.png){kind=logo}
Systemic racism in Hollywood is the persistent and structural discrimination and exclusion of people of color from the entertainment industry. It affects their representation, opportunities, recognition and earnings. Some sources claim that it costs the industry $10 billion a year. Source
Distribution of lead actors in films. In the U.S. 2011-2022, by ethnicity:
Published by Statista Research Department, Jun 13, 2023
After reaching an all-time high in 2020, the share of lead actors in movies in the United States that the source identified as people of color experienced a decrease in 2022, standing just above 21 percent. A decade earlier, approximately 10.5 percent of the lead actors in U.S. films were not white. Source
Minorities behind and before the big screen:
The percentage of non-white movie writers in the U.S. has also been on the rise, going from less than eight percent in 2011 to over 32 percent a decade later, before dropping at 12.4 in 2022. Meanwhile, cinema audiences in the U.S. remained predominantly Caucasian, with white viewers accounting for 57 percent of the movie tickets sold in 2021, the highest share in a historical series started in 2015. Hispanic or Latino-identifying people traditionally hold the second-largest percentage, roughly accounting for one-quarter of moviegoers in the U.S.. Source
According to Statista, approximately 83 percent of film directors in the United States were white, while the remaining 17 percent were part of ethnic minorities in 2022.
Distribution of movie directors in the U.S. 2011-2022, by ethnicity:
Published by Statista Research Department, Jun 13, 2023
In 2022, approximately 17 percent of film directors in the United States were part of ethnic minorities, while the remaining 83 percent were white, according to the source. A decade earlier, the shares stood at 12.2 and 87.8 percent, respectively. Source
In 2020, 79.9% of the Producers & directors workforce were White, of which 37.5% were women and 62.5% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black (7.58%) and Two or More Races (5%). Source
Script Writer Statistics by Race: White 71.5%, Asian 8.7%, Hispanic or Latino 7.8%, Black or African American 6.6%, Unknown 5.0% Source