Press

We serve European and international journalists with our press releases. We regularly publish facts, figures and analysis from our latest publications or conference presentations in the form of press releases targeting the journalist community.

All press releases are available in English, French and German. We also offer free copies of our publications to bona fide journalists who quote our work in their articles or write about our publications.

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If you wish to join our unique network of journalists covering the audiovisual industries, or simply wish to receive our press releases for information, send an email to the Observatory's Press Officer (see details on the right). We look forward to satisfying your information needs.

For any press releases prior to 2017, please contact alison.hindhaugh@coe.int

Latest press releases

Back Women strongly underrepresented among composers, DOPs and directors of European TV fiction – more favorable situation for female producers and writers

Published 04/05/22

The European Audiovisual Observatory has just published a new report on gender inequality in European TV fiction production.

Women strongly underrepresented among composers, DOPs and directors of European TV fiction – more favorable situation for female producers and writers

Download "Female audiovisual professionals in European TV fiction production – 2020 figures”

This brand-new report: “Female audiovisual professionals in European TV fiction production – 2020 figures” has just been published by the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The report analyses the composition of key positions in over 37 000 TV films and TV series episodes produced between 2015 and 2020: directors, writers, producers, directors of photography, composers and lead roles.

The share of female professionals in European TV fiction production ranges from less than 10% (composers, directors of photography) to over 40% (producers, lead roles). 36% of TV fiction episodes were written by female writers, but only 17% directed by female directors.

The low share of women results from a multiplication of factors: typically, for directors, the low share of women results from fewer women active in TV production, who work less often than men, and are more often than male in a team of directors than being the sole creator of the work. Moreover, teams are more often male-driven.