It’s been a banner year for diverse hiring in television.
First-time women and minority television directors were hired in record numbers in the 2016-17 television season, according to a new study from the Directors Guild of America.
The annual study of first-time hires, which the directors’ union has conducted since the 2009-10 television season, found that 56 first-time hires (25 percent) in the 2016-17 television season were ethnic-minority directors, while 73 hires (32 percent) were women. Those numbers are up 10 and 9 percent, respectively, from the 2015-16 season, which saw 24 ethnic-minority and 38 female new directors hired. Eighteen hires (8 percent) of the 2016-17 pool were female-minority directors, up from six hires (3.8 percent) in 2015-16.
« Finally, after years of our efforts to educate the industry, hold employers accountable through our contracts, and push them to do better, we’re seeing signs of meaningful improvement, » DGA President Thomas Schlamme said in a statement.
The DGA refers to this pool of first-time directors as the « pipeline of new episodic television directors. » When diverse directors get a first opportunity at directing, the DGA says, odds are that those who are successful will establish longer-term careers.
Overall, episodic television was hiring more directors than ever before in 2016-17: An all-time high of 225 newbie directors helmed episodes for this year’s television programming, the DGA found.
