Information Department, highlights the underrepresentation of women in the sector, with only 26% female directors and an average of 24% female participation per film. She notes the slow progress toward equality over a nine-year period (between 2013 and 2022) across all professional roles in the audiovisual industry.

This implies that women work less on average, and female directors often find it challenging to make a second film after the first. Women also have fewer chances and opportunities to occupy a lead director role. Women are more present and often more likely to work in teams than their male counterparts.

Moreover, there is a disparity in production budgets based on gender. On average, films directed by women have lower budgets than those directed by men. A 2021 survey shows that, for feature films, the budget allocated to women is 20% lower than for films directed by men. Thus, a correlation can be established between gender, funding, and budget disparities. Higher budgets are less likely to be allocated to women. However, since documentaries are less costly, the percentage of women is higher in this category.

There are also notable differences among European Union countries. Nordic countries have a higher proportion of women in the audiovisual industry. While the quota system is far from a general trend, three European countries (Austria, Norway, and the United Kingdom) have implemented a unique and ambitious hybrid quota system.

Initiatives and best practices at the European level

The think tank called the Women's Cinema Lab, which focuses on parity and diversity in the film and audiovisual industries, presented a qualitative study on all existing measures and policies to promote parity in Europe. This study, conducted since 2016 with annual updates, is in collaboration with the European Audiovisual Observatory (OEA), EFAD, supported by the French Ministry of Culture and the CNC.

→ Integrating parity into a comprehensive diversity research

The Women's Cinema Lab emphasizes that 15 EU countries have implemented or plan to implement measures to integrate parity into broader research on diversity. Daphné Tepper (Director of Policies, Media, Entertainment & Arts Sector at UNI Europa) notes that in the future, it would be useful to systematically collect, analyse, and publish data on the remuneration levels of women and men in the audiovisual sector to promote transparency, assess gaps, and implement actions to eliminate these gaps.

→ Intensifying measures against sexist and sexual violence (SSV)

The Women's Cinema Lab notes that 16 EU countries have committed to combating SSV. According to Dácil Roca (Board Member, MIA Mujeres en la Industria de la Animación), the #metoo movement has undeniably made the reality of women's position in the animation and audiovisual industries visible and has generated public demand to see more content written, directed, and produced by women.

→ Support for parenthood

The Women's Cinema Lab indicates that only 6 EU countries are working on this issue, aiming to create a more equal creative environment. Most of them have only recently started. Daphné Tepper also notes that women are more likely to take breaks in their careers (due to maternity), and when they re-enter the workforce, the wage gap widens as they struggle to catch up with responsibilities and promotions.

→ Demanding parity in the application process

The Women's Cinema Lab observes that 13 EU countries use funding applications as a tool to promote parity and diversity, collecting data or raising awareness among applicants on these issues. For example, by requiring better salary distribution and gender composition within work teams, the distribution of public funds can launch a strategy on equality and thus combat existing inequalities in the audiovisual industry.

→ Developing career support for female directors

The Women's Cinema Lab notes that 10 EU countries focus on coaching, mentoring, training, and networking events. In other words, it involves establishing a support ecosystem to help and encourage filmmakers to stay in the industry. Ongoing efforts can contribute to improving the situation for new generations, especially in production. The establishment of more scholarships for aspiring female directors within an educational curriculum can also encourage career development among young women.

→ Working on unconscious bias

The Women's Cinema Lab emphasizes that 10 EU countries are working on such initiatives, with 4 starting since 2023. It highlights the importance of combating gender stereotypes still present in the workplace.

→ Developing tools to promote equality and diversity

Other initiatives have been implemented to promote equality and diversity in the European audiovisual sector. Eurimages, the cultural fund of the Council of Europe supporting co-productions across Europe and Canada, adopted its first strategy for promoting gender equality in 2013 and expanded its scope to diversity in 2022. In 10 years, efforts have borne fruit. Projects led by women supported by Eurimages have increased from 7% to 48%. Various actions, such as systematically prioritising projects led by women, providing financial bonuses to these projects, or awarding scholarships to female directors in film schools, have contributed to these results.

Conclusion

It is evident that the presence of women has not changed significantly, across all film genres, over the last decade, and women still remain a minority in workplaces and work on fewer films.

Different interventions unanimously stress the need to consolidate.