ReFrame and IMDbPro Award the ReFrame Stamp to 29 Feature Films Released in 2023,
Including Academy Award Nominees Barbie and Past Lives;
Report Finds More Popular Films Were Directed by Women, but Majority of Sets are Far From Gender-Balanced
While ReFrame’s report notes increases in number of women of color directing popular films, overall hiring of women, trans and nonbinary people shows no significant growth in the past four years - and multiple roles still hire less than 10% women
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 29, 2024--
ReFrame, the initiative launched in 2017 by Sundance Institute and WIF to advance gender equity in the screen industries, and IMDbPro, the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals, today announced that 29 of the 100 most popular films of 2023 will be awarded the ReFrame Stamp for gender-balanced production. The findings of the 2023 ReFrame Report, which examines hiring across key roles on all 100 films based on IMDbPro data, can be viewed HERE.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240228823230/en/
ReFrame, the initiative launched in 2017 by Sundance Institute and WIF to advance gender equity in the screen industries, and IMDbPro, the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals, today announced that 29 of the 100 most popular films of 2023 will be awarded the ReFrame Stamp for gender-balanced production. (Graphic: Business Wire)
Since 2020, the number of films in the annual Top 100 that qualify for the ReFrame Stamp has not increased. Notably, despite the increase in women and gender-diverse Directors hired on popular projects last year (from 14 films in 2022, to 20 in 2023), there was no corresponding increase in projects qualifying for the Stamp (in both years, 29 films qualified for the gender-balance award). Overall, 80% of the films directed by women on the list earned the Stamp; only 16.25% of the films directed by men qualified.
Key Findings of the Report Include:
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19 films in the Top 100 were directed by women, and 1 by a non-binary director, an increase from 14 women directors in 2022.
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9 of these films were directed by women of color, an increase from only 2/100 films in 2022.
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There was notable growth for women in the Visual Effects Supervisor role, with 17 films hiring a woman over 8 in 2022.
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Women cinematographers experienced a sharp drop-off in hiring on top films in 2023 - three films on the list hired a woman as Director of Photography, a decrease from seven films in 2022. This role is the most male-occupied at 97% male hires in 2023, followed by 1st Assistant Directors (91% male) and Composers (90% male).
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ReFrame’s report notes a 21.74% drop in lead roles for women, from 46 in 2022 to 36 in 2023. Similarly, research released by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative on February 20, 2024 found that the percentage of girls and women as protagonists (30%) in the 100 top-grossing movies of 2023 was substantially lower than the percentage in 2022 (44%).
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29 of the analyzed films were exclusively released to streaming services, and 11 of these earned the Stamp (37.9%). 71 films with theatrical releases were analyzed, and 18 of those earned the Stamp (25.35%).
The ReFrame Stamp is awarded to features that hire women or individuals of other underrepresented gender identities/expressions (including those who are trans, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming) in at least 50% of key roles, including Writer, Director, Producer, Lead, Co-Leads, Cinematographer, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Editor, Composer, Music Supervisor, VFX Supervisor, Line Producer, Unit Production Manager, 1st Assistant Director, Stunt Coordinator and Intimacy Coordinator. Additional points are awarded to productions that hire qualifying candidates of color in these key positions, and to those with overall gender parity in their crews. The ReFrame Report details hiring statistics in all of the above categories. View Stamp criteria here.
To award the Stamp, ReFrame reviews cast and crew data for all eligible films on the IMDbPro list of the 100 most popular films of 2023. The ReFrame Stamp is a measure applied only to US produced and distributed feature-length fiction films and does not apply to unscripted or documentary productions, and as such, only scripted productions are included on the list. The top 100 list is based on the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide.
2023 ReFrame Stamp – IMDbPro Top 100 Feature Film Recipients
After Everything / USA 2023 (Director: Castille Landon, Screenwriters: Castille Landon, Anna Todd, Distributor: Voltage Pictures)
A Million Miles Away / USA 2023 (Director: Alejandra Márquez Abella, Screenwriters: Bettina Gilois, Hernán Jiménez, Alejandra Márquez Abella, Distributor: Amazon Prime Video)
Anyone But You / USA, Australia 2023 (Director: Will Gluck, Screenwriters: Will Gluck, Ilana Wolpert, Distributor: Columbia Pictures)
Barbie / USA 2023 (Director: Greta Gerwig, Screenwriters: Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, Distributor: Warner Bros.)
Elemental / USA 2023 (Director: Peter Sohn, Screenwriters: John Hoberg, Brenda Hsueh, Kat Likkel, Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Family Switch / USA 2023 (Director: McG, Screenwriters: Victoria Strouse, Adam Sztykiel, Distributor: Netflix)
Flamin’ Hot / USA 2023 (Director: Eva Longoria, Screenwriters: Linda Yvette Chávez, Lewis Colick, Distributor: Searchlight Pictures)
Happiness for Beginners / USA 2023 (Director: Vicky Wight, Screenwriter: Vicky Wight, Distributor: Netflix)
Heart of Stone / USA 2023 (Director: Tom Harper, Screenwriters: Greg Rucka, Allison Schroeder, Distributor: Netflix)
Joy Ride
/ USA, UK 2023 (Director: Adele Lim, Screenwriters: Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Teresa Hsiao, Distributor: Lionsgate Films)
May December
/ USA 2023 (Director: Todd Haynes, Screenwriter: Samy Burch, Distributor: Netflix)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 / USA 2023 (Director: Nia Vardalos, Screenwriter: Nia Vardalos, Distributor: Focus Features)
Nyad / USA 2023 (Director: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Screenwriter: Julia Cox, Distributor: Netflix)
Past Lives / USA, South Korea 2023 (Director: Celine Song, Screenwriter: Celine Song, Distributor: A24)
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines / USA 2023 (Director: Lindsey Anderson Beer, Screenwriters: Lindsey Anderson Beer, Jeff Buhler, Distributor: Paramount+)
Priscilla / Italy, USA 2023 (Director: Sofia Coppola, Screenwriter: Sofia Coppola, Distributor: A24)
Rebel Moon: Part I / USA 2023 (Director: Zack Snyder, Screenwriters: Shay Hatten, Kurt Johnstad, Zack Snyder, Distributor: Netflix)
Saltburn / UK, USA 2023 (Director: Emerald Fennell, Screenwriter: Emerald Fennell, Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios)
Scream 6 / USA, Canada 2023 (Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Screenwriters: Guy Busick, James Vanderbilt, Distributor: Paramount Pictures)
Talk to Me / Australia, UK 2022 (Directors: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou, Screenwriters: Bill Hinzman, Danny Philippou, Distributor: A24)
The Burial / USA 2023 (Director: Maggie Betts, Screenwriters: Maggie Betts, Doug Wright, Distributor: Amazon Prime Video)
The Flash / USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand 2023 (Director: Andy Muschietti, Screenwriter: Christina Hodson, Distributor: Warner Bros.)
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes / USA, Canada 2023 (Director: Francis Lawrence, Screenwriters: Michael Arndt, Michael Lesslie, Distributor: Lionsgate Films)
The Little Mermaid / USA 2023 (Director: Rob Marshall, Screenwriter: David Magee, Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
The Marvels / USA 2023 (Director: Nia DaCosta, Screenwriters: Nia DaCosta, Elissa Karasik, Megan McDonnell, Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
The Nun 2 / USA 2023 (Director: Michael Chaves, Screenwriters: Akela Cooper, Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, Distributor: Warner Bros.)
Trolls Band Together / USA 2023 (Directors: Walt Dohrn, Tim Heitz, Screenwriter: Elizabeth Tippet, Distributor: Universal Pictures)
Wish / USA 2023 (Directors: Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn, Screenwriters: Jennifer Lee, Allison Moore, Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah / USA 2023 (Director: Sammi Cohen, Screenwriter: Alison Peck, Distributor: Netflix)
Films outside the Top 100 Awarded the ReFrame Stamp in 2023
Films that applied for the ReFrame Stamp are marked with *
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. / USA 2023 (Director: Kelly Fremon Craig, Screenwriter: Kelly Fremon Craig, Distributor: Lionsgate Films)
Book Club 2: The Next Chapter / USA 2023 (Director: Bill Holderman, Screenwriters: Bill Holderman, Erin Simms, Distributor: Focus Features)
Bottoms / USA 2023 (Director: Emma Seligman, Screenwriters: Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott, Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios)
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget / USA 2023 (Director: Sam Fell, Screenwriters: Karey Kirkpatrick, John O'Farrell, Rachel Tunnard, Distributor: Netflix)
Cocaine Bear / USA 2023 (Director: Elizabeth Banks, Screenwriter: Jimmy Warden, Distributor: Universal Pictures)
Ghosted / USA 2023 (Director: Dexter Fletcher, Screenwriters: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Distributor: Apple TV+)
Love at First Sight / USA 2023 (Director: Vanessa Caswill, Screenwriter: Katie Lovejoy, Distributor: Netflix)
Missing / USA 2023 (Director: Nicholas D. Johnson, Will Merrick, Screenwriters: Will Merrick, Nicholas D. Johnson, Distributor: Stage 6 Films)
Run Rabbit Run
/ 2023 (Director: Daina Reid, Screenwriter: Hannah Kent, Distributor: STX Films)
Shotgun Wedding / USA 2023 (Director: Jason Moore, Screenwriter: Mark Hammer, Distributor: Lionsgate Films)
*Quiz Lady / USA 2023 (Director: Jessica Yu, Screenwriter: Jen D'Angelo, Distributor: Hulu)
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken / USA 2023 (Directors: Kirk DeMicco, Faryn Pearl, Screenwriters: Pam Brady, Brian C. Brown, Elliott DiGuiseppi, Distributor: Walt Disney Studios)
Somebody I Used to Know / USA 2023 (Director: Dave Franco, Screenwriters, Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Distributor: Amazon Prime Video)
Theater Camp / USA 2023 (Directors: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Screenwriters: Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt, Distributor: Searchlight Pictures)
The Blackening / USA 2023 (Director: Tim Story, Screenwriters: Tracy Oliver, Dewayne Perkins Distributor: Lionsgate Films)
The Color Purple / USA 2023 (Director: Blitz Bazawule, Screenwriter: Marcus Gardley, Distributor: Warner Bros.)
The Mother / USA 2023 (Director: Niki Caro, Screenwriters: Misha Green, Andrea Berloff, Peter Craig, Distributor: Netflix)
The Strays / UK 2023 (Director: Nathaniel Martello-White, Screenwriter: Nathaniel Martello-White, Distributor: Netflix)
Your Place or Mine / USA 2023 (Director: Aline Brosh McKenna, Screenwriter: Aline Brosh McKenna, Distributor: Netflix)
80 For Brady / USA 2023 (Director: Kyle Marvin, Screenwriters: Sarah Haskins, Emily Halpern, Distributor: Paramount Pictures)
*birth/rebirth / USA 2023 (Director: Laura Moss, Screenwriter: Laura Moss, Brendan J. O'Brien, Distributor: IFC Films)
*Christmas with Jerks / USA 2023 (Directors: Leanna Adams, Kristina Arjona, Screenwriter: Leanna Adams, Distributor: Good Deed Entertainment)
*Daddio / USA 2023 (Director: Christy Hall, Screenwriter: Christy Hall, Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics)
*Escaping Ohio / USA 2023 (Director: Jessica Michael Davis, Screenwriters: Jessica Michael Davis, Collin Kelly-Sordelet, Distributor: Convoke Media)
*Fitting In / Canada 2023 (Director: Molly McGlynn, Screenwriter: Molly McGlynn, Distributor: Blue Fox Entertainment)
*For When You Get Lost / USA (Director: Michelle Steffes, Screenwriter: Jennifer Sorenson)
*Mountains / USA 2023 (Director: Monica Sorelle, Screenwriters: Robert Colom, Monica Sorelle)
*Our Deadly Vows / USA 2023 (Director: Chris Chalk, Screenwriter: Chris Chalk, Distributor: Global Genesis Group)
*Peak Season / USA 2023 (Director: Steven Kanter, Henry Loevner, Screenwriters: Steven Kanter, Henry Loevner)
*Polarized / Canada 2023 (Director: Shamim Sarif, Screenwriter: Shamim Sarif, Distributor: APL Film)
*Wilder Than Her / USA 2023 (Director: Jessica Kozak, Screenwriters: Jessica Kozak)
*Katie's Mom / USA 2023 (Director: Tyrrell Shaffner, Screenwriters: Meryl Branch McTiernan, Tyrrell Shaffner)
*Faceless After Dark / USA 2023 (Director: Raymond Wood, Screenwriters: Todd Jacobs, Jenna Kanell Distributor: MPI Media Group)
*7000 Miles / USA (Director: Amy Glazer, Screenwriters: Colette Freedman)
About ReFrame
Founded and led by Sundance Institute and Women In Film, Los Angeles (WIF), ReFrame is an initiative that employs a unique strategy: a peer-to-peer approach, in which ReFrame Ambassadors engage with senior industry decision-makers at over 50 Partner Companies to implement ReFrame systemic change programs. The initiative’s goals are to provide research, support, and a practical framework that can be used by Partner companies to mitigate bias during the creative decision-making and hiring process, celebrate successes, and measure progress toward a more gender-representative industry on all levels. The ReFrame Council, which leads the strategic direction of the organization with ReFrame Director Andria Wilson Mirza, includes the initiative’s founding members, WIF Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer, former Sundance CEO Keri Putnam, and Oscar-winning producer, WIF President Emeritas and founder of Welle Entertainment Cathy Schulman, alongside Channing Dungey (Chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group), Franklin Leonard (Founder, The Black List), Rena Ronson (Head of UTA Independent Film Group), and Michelle Satter (Founding Senior Director, Artist Programs, Sundance Institute). ReFrame is made possible by support from The David and Lura Lovell Foundation; IMDbPro; Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity; WMEt; Delta Air Lines; Adobe; and the Women at Sundance Leadership Council.
