Hollywood's inclusion problems still run deep, study finds

NEW YORK (AP) — As Hollywood searches for a response to the reckoning brought on by the death of George Floyd and the Academy Awards move to make Oscar nominees more inclusive, a new study captures how the film industry has improved in diversity and how it still lags.

In the most popular films of 2019, protagonists were more diverse than ever, and there were more women were behind the camera. But in many other areas — speaking roles, behind-the-scenes jobs, LGBTQ representation, parts for people with disability — Hollywood remains far from reflecting the makeup of its American audiences, according to the latest report by the Inclusion Initiative at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

“There is a bright spot or two in this report, but the backdrop to that is really problematic,” said Stacy L. Smith, director of the Inclusion Initiative in an interview. “It reflects a lack of seriousness, some ambivalence and apathy on the part of the creative community and the inability of different companies to really set in place policies and procedures that would change the status quo.”

“The data don't reflect an overall ecosystem shift,” Smith added.

For the past 13 years, the USC researchers have tracked Hollywood's progress, or lack thereof, in equity of on-screen roles and those off-camera. Over that time, there have been some marked improvements. Last year in the top 100 films at the box office, 32 featured leads from underrepresented groups, an increase of five from 2018. In 2007, it was 13. Twelve of the top 100 films were directed by woman, four times the number of 2007 and more than twice the five films of 2018. There were 43 films with a woman or girl in a leading role, an increase of four from the year before and more than double that of 2007.

Those figures show definite...