Download Female professionals in European audiovisual fiction and theatrical film production: 2015-2025 figures

The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has just published a new edition of the report Female professionals in European audiovisual fiction and theatrical film production: 2015-2025 figures. The report analyses gender representation in six categories of behind-the-camera staff: directors, screenwriters, producers, cinematographers, composers and editors.

This new report finds that:

• Women accounted for 27% of professionals involved in producing European theatrical films in 2025, and 31% of those involved in producing audiovisual fiction (TV and streaming films and series) in 2024.
• When a woman is the director, other key roles are more likely to be filled by women.
• Some European countries have achieved gender parity in certain professional roles.

The report’s author, Dr Agnes Schneeberger, Observatory TV and VOD Market Analyst, stated: “Our data shows that female directors can make a real difference. They raise all boats, making it more likely that other key roles will be filled by women.”
 

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory analysis of Media Press Group and LUMIERE data

Note: *The high share of female screenwriters in the case of a female film director is biased. This is because the director and the screenwriter of a film are often the same person. Assignment: Number of credits, weighted by the number of professionals in the same job for the same title.

Three cumulative factors regarding gender representation in European theatrical film and audiovisual fiction production (Information about the crew of audiovisual fiction productions is retrieved on an episode-by-episode basis. Crew information for theatrical films is retrieved on a feature film basis) apply to most roles:

• • There are fewer women in the active workforce to begin with.
  • Those who are active receive fewer job assignments, and
  • the work they secure is more often shared with other professionals (for example, female screenwriters co-write more often than their male counterparts).

Based on these observations, the report highlights the following trends and key findings.

Progress towards parity has certainly been made but is facing stagnation.

• Gradual progress towards parity plateaus: Since 2015, women’s representation has increased by 6%, reaching 27% of active female professionals involved in producing European theatrical films in 2025 and 31% of those involved in producing audiovisual fiction works in 2024. However, progress towards parity has plateaued in both sectors since 2022, indicating persistent barriers.

The share of women in the active workforce does not reflect their share of job assignments.

• Assignment differences: In 2025, women held 25% of job assignments in theatrical film production and 26% in audiovisual fiction in 2024, representing a five and seven percent increase respectively since 2015. However, the share of assignments held by women is not identical to their share of active professionals, but generally lower, with greater differences in audiovisual fiction than in film production. This is because women work less than man, and their work is shared more often. For example: In a given year, a woman might direct one film and a man might direct two. While this represents parity among active professionals, one contract stands against two. Such contracts can be shared, and sharing contracts affects women more often (38% versus around 18-19% for men).

Most teams in European film and television production are male-majority teams.

• More room for women in teams: Female professionals are more likely to be better represented in team-based roles, such as producers and screenwriters. Conversely, women tend to be more underrepresented in roles generally held by a single professional, such as director, cinematographer, and composer. However, even in roles where several professionals are responsible for writing or producing a film, the teams are predominantly composed of a male-majority. In 2025, female-majority teams accounted for 12% in theatrical film production, and gender-balanced teams accounted for 11%. In audiovisual fiction production, female-majority teams accounted for 11% and gender-balanced teams for 14% in 2024.

Gender representation varies according to profession.

• Professional role variation: Women are better represented in producing, screenwriting, editing and directing roles in both the audiovisual fiction and film sectors. However, they remain acutely underrepresented as composers and cinematographers. Women working as directors, screenwriters, producers or cinematographers in theatrical film production were more likely to share work than women working in these roles in audiovisual fiction production.

Female directors are associated with greater gender balance across key roles.

• The female director effect: Having a female director is associated with a higher share of women in other key creative roles, particularly in the film industry, where the effect is stronger. For example, in the film industry, women held 76% of screenwriting assignments on projects directed by women. This exceptionally high figure is partly due to the frequent overlap between the roles of director and screenwriter. In the audiovisual fiction sector, however, where these roles are distinct, women held 53% of screenwriting assignments on works directed by women.

Directorial feature film debuts are closer to gender parity.

• Debut versus subsequent films: Directorial debuts among newcomers to the film industry are closer to gender parity. Throughout the decade, the share of debut film assignments held by female directors was consistently higher than for subsequent films. However, there is greater inertia among established film directors: because men have historically been overrepresented in the industry, they constitute a larger pool of experienced film directors who continue to make subsequent films. This means that, while new entrants are closer to parity, the cumulative output of consecutive films remains more male-dominated.

 The documentary genre has the strongest female presence.

• Genre differences: On average, female professionals hold a higher share of assignments per film in documentaries than in other film genres. In 2025, women held 35% of documentary assignments, followed by 26% in animation and 23% in live-action films. Among individual roles, female editors (35%), producers (34%) and directors (31%) all had their highest representation in documentaries.

Some countries have achieved gender parity in certain professional roles.

• Countries with a higher share of female professionals: In 2025 theatrical film production, Austria was the country with the highest share of assignments held by women overall (46%). The country reached or surpassed parity in directing, screenwriting, and editing assignments. Latvia reached parity in producing. In audiovisual fiction production, Greece and Ireland reached gender parity in directing and screenwriting, respectively. Finland had the highest overall share of assignments held by women across all roles (35%).

 Meet the author - Agnes Schneeberger, our TV and VOD Markets Analyst, Department for Market Information