Nov 8, 2021

Report: Women account for about one-fifth of VFX roles

A major report has confirmed what the industry knew already: that women are under-represented in vfx roles. Through detailed analysis, it gives the problem new definition.

“Invisible in Visual Effects” is the second study to emerge from a partnership between Dr. Stacy L. Smith, the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, and Women in Animation, following 2019's “Increasing Inclusion in Animation.” It does for vfx what that one did for animation, providing granular data about women's prevalence in different parts of the industry and suggesting ways in which problems might be remedied - all with the help of clear, colorful graphs.

The report looked at 103,972 individuals who worked in vfx positions across the 400 top films from 2016 to 2019. It also examined the leadership at the 60 top companies behind these films, as well as recent vfx nominees and winners at the Oscars and Visual Effects Society Awards. Finally, 51 women in vfx and 31 industry decision makers were interviewed.

Below are a few takeaways, figures, and graphs from the document, which can be read in full here.

The study proposes several measures to boost the number of women in leadership and other roles, including: