WMC Report: Men Continue to Dominate in Behind-the-Scenes Roles in Primetime Emmy Nominations

Full report: Click Here.

Infographics: Click Here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gender parity remains elusive in non-acting Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with men capturing 67% of this year’s slots compared to 33% for women, whose numbers barely increased, according to the latest Women’s Media Center analysis.

Of the 2,357 people nominated for the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards in the 93 non-acting categories, 784 are women, 1,572 are men, and one (less than 1%) is a nonbinary person. Last year, of the 2,337 people who were nominated for non-acting categories, 757 (32%) were women, and 1,580 (68%) were men.

“The findings show that the odds of winning in these critical behind-the-scenes categories are stacked against women,” said Julie Burton, President and CEO of the Women’s Media Center.

“These numbers are a measure of women’s participation in key roles in the creation of television entertainment,” Burton said. “Fair and equitable presence and participation of women and of people of color in non-acting positions in TV leads to more realistic representation on the screen. In Hollywood, men still dominate in these powerful positions, thus denying women the chance to showcase their talent and broaden their opportunity.”

The nominations in the four top non-acting Emmy fields — producing, directing, writing, and editing — also fell short of gender parity, although there was a very modest increase overall in the number of women. In 2022, of the 1,386 nominees in these four fields, 461 (33%) are women, 924 (67%) are men, and one person (less than 1%) is nonbinary. Last year, of the 1,429 nominees in these four fields, 451 (32%) were women and 978 (68%) were men.

Though there was a 10 percentage-point increase for women nominees in editing, reaching a high of 35%, men still far outpaced women at 64%. The changes were much smaller in directing and writing, and producing stayed the same. Women director nominees ticked up slightly to 27 or 15% from 12%, while men dominated with 155 or 85% of those nominations. Writers had an even smaller gain, with women comprising 48 or 34% of the nominees in 2022, compared to 33% in 2021. Men were 93 or 66% of writer nominations. Out of the 944 people nominated as producers, 344 (36%) are women, while 600 (64%) are men. This is the same percentage as in 2021.

“Women behind the scenes — writers, editors, producers, directors — are integral to the depiction of women on screen,” said Janet Dewart Bell, WMC Board Chair. “Their presence helps ensure that the images we see are accurate, equitable, diverse, and representative.”

The WMC analysis shows that the 10 programs with the most 2022 Primetime Emmy nominations all have at least one woman nominated as a producer, writer, editor, director, or actress. In the categories for producing, directing, writing, and editing, the shows that tended to get the most nominations for women are those that have female-oriented subject matter and/or have a woman as showrunner, according to the report.

“These numbers show that having a woman as a showrunner can make a difference in the number of women who are hired for non-acting jobs, and who receive Emmy nominations in non-acting categories,” said Gloria Steinem, WMC Co-Founder.

There were some breakthrough accomplishments for individual women of color in the 74th annual Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Quinta Brunson, showrunner/creator of ABC’s Abbott Elementary, who made Primetime Emmy history by becoming the first Black woman to be nominated in the same year for producing, writing, and starring in a comedy series. Selena Gomez earned her first Emmy nomination, for being an executive producer of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.

“We celebrate Quinta, Selena, and all of the women nominees for their exemplary achievements,” said Jane Fonda, WMC Co-Founder. “Their talent, creativity, hard work, and drive deserve the highest recognition.”

“ ‘Notable’ achievements are not an applaudable bar for a television industry sustained by diverse audiences — especially considering the long history of women, especially women of color, having been passed over for work and nominations,” said Erica González Martínez, WMC Board Vice Chair. “Because of women raising their voices and the analysis by the Women’s Media Center, advocates have the data and reports for ensuring that women are not a segment of creators and nominees in television but instead half of them.”

For the third consecutive year, the Primetime Emmy Awards (which include the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for technical categories) could have up to eight nominations per category, based on a sliding scale of eligible submitted nominations. The exceptions are the categories of Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Comedy Series, which have eight nominations each, regardless of the number of submissions.

The 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards will air on September 12 on NBC, with Peacock offering livestream access on demand.

The Women’s Media Center, co-founded by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem, is an inclusive feminist organization that works to raise the visibility, viability, and decision-making power of women and girls in media to ensure that their stories get told and their voices are heard. We do this by researching media through the WMC Media Lab; creating and modeling original online and on-air journalism; training women and girls to be effective in media; and promoting women experts in all fields through WMC SheSource.

WMC online and on-air journalism channels include the award-winning podcast and radio show Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan, WMC Features, WMC Women Under Siege, WMC FBomb, WMC IDAR/E, WMC Climate, and WMC Speech Project.

For more information, contact Cristal Williams Chancellor, WMC director of communications, at cristal@womensmediacenter.com or 202-270-8539.