A new report out of the Writers Guild of America shows that the number of female screenwriters is dwindling, and they are making 77 cents on the dollar compared to male writers.
Now, I don’t know the breakdown of men versus women who are trying to become screenwriters, but based on what I’ve seen at writing conferences, classes, writers groups, and among the followers of this very site, it seems that women make up at least a third and perhaps even half of all the people trying to become professional screenwriters.
But women aren’t getting as far as men in this field, and it’s worth asking why.
Todd Cunningham of The Wrap reports:
There are fewer women writing for feature films and they make less than their male counterparts, according to new figures released Monday by the Writers Guild of America West. Women accounted for just 15 percent of sector employment — down from 17 percent in 2009 — and are outnumbered by more than three-to-one among screenwriters, according to an early summary of the 2014 Hollywood Writers Report, the WGAW’s analysis of the state of diversity in writing for television and film. Women film writers earned just 77 cents for every dollar earned by white male film writers in 2012, down from 82 cents in 2009, the survey said.
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