Female representation on TV in Spain, Mexico, Argentina: Iberseries

Women remain significantly underrepresented in the film and television production sectors in many countries around the world, and Spain, Mexico and Argentina are no different. A roundtable held on the final day of Iberseries & Platino Industria presented studies on female participation in the audiovisual sectors of those countries and saw speakers call for a change in attitude and support to ensure a greater presence of female professionals.

The major Madrid event focused on Spanish and Portuguese language content featured a session with experts from Nebrija University in Spain on Friday, the final day. The speakers were Nebrija researchers Mercedes Herrero de la Fuente, Cristina Angeles and Rocio Gago, as well as Sabrina Farji from the OIA Audiovisual Equality Observatory in Argentina. Marta Saavedra, director of the Cinema, Women and Education (CIMUED) chair at the University of Nebrija, was the moderator.

Herrero de la Fuente shared data that in 2023, women made up only 38% of manufacturing professionals in Spain. According to the definitions of the country's equality law, which mentions a ratio of at least 60:40, “we are talking about a male sector,” she explained.

She also highlighted that women are a minority in most job categories in the industry, with the exception of aesthetics-focused roles which have traditionally been seen as strong areas for women. For example, female professionals represent 85% of workers in costume design, 81% in makeup and 64% in art direction.

In technical sectors, such as cinematography and sound, as well as in directing (24%), women make up only a small presence. “Women are not sufficiently represented in the audiovisual sector in our country,” concluded Herrero de la Fuente.

Angeles said that in Mexico, similarly, “we still have room for improvement.” And she added that “we have a lot to do to keep women in the industry after they direct their first film.”

Last year, women made up just 21% of cinematographers in the country, 26% of directors, 39% of screenwriters, but 65% of producers.

For Argentina, Farji said there is data for the biggest successes, showing that women represent 34% of the professionals involved. After #MeToo, female representation, particularly among directors, improved, but then the Covid pandemic had a “brutal” impact. “It's kind of a roller coaster and it's getting harder and harder for women to come back,” she said. But women are traditionally better represented in genres such as documentaries, the expert also noted.

With Argentina's manufacturing sector coming to a near standstill due to the political dispute, “we have achieved zero equality,” he also noted. Far-right leader Javier Milei's government has approved a controversial plan to cut all state funding to the country's national film body, providing an added blow to Argentina's economic woes.

At the end of the session, Gago summarized the key points, calculating that female professionals in the three countries represent only around 30% of workers in the sector. She suggested that the industry needs to start trusting more women with more responsibilities outside of their traditional roles.

“There is less trust in women managing bigger budget projects,” Herrero de la Fuente said. And she wondered if this might be partly true because women are so used to and good at making things work on small budgets. He concluded: “We need to think big.”

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