ReFrame's 2025 report on gender-balanced hiring in film production captured the biggest "reversal" in six years.

ReFrame, the gender equity coalition founded in 2017 by Sundance Institute and WIF (formerly Women in Film), has issued a new study spotlighting a reversal of gender-balanced hiring in film in 2025…

…Progress for directors peaked in 2023, with 20 women and nonbinary directors represented in the Top 100 films. With regard to lead roles, inclusion peaked in 2024, when there were 51 women, including one transgender performer, cited. In 2025, only 11 women directors and just seven women of color in lead roles were represented on IMDbPro’s Top 100 list. There was zero inclusion of transgender or nonbinary individuals as directors or in lead roles.