Audiences of color were major drivers of box office revenue in
Hollywood
last year, a report revealed Thursday, making up the majority of ticket sales
for opening weekend for most blockbuster movies.
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The findings continue a years-long trend that has seen filmgoer demographics
shift over time in the United States, even beyond changes in the wider
population.
"Every time there was a big movie that exceeded expectations or broke a
record, we see that between 53 percent and 60 percent of opening weekend
audiences were people of color," said Ana-Christina Ramon, co-author of
the Hollywood Diversity Report.
"For people of color and especially for Latino families, theaters
provided an excursion when mostly everything was shut down.
"In a sense, people of color really kept the studios afloat the past
couple of years."
The report, from the University of California, Los Angeles, also found that
casts are becoming more diverse -- a factor that appears to be playing well
with streaming audiences.
Titles with substantial minority casts tended to do especially well among
younger viewers -- those aged 18-49 -- who are more engaged with streaming, the
report found.
Of the 252 films studied, 72 with mostly minority casts were released on
streaming platforms, including "Raya and the Last Dragon,"
"Coming 2 America," "Vivo" and "Mortal Kombat."
"In 2020, minorities reached proportionate representation for the first
time when it comes to overall cast diversity in films, and that held true in
2021," said co-author Darnell Hunt.
"We suspect this is at least somewhat due to the outsize impact of the
number of films we analyzed that were released direct-to-streaming.
"We also think this dual-release strategy is probably here to stay and
could have a lasting impact on diversity metrics in front of and behind the
camera in the future as studios think about how to finance content for
different platforms."
While non-white actors are increasingly visible on screens, those behind the
camera remain far more likely to be white and male, the report said.
Just over a fifth of directors of top films in 2021 were female, and only a
third were people of color.
"Most of these filmmakers are relegated to low-budget films. The
chronic underinvestment in women and people of color creates limited
opportunities for them to showcase their talents to a wider audience,"
said Ramon.
"The final frontier is really behind the camera for women of
color," Ramon said.
Hollywood's luminaries gather on Sunday for the Oscars, with the two Best
Picture frontrunners -- "CODA" and "The Power of the Dog"
-- both directed by women.
The other eight films in the category are directed by men.
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