Hollywood budget bias: Women drive the hits, while men get more funding

A new study is shining a light on the disconnect between female screenwriters and male filmmakers. Researchers looked at 30 years of film and found that movies written by women, without a female director, had median profits 34% higher than films made entirely by men — even with similar budgets. Yet, 39 of the 44 films with the largest production budgets were male-only productions, and none had a woman director. The findings suggest that when it comes to financing, Hollywood is likely still leaning on men, even though the numbers tell a different story. "The extreme uncertainty of film financing can make familiar people and established ways of working feel safer, especially when decision-makers are risk- or loss-averse," said Anja Huwiler, the study's author. "This can reinforce the status quo even when the financial evidence points elsewhere."