gender gaps in film roles
Despite ongoing efforts, gender inequality remains a reality in the screen industry. In 2022, women accounted for 37 percent of professionals, while men represented 63 percent. When looking at specific job families, women led in costume design at 80 percent, makeup and hair at 73 percent, artistic direction at 63 percent, and production management at 55 percent. These numbers come from the 2022 annual report by Women, Filmmakers, and Audiovisual Media, also known as TOP, presented at the IV Congress. The study surveys Spanish feature films and analyzes the tally of nominees submitted to the Goya Awards as a snapshot of the sector’s productions and roles. The report highlights how representation shifts across different levels of decision making, with women more visible in mid to lower authority positions than in top leadership roles.
In key production and technical tracks, men still hold the majority. Women make up 36 percent of editors and special effects teams, 28 percent of producers, 24 percent of directors, and 21 percent of sound work. In music composition, women occupy only 19 percent, and the share of women in on screen cinematography remains limited.
The data also show a clear vertical split: as the level of decision making rises, female representation declines. In management, women hold 27 percent of leadership roles, compared with 72 percent held by men. In technical and artistic domains, women represent 32 percent against 68 percent for men. Women also account for 55 percent of organizational roles in tech aesthetics and 75 percent in tech related professions, while 36 percent participate in other related fields. By genre, women are least represented in animation at 21 percent, followed by documentaries at 33 percent and fiction at 39 percent.
economic ramifications
The gender gap in earnings mirrors the pattern seen across the industry. The report notes a negative figure of minus 41 percent for films directed by women, suggesting that projects led by women typically operate with smaller budgets and fewer resources than comparable male-led productions. This economic gap underscores the need for policy measures and targeted funding to support female participation across the production pipeline. The study calls for state support that strengthens collaboration with writers and technical crews and acknowledges that funding discrepancies across titles persist, though some projects demonstrate meaningful backing in certain cases.
funding and subsidies
When examining subsidies for feature film production or development from autonomous communities, Catalonia leads with roughly 51 percent of its backing directed toward films directed by women. Other regions also show notable support, with Extremadura at 50 percent and Euskadi at 44 percent. In contrast, funding allocated to general television channels shows that only about 34 percent of the feature films received support from the audiovisual sector that went to women. The data capture the broader market, including RTVE-backed funding and the share of female leads among co-productions. Notable producers show varied involvement: Atresmedia Cinema accounts for about 9 percent, while Telecinco Cinema does not register a measurable share in this dataset.
The overall picture reveals persistent gender gaps across roles, budgets, and decision-making arenas, alongside pockets of supportive funding that help elevate women into key positions. The analysis indicates progress in some regions and fields, while recognizing continued work to achieve parity in others. The figures cited come from CIMA, TOP report 2023, and related industry analyses.