About IMDbPro
IMDbPro is the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals. This membership service empowers professionals with information and features designed to help them achieve success throughout all stages of their career. An IMDbPro premium membership includes the following: detailed contact and representation information; tools for members to manage and showcase their IMDb profile, including selecting their primary images and the credits they are best “known for”; exclusive STARmeter rankings determined by page views on IMDb; the IMDbPro app for iPhone, iPad, and Android; IMDbPro Track, which empowers members to receive personalized entertainment industry news and notifications on the people and film and TV projects they want to follow; and a convenient feature that generates custom digital assets to promote their work on social media and other platforms. The IMDbPro basic membership includes features for professionals to self-identify and manage the display of certain information about themselves and their careers on IMDb and IMDbPro and limited access to industry news, research, and cast and crew notices. IMDbPro is a division of IMDb, the world's most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Industry professionals can join IMDbPro today at www.imdbpro.com. Follow IMDbPro on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
About IMDb
IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Products and services to help fans decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and X-Ray on Prime Video. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb licenses information from its vast and authoritative database to third-party businesses worldwide; learn more at developer.imdb.com. IMDb is an Amazon company. For more information, visit imdb.com/press and follow @IMDb.
About Sundance Institute
As a champion and curator of independent stories, the nonprofit Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists across storytelling media to create and thrive. Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute’s signature labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. Sundance Collab, a digital community platform, brings a global cohort of working artists together to learn from Sundance advisors and connect with each other in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences and artists to ignite new ideas, discover original voices, and build a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Through the Sundance Institute artist programs, we have supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Big Sick, Bottle Rocket, Boys Don’t Cry, Boys State, Call Me by Your Name, Clemency, CODA, Drunktown’s Finest, The Farewell, Fire of Love, Flee, The Forty-Year-Old Version, Fruitvale Station, Get Out, Half Nelson, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hereditary, Honeyland, The Infiltrators, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Little Woods, Love & Basketball, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Mudbound, Nanny, Navalny, O.J.: Made in America, One Child Nation, Pariah, Raising Victor Vargas, Requiem for a Dream, Reservoir Dogs, RBG, Sin Nombre, Sorry to Bother You, The Souvenir, Strong Island, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Swiss Army Man, Sydney, A Thousand and One, Top of the Lake, Walking and Talking, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, and Zola. Through year-round artist programs, the Institute also nurtured the early careers of such artists as Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Gregg Araki, Darren Aronofsky, Lisa Cholodenko, Ryan Coogler, Nia DaCosta, The Daniels, David Gordon Green, Miranda July, James Mangold, John Cameron Mitchell, Kimberly Peirce, Boots Riley, Ira Sachs, Quentin Tarantino, Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao. Support Sundance Institute in our commitment to uplifting bold artists and powerful storytelling globally by making a donation at sundance.org/donate. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube.
About WIF
Founded in 1973 as Women In Film, Los Angeles, WIF is celebrating 50 years of working for gender equity. WIF’s advocacy, career programs, and research efforts are a driving force for increasing gender representation in Hollywood. WIF works to dismantle gender bias in the screen industries by building the pipeline, sustaining careers, and advocating for change. Membership is open to all screen industry professionals, and more information can be found on our website: wif.org. Follow WIF on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.
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