Women Still Underrepresented In Emmy Nominations, Report Finds

LOS ANGELES, CA — Women made modest gains among the producers, directors, writers and editors nominated for this year's Primetime Emmy Awards but continue to be substantially outnumbered by men in key behind-the-scenes television roles, according to a report released Thursday.

The Women's Media Center found that among 2,635 nominees in 102 non- acting categories for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, 918, or 35%, are women, while 1,714, or 65%, are men and three are nonbinary.

Women accounted for 33% of nominees in those categories last year. The 35% figure this year matches a previous record high, according to the report.

"While the increase in nominations is encouraging, the Primetime Emmys continue to be a male-majority club where men receive the largest share of the nominations and, ultimately, the awards," Women's Media Center President and CEO Julie Burton said. "Women as nominees in these key non-acting categories have never exceeded 35%."

Women posted larger gains in the four major behind-the-scenes fields of producing, directing, writing and editing. Of 1,412 nominees in those fields, 511, or 36%, are women, compared with 32% last year. Men account for 64% of this year's nominees in the four fields.

The report said women represented 25% of nominees in those combined fields a decade ago.

Producing had the highest percentage of women among the four fields, with women accounting for 409, or 40%, of 1,012 nominees. Women made up 37% of producing nominees last year.

Women accounted for 46% of nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series, up from 30% last year, while their representation among nominees for Outstanding Drama Series increased from 29% to 39%.

The disparity was substantially larger in directing. Women accounted for 20, or 18%, of the 112 directing nominees, compared with 92 men, or 82%. Women represented 15% of directing nominees last year.

In writing categories, 37 of 117 nominees, or 32%, are women, while 79, or 68%, are men and one is nonbinary. Women accounted for 26% of editing nominees, compared with 74% for men.

"There's an abundance of talented, creative women who are producing outstanding television programming yet too often are overlooked for this prestigious award," Women's Media Center co-founder Jane Fonda said. "Their artistry and excellence in everything from directing to costume design deserve high professional recognition."

Six non-acting Emmy categories have no female nominees this year, down from 13 categories last year, according to the report. The organization said cinematography has historically been the field in which women are most frequently shut out.

The report also found that Black women received three of the six nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. Salli Richardson- Whitfield received three nominations this year, including directing nominations for "The Gilded Age" and "Task," and a producing nomination for "The Gilded Age."

"Abbott Elementary" creator and star Quinta Brunson was also cited by the report as one of the relatively few Black female showrunners nominated in multiple major Emmy categories.

Among the eight shows receiving the most Emmy nominations this year, "Hacks" is the only one centered on female characters and led by women showrunners, according to the report. The HBO Max comedy recently completed its fifth and final season.

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will air live Sept. 14 on NBC and Peacock from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

City News Service