Top-Grossing & Oscar-winning Films lack gender and racial diversity
By Seanne Coates
Being in the film industry is hard work, with all the grueling hours, editing, retakes and more. It can be an even more daunting task for those who have a hard time getting their foot in the door -- including women and racial minorities.
Janine Oda is one of these people. Oda, who is black, is an up-and-coming actress known for Everything Before Us (2015) and Traif: An Unkosher Series (2016).
“As an actress it is tougher [to get a job in film]," Oda said. "There are less opportunities and it’s an uphill battle where you really have to prove yourself. Not only do you have to prove that you can act, you can perform, you can tell a story – you have to prove that you are a professional and that you can get the job done. In castings you can see that there are more opportunities for Caucasians than any other ethnicity. Also you can see a lack of diversity in other fields in the industry. For instance I’ve only worked with one Asian female director and one African-American female director so far.”
Oda's experience is the norm.
Janine Oda is one of these people. Oda, who is black, is an up-and-coming actress known for Everything Before Us (2015) and Traif: An Unkosher Series (2016).
“As an actress it is tougher [to get a job in film]," Oda said. "There are less opportunities and it’s an uphill battle where you really have to prove yourself. Not only do you have to prove that you can act, you can perform, you can tell a story – you have to prove that you are a professional and that you can get the job done. In castings you can see that there are more opportunities for Caucasians than any other ethnicity. Also you can see a lack of diversity in other fields in the industry. For instance I’ve only worked with one Asian female director and one African-American female director so far.”
Oda's experience is the norm.
As the charts above show, diversity among top actors and directors is rare in the film industry.
“Unfortunately it is human nature to gravitate toward what is familiar so when a white male producer or studio executive is pitched a story idea from a white male writer he is likely to be inclined to greenlight that project,” said Lorrie Palmer, an assistant professor of film and media studies at Towson University.
It is less likely that a white male producer will greenlight other projects pitched by and for minorities, Palmer said. Diversity in films may be incrementally increasing, but progress is slow. There has also been increase in diversity among directors when looking at the Academy Award winners for the past 30 years. In 2009 Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win an Oscar for best director and for best picture. Steve McQueen, in 2013, and Berry Jenkins, in 2016, are the only two black men to have directed a movie that won an Academy Award for best picture.
“Unfortunately it is human nature to gravitate toward what is familiar so when a white male producer or studio executive is pitched a story idea from a white male writer he is likely to be inclined to greenlight that project,” said Lorrie Palmer, an assistant professor of film and media studies at Towson University.
It is less likely that a white male producer will greenlight other projects pitched by and for minorities, Palmer said. Diversity in films may be incrementally increasing, but progress is slow. There has also been increase in diversity among directors when looking at the Academy Award winners for the past 30 years. In 2009 Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win an Oscar for best director and for best picture. Steve McQueen, in 2013, and Berry Jenkins, in 2016, are the only two black men to have directed a movie that won an Academy Award for best picture.
Women and people of color are increasingly in leading Hollywood roles, as well as taking part in directing. However, white males still dominate the field. Among top-grossing movies for the past 30 years, every director was white and male. For movies that won Oscars for best picture in the past 30 years, 87 percent of the directors were white males.
The Oscars continue to show slightly more diversity with 80 percent of lead actors being white and 90 percent being male. While in the top-grossing movies for the past 30 years, 97 percent of the top actors where white and 90 percent of them where male.
Among top actors in films that won an Oscar best picture, there have been only four black males, two Asian males and three white females. For top-grossing movies for the past 30 years there has been one black male and three white females in leading roles.
The Oscars continue to show slightly more diversity with 80 percent of lead actors being white and 90 percent being male. While in the top-grossing movies for the past 30 years, 97 percent of the top actors where white and 90 percent of them where male.
Among top actors in films that won an Oscar best picture, there have been only four black males, two Asian males and three white females. For top-grossing movies for the past 30 years there has been one black male and three white females in leading roles.
There is slightly more diversity among Oscar winners than among top-grossing movies. Oda said it's still not enough.
