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SAG's Newest Casting Data Shows Highest Ethnic Minority Representation on Record
posted on Oct 30, 2007
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| Alan Rosenberg, SAG President |
Following a fifteen year trend, non-Caucasian performers made
incremental gains over the past two years, although mostly represented
in supporting roles, according to the latest casting data collected and
analyzed by Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in 2005 and 2006. Casting
data for women and senior performers has remained relatively unchanged.
"With
the public continuing to demand full inclusion in film and television
programming, we are proud to be a leading voice in the industry," SAG
President Alan Rosenberg said. "While we are also pleased to announce
the largest percentage share for ethnic minorities to date, we cannot
be content with the current levels of representation in each category,
as they do not reflect the current demographics of our country. We will
continue to insist on greater access to employment opportunities and
accurate depictions of the American Scene."
In a joint effort
by Producers and the Guild to realistically portray "the American
Scene," Producers signatory to the Guild’s television and theatrical
contracts must submit hiring data of performers on all productions from
Theatrical Feature Films, Theatrical Low Budget Films, Television
Episodic Programs and Television Non-Episodic Programs. Specifically,
with the purpose to improve conditions for equal employment access and
opportunities, the collection and analysis of hiring data based on
gender, age, and race/ethnicity of performers are examined to determine
hiring trends of our traditionally underemployed and disenfranchised
membership.
Beginning in 2004, the "Theatrical – Low Budget
Presentations" section has been added to accommodate the reporting and
analysis of low budget theatrical data as the Guild determined the
importance of tracking low budget and modified low budget films since
such film agreements contain Diversity in Casting incentives.
With
the exception of Non-Episodic Television, the total number of roles
that were reported for theatrical features, theatrical low budgets, and
episodic television programs all grew from 2005 to 2006. The total
number of roles in theatrical features rose by 14.5 percent, while the
total number of roles in the newly added low budget films grew by 20.2
percent. Episodic television grew in the number of roles by 13
percent.
Non-episodic television, which is the lowest
contributor in terms of roles, fell substantially from 2005 to 2006.
Likely contributors to this drop off were the broadcast networks'
wholesale abandonment of so-called "Movies of the Week"—by 2006, the
format moved primarily to basic cable—as well as the increase in
"Reality Television" programming. Additionally, production pilots,
which are another component of non-episodic television, fell in numbers
from 2005 to 2006.
With the exception of the newly recorded
theatrical low budgets, the data indicates a drop in the average work
days per role since 2005. The result saw the number of total days
worked for theatrical features to actually be lower in 2006, even
though the number of roles was significantly higher. For non-episodic
television, the steep decline in average days worked per role made the
impact of the role loss even greater in terms of fewer days worked.
Rosenberg added: "Screen Actors Guild’s longstanding commitment to accurately reflect the American Scene is exemplified in Actor,
an invaluable database of our members that can eliminate
rationalizations for exclusion by giving the employers the tools they
need to identify individuals who have historically been
underrepresented. The serious lack of women over the age of 40 is only
one indicator that while we may be getting closer to reaching our goal
of a truly representative film and television landscape, it is time for
all industry stake-holders to help make it happen now and not
generations from now."
Other recent Guild efforts to enhance casting diversity and increase employment opportunities and access have included:
- Hosting the American Scene National Diversity Summit on October
16, 2007, a symposium seeking realistic solutions for greater diversity
in casting.
- Conducting special educational and network events and training programs for women and senior performers.
- Establishing the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Actors
National Committee, the President’s National Task Force for American
Indians and the President’s National Task Force on Spanish Language
Media.
- Expanding the responsibilities of the National Director of
Affirmative Action/Diversity to include serving as the Senior Equal
Employment Opportunity Counsel, adding a legal enforcement function to
the role.
- Promoting SAGIndie's low budget and modified low budget diversity in casting incentives.
- Working closely with television networks in conducting talent
showcases that highlight traditionally underemployed groups of
performers.
- Expanding the Diversity, Special Skills and Talent Bank's free
casting service to expose studios and casting directors to diverse
pools of talent.
Although the casting data shows highest ethnic minority
representation on record, most ethnic groups were down a fraction of a
percent in proportion to total roles, while the number of roles
classified as "Unknown/Other" grew from 2.1 percent in 2005 to 3.3
percent in 2006. It would be impossible to determine whether the
reduction in ethnic percentages are attributed to performers classified
by Producers as "Unknown/Other" versus an actual drop in the ethnic
group's proportion to all roles. Therefore, the following section must
be read with caution as any losses could potentially be exaggerated by
the increase in "Unknown/Other" categories.
Asian/Pacific
Islander is the only ethnic category to finish with a higher percentage
of roles in 2006 than in 2005, growing from 3.1 percent to 3.4 percent
of all roles. Highlights in this category saw the number of lead roles
in episodic TV grow a net of 146 in 2006. Nearly twice as many women
than men, with women under 40 continuing to be the most
represented—over twice as many women under 40 than any other group.
There was also evidence of continued growth in lead roles, but still
mostly represented in supporting roles—nearly twice as many supporting
roles than leads over past 3 years.
African-American roles as a
proportion of total roles fell slightly over last year, although a more
pronounced drop-off was seen in lead roles. Even as the total number of
lead roles in episodic television grew by 10 percent from 2005 to 2006,
the number African American lead roles fell by a net of 49 during this
period. Men under 40 continue to be the most represented gender/age
group with modest gains in women over 40 in supporting roles.
Latino/Hispanic
roles fell slightly as a percentage of total roles in all categories
from 2005 to 2006, with the exception of theatrical features. In
theatrical feature presentations, their number of lead roles grew from
31 to 52, while their number of supporting roles grew from 302 to
364.
Native American Indian roles fell from 0.4 percent of
total roles in 2005 to 0.2 percent of total roles in 2006. The
non-episodic television category saw a net decrease of 69 roles over
2005. Excluding this category, the total number of roles for Native
American Indians actually increased from 76 to 89. American Indian
performers continue to be the least represented ethnic group with less
than one percent share of all roles.
In comparison, Caucasian
performers continue to be the other ethnic group that continues to have
greater representation in lead roles than in supporting roles. While
the overall number of roles fell in theatrical features and episodic
television, Caucasians gained 752 roles in low budget films. This
represented an increase of almost 28 percent over 2005. Men 40 and over
continue to be the most represented gender/age group in both supporting
and lead roles.
Click here to view SAG's Casting Data charts. <http://www.sag.org/Content/Public/datarpt_images.pdf>
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