DGA finds little diversity

Despite all the talk of too many TV choices, look behind the camera and you won’t find an overabundance of one option: a female or minority director. That’s according to the Directors Guild of America’s latest report analyzing the gender and ethnicity of directors hired by prime- time TV shows across broadcast and cable networks, as well as Internet networks such as Netflix and Amazon.

The DGA combed through more than 3,900 episodes produced in the 2014- 2015 television season from more than 270 scripted series. The report included a “Worst Of” list of 61 shows, 27 of which had no female or minority directors last season. “The Best Of” list highlighted shows hiring women and minorities to direct at least 40% of episodes. BET shows “Being Mary Jane,” “The Game” and “Single Ladies” all had a perfect score for hiring women or minority directors. Rounding out the top five: CBS’ “The McCarthys” and TBS’ “Ground Floor.”

Overall, female directors are seeing a modest increase in representation. According to the report, the percentage of episodes directed by women rose to 16% from14%.

“The uptick in the number of episodes directed by women— modest but hopeful— is just a drop in the bucket of what needs to be done by studios, networks and show runners before we can begin to realize equal opportunities in television for our members,” said DGA President Paris Barclay.