“Because of the lack of opportunities for female minorities in the traditional film industry, it pushes me to create my own content and explore the many new media avenues that are becoming available in this day and age," Oda said.
Oda advised those who are in the minority to “never give up – there are so many avenues to create content and put yourself out there. Even if your studio says no, pick up a camera/phone or pen and paper and start creating – give yourself a voice even if nobody else will.”
“Because of the lack of opportunities for female minorities in the traditional film industry, it pushes me to create my own content and explore the many new media avenues that are becoming available in this day and age," Oda said.
Oda advised those who are in the minority to “never give up – there are so many avenues to create content and put yourself out there. Even if your studio says no, pick up a camera/phone or pen and paper and start creating – give yourself a voice even if nobody else will.”
best picture but often not best liked:
few Oscar-winning films were also the highest rated on rotten tomatoes
By Ben Laing
This year will mark the 90th Academy Awards ceremony. Each year, Oscars voters decide upon best picture. And each year, audiences and film critics have argued about whether the winner, in fact, was the best film for that year. Until recently, that conversation mostly happened in living rooms, offices and in the press. But with the advent of sites such as Rotten Tomatoes, there are clearer metrics for determining how movie viewers and critics assess the top picture.
This analysis examines the relationship between these ways of measuring a movie's popularity -- critical acclaim vs. the will of the people (or at least people who have a say in reviewing movies). It also compares box office totals for Oscar-winning and top-rated movies.
As the graphics above illustrate, critical success (in terms of Oscar wins) does not equate to box-office success. Mary Beth McAndrews, an editor at National Geographic and a writer for Smear Magazine, said she isn't surprised by the findings.
"Overall I think the Academy Awards are frankly sort of (baloney)," McAndrews said. "I believe the Academy Awards are awarded to someone who gets along with academy members. But from a purely financial perspective, movies that bring in the most money appeal to the widest audience and will entertain them. Movies that win Academy Awards are not always made primarily to entertain, but to inform and bring to light serious stories or subjects. They are seen to many as high brow and therefore appeal to a much smaller audience. Movies that were deemed to be the best do not typically bring in the most money due to that reason.”
Movies aimed at children or summer blockbusters tend to make a lot of money overall. But a blockbuster is more likely to have technical wizardry than to be a cinematic masterpiece. Movies intended for young audiences are often not taken seriously by academy voters.
"Overall I think the Academy Awards are frankly sort of (baloney)," McAndrews said. "I believe the Academy Awards are awarded to someone who gets along with academy members. But from a purely financial perspective, movies that bring in the most money appeal to the widest audience and will entertain them. Movies that win Academy Awards are not always made primarily to entertain, but to inform and bring to light serious stories or subjects. They are seen to many as high brow and therefore appeal to a much smaller audience. Movies that were deemed to be the best do not typically bring in the most money due to that reason.”
Movies aimed at children or summer blockbusters tend to make a lot of money overall. But a blockbuster is more likely to have technical wizardry than to be a cinematic masterpiece. Movies intended for young audiences are often not taken seriously by academy voters.
Rotten Tomatoes takes all the film critic reviews it can find and averages them out to give a percent score. You'd expect Oscar films to be the highest rated. But data from the past 30 years shows that isn't the case. On average, the Oscar winner for Best Picture only garners a B+ average at 89.13 percent. The highest-rated film each year on average rates at 97.03 percent.
If the Oscars are giving awards based on critical success, then most of the award winners wouldn’t have even been in the running. The film that stood out each year is not getting the acknowledgments it appears to deserve. The Best Picture winner on average has been nominated for 9.40 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. This is not so with the highest rated film -- not based on one review score but all the review scores averaged out, which only gets about 4.77 Oscar nominations (which doesn’t always include Best Picture.)
Kyle Russell, a producer at Discovery Communications, said predictions are hard. "You can't predict best picture based on sales or reviews."
If the Oscars are giving awards based on critical success, then most of the award winners wouldn’t have even been in the running. The film that stood out each year is not getting the acknowledgments it appears to deserve. The Best Picture winner on average has been nominated for 9.40 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. This is not so with the highest rated film -- not based on one review score but all the review scores averaged out, which only gets about 4.77 Oscar nominations (which doesn’t always include Best Picture.)
