SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
As we take stock of 2025, here's one metric - the number of women directors dropped this year, at least those with movies in theaters. And as NPR's Neda Ulaby reports, their numbers were not exactly great to begin with.
NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: Only 8% of film directors this year were women - 8% out of the top 100 movies at the box office. That number comes from an annual study done by the University of Southern California's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. It's led by Stacy Smith.
STACY SMITH: Well, the results are disappointing. It is notable to see this sort of drop.
ULABY: A drop of 5% from last year, and even more since 2020, when a whopping 15% of the top 100 movies of the year were directed by women - women who, of course, make up more than half of the population.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Abby?
ULABY: This year, the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman was a horror film, "Five Nights At Freddy's 2."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Abby, where are you?
ULABY: Emma Tammi directed the movie. It's set at a creepy, abandoned restaurant much like Chuck E. Cheese, and it's crawling with haunted animal animatronics.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, laughter).
ULABY: But of the eight movies directed by women this year that were on the top 100 at the box office, most were for children...
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
ULABY: ...Like the animated Pixar movie, "Elio." It's about a little boy who's desperate to be abducted by aliens.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ELIO")
YONAS KIBREAB: (As Elio Solis) It's happening. It's really happening.
ULABY: "Elio" was co-directed by two women, Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian. One sign of advancement came from this year's study. Although only nine women appeared on the list, for the very first time, women of color outnumbered white women as directors of top movies. They included Oscar winner Chloe Zhao, who's getting awards buzz again for her new movie "Hamnet," and Maggie Kang, who made the wildly popular "KPop Demon Hunters."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOLDEN")
EJAE: (As Rumi) I was a ghost. I was alone.
ULABY: Neda Ulaby, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOLDEN")
EJAE: (As Rumi) We're going up, up, up. It's our moment. You know together we're glowing. Going to be, going to be golden. Oh-oh-oh, up, up, up with our voices. (Singing in Korean). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