Kyle Russell, a producer at Discovery Communications, said predictions are hard. "You can't predict best picture based on sales or reviews."
Streaming media providers challenge Powerhouse HBO for top Golden Globe Nominations
By: Tracy E. Smith
J.D. Hansel, a film student at the University of Maryland, has a secret ambition. He wants to be the guy who rejects a Golden Globe award.
“I don’t really want to be someone who gets to take home a nice, shiny Golden Globe so much as I want to be the guy who turned them down saying, ‘Nah, no thanks, it’s not worth it to me’ after they offer me one,” Hansel said. “That’s my dream. I want to be that guy.”
He’s only partially kidding.
And while Hansel, 21, doesn’t measure success based on award recognition, both short films he created have won several awards from the Maryland Film Festival. His story ideas are based on what he finds compelling, not what he thinks will be commercially successful -- though he’s cognizant of the role that sites like Rotten Tomatoes can play in generating interest.
“If I’m really into a TV show and I find that others are also interested, that makes me think about telling stories that are similar,” Hansel said. “That sort of validation comes from word of mouth, but it can also come from Rotten Tomatoes or award shows.”
The winners of the Golden Globe awards are chosen by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. According to the Golden Globes official website, the mission of the HFPA is to “recognize outstanding achievements by conferring annual Awards of Merit, serving as a constant incentive within the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in motion pictures and television.”
Hansel acknowledged that award recognition and viewer rankings are factors that confirm the public’s interest in a TV show, but is there a definitive correlation between viewer ratings and Golden Globe nominations?
Two of the most popular aggregators of viewer rankings are Rotten Tomatoes and Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Each site allows viewers to rate shows or films using its own scale, and then provides a collective ranking based on all the feedback it has collected.
Since 2000, almost every TV show that has been nominated for a Golden Globe has also received high viewer ratings on both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. The average IMDb viewer ranking for shows that won a Golden Globe in the last 17 years is 8.2/10 and the average Rotten Tomatoes viewer score rating is 91.5 percent.
“I don’t really want to be someone who gets to take home a nice, shiny Golden Globe so much as I want to be the guy who turned them down saying, ‘Nah, no thanks, it’s not worth it to me’ after they offer me one,” Hansel said. “That’s my dream. I want to be that guy.”
He’s only partially kidding.
And while Hansel, 21, doesn’t measure success based on award recognition, both short films he created have won several awards from the Maryland Film Festival. His story ideas are based on what he finds compelling, not what he thinks will be commercially successful -- though he’s cognizant of the role that sites like Rotten Tomatoes can play in generating interest.
“If I’m really into a TV show and I find that others are also interested, that makes me think about telling stories that are similar,” Hansel said. “That sort of validation comes from word of mouth, but it can also come from Rotten Tomatoes or award shows.”
The winners of the Golden Globe awards are chosen by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. According to the Golden Globes official website, the mission of the HFPA is to “recognize outstanding achievements by conferring annual Awards of Merit, serving as a constant incentive within the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in motion pictures and television.”
Hansel acknowledged that award recognition and viewer rankings are factors that confirm the public’s interest in a TV show, but is there a definitive correlation between viewer ratings and Golden Globe nominations?
Two of the most popular aggregators of viewer rankings are Rotten Tomatoes and Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Each site allows viewers to rate shows or films using its own scale, and then provides a collective ranking based on all the feedback it has collected.
Since 2000, almost every TV show that has been nominated for a Golden Globe has also received high viewer ratings on both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. The average IMDb viewer ranking for shows that won a Golden Globe in the last 17 years is 8.2/10 and the average Rotten Tomatoes viewer score rating is 91.5 percent.
TV shows that have only one nomination have a broad range of IMDb ratings. However, as the number of nominations increases, the ratings generally increase as well. Two significant outliers are “Sex in the City” and “Will and Grace,” which were each nominated six times but have rankings below 7.5.
While many home viewers appreciate sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, some filmmakers like the legendary Martin Scorsese are critical of their influence as well as distrusting of the consumer’s ability to judge content fairly.
In October 2017, in The Hollywood Reporter, Scorsese said that “Good films by real filmmakers aren't made to be decoded, consumed or instantly comprehended. They're not even made to be instantly liked...The filmmaker is reduced to a content manufacturer and the viewer to an unadventurous consumer.”
Although Scorsese is specifically commenting on films, the same critique can be applied to how viewers judge TV shows, especially since he was involved in “Boardwalk Empire” and “Vinyl.”
Mark Sullivan, an adjunct instructor in Towson University's Mass Communication department, questioned when this has ever been different.
“Movies and TV shows have always been commercial commodities in the U.S.,” Sullivan said. “Box office has always mattered and many of the old movies that are now most respected were not critic or audience favorites when they were released.”
According to Sullivan, the same happens with TV shows like “The Wire,” which became much more popular when people discovered it after its initial run.
Separate from user rankings, another factor contributing to the number of times that a TV show is nominated for a Golden Globe is the number of seasons it has been on the air.
In October 2017, in The Hollywood Reporter, Scorsese said that “Good films by real filmmakers aren't made to be decoded, consumed or instantly comprehended. They're not even made to be instantly liked...The filmmaker is reduced to a content manufacturer and the viewer to an unadventurous consumer.”
Although Scorsese is specifically commenting on films, the same critique can be applied to how viewers judge TV shows, especially since he was involved in “Boardwalk Empire” and “Vinyl.”
Mark Sullivan, an adjunct instructor in Towson University's Mass Communication department, questioned when this has ever been different.
“Movies and TV shows have always been commercial commodities in the U.S.,” Sullivan said. “Box office has always mattered and many of the old movies that are now most respected were not critic or audience favorites when they were released.”
According to Sullivan, the same happens with TV shows like “The Wire,” which became much more popular when people discovered it after its initial run.
Separate from user rankings, another factor contributing to the number of times that a TV show is nominated for a Golden Globe is the number of seasons it has been on the air.
Shows lasting for eight seasons have the highest number of nominations, even though there are fewer of these shows. However, very few shows extend beyond an eighth season, which accounts for a severe drop in nominations.
Because streaming venues are relatively new to the industry, it’s too soon to evaluate their shows based on longevity. Yet in the last four years, streaming providers have been recognized as a strong competitor.
Because streaming venues are relatively new to the industry, it’s too soon to evaluate their shows based on longevity. Yet in the last four years, streaming providers have been recognized as a strong competitor.
In 2016, five streaming shows were nominated for a Golden Globe, matching the number of shows nominated on premium cable. This is especially significant since premium cable had previously dominated award recognition.
“Streaming has more money and shorter seasons to make quality content,” Sullivan said. “And they never saw themselves as competing with broadcast; always saw themselves as competing with premium cable.”
In competing with premium stations, streaming venues like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu have set themselves up for a real challenge. Premium cable providers have earned the majority of Golden Globe award nominations for well over a decade. What network has been responsible for this success?
HBO.
Even after streaming was introduced in 2006, premium cable accounted for 47 percent of all nominations and HBO was the provider that brought us 67 percent of those nominees.
“Streaming has more money and shorter seasons to make quality content,” Sullivan said. “And they never saw themselves as competing with broadcast; always saw themselves as competing with premium cable.”
In competing with premium stations, streaming venues like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu have set themselves up for a real challenge. Premium cable providers have earned the majority of Golden Globe award nominations for well over a decade. What network has been responsible for this success?
HBO.
Even after streaming was introduced in 2006, premium cable accounted for 47 percent of all nominations and HBO was the provider that brought us 67 percent of those nominees.
“As movies have increasingly adopted a blockbuster mentality, HBO courted quality filmmakers, producers, directors, writers and actors to produce quality TV shows,” Sullivan said. “And those filmmakers have made the most of the expanded time frame to tell more complex stories.”
Since 2000, HBO has received 90 of the 274 Golden Globe nominations, surpassing its competition year after year.
Since 2000, HBO has received 90 of the 274 Golden Globe nominations, surpassing its competition year after year.
As Hansel continues to make films, he’s not expecting to win a Golden Globe. But if he did, he wouldn’t actually be that guy who rejects it.
“At the end of the day if someone offered me a Golden Globe, as much as I don’t take the Golden Globes seriously and as much as I really don’t like watching award ceremonies at all, I would probably have to say, ‘This is a pretty darn good thing for me to have on my shelf,’ ” Hansel said. “And it is to some extent validating.”
“At the end of the day if someone offered me a Golden Globe, as much as I don’t take the Golden Globes seriously and as much as I really don’t like watching award ceremonies at all, I would probably have to say, ‘This is a pretty darn good thing for me to have on my shelf,’ ” Hansel said. “And it is to some extent validating.”
NBC, HBO Dominate at EMMYS
By Rachel Mechura
Rachel Lohrmann, a 21-year-old electronic media and film major at Towson University, has strong interests in the television industry. She hopes her concentration in film, video and digital media will guide her along this path.
“I wanted to be an EMF major because I could see myself in production or somewhere else in the television world and decided to pursue it,” Lohrmann said.
She's also an avid binge-watcher, most recently of Netflix shows. And she tracks which of her shows are nominated and win an Emmy award.
“It makes me excited to see if any of my favorite shows will win an award,” Lohrmann said. “I can’t imagine how the cast and crew feel when they learn they’ve been nominated...or won for that matter.”
The Emmys are one measure of a television show's success -- among people in the entertainment industry. But there are more ways than ever to assess a show's popularity, including ratings on IMDb. This analysis examines how networks, streaming services and individual shows fared at the Emmmys and on IMBD, and whether there's a relationship between awards and fan ratings.
CBS is the network that hosts the Emmy awards each year, but the station isn't the biggest Emmys winner. NBC has the most wins from 2000-2017 in the best drama and best comedy series categories. HBO has the most nominations over that time period and the second most wins.
“I wanted to be an EMF major because I could see myself in production or somewhere else in the television world and decided to pursue it,” Lohrmann said.
She's also an avid binge-watcher, most recently of Netflix shows. And she tracks which of her shows are nominated and win an Emmy award.
“It makes me excited to see if any of my favorite shows will win an award,” Lohrmann said. “I can’t imagine how the cast and crew feel when they learn they’ve been nominated...or won for that matter.”
The Emmys are one measure of a television show's success -- among people in the entertainment industry. But there are more ways than ever to assess a show's popularity, including ratings on IMDb. This analysis examines how networks, streaming services and individual shows fared at the Emmmys and on IMBD, and whether there's a relationship between awards and fan ratings.
CBS is the network that hosts the Emmy awards each year, but the station isn't the biggest Emmys winner. NBC has the most wins from 2000-2017 in the best drama and best comedy series categories. HBO has the most nominations over that time period and the second most wins.
Outstanding comedy series have had the highest IMDb ratings compared to all other categories nominated and won. Comedy TV shows have had the most wins while the drama series category has been nominated the most. It is clear that comedy television shows win the most Emmys because the shows within that category have had more seasons than all other categories.
Since 2010, Modern Family, a popular comedy series aired on ABC, has made its way to the top with eight nominations, five awards and an 8.5 rating from IMDb.
“No wonder Modern Family has been winning,” said Donna Quinn, a former QVC host and a television industry veteran. “It’s about time a show can portray society today.”
Since 2010, Modern Family, a popular comedy series aired on ABC, has made its way to the top with eight nominations, five awards and an 8.5 rating from IMDb.
“No wonder Modern Family has been winning,” said Donna Quinn, a former QVC host and a television industry veteran. “It’s about time a show can portray society today.”
The television series that have won the most Emmy awards have actually had ratings in the eight to eight-point-nine range.
“I find it interesting that the television series with higher ratings like nine out of 10 haven’t won the most Emmys,” Lohrmann said. “From what I know in this major so far, I would assume the higher the rating, the higher the number of awards won."
“I find it interesting that the television series with higher ratings like nine out of 10 haven’t won the most Emmys,” Lohrmann said. “From what I know in this major so far, I would assume the higher the rating, the higher the number of awards won."