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Hollywood boosts female leads but lags in people of color, report finds

Hollywood boosts female leads but lags in people of color, report finds

Reuters11-02-2025

LOS ANGELES, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Out of the top 100 movies in 2024, more than half featured a story centered on a female actor as a lead or co-lead, the first time representation has been above the U.S. Census where girls and women comprise 50.5% of the population, a 2025 report from the University of Southern California found.
However, representation fell for people of color in film, the report said.
The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative examined 1,800 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2024 and assessed the gender, race and ethnicity as well as the ages of the leading and co-leading actors for each movie.
'This is the first time we can say that gender equality has been reached in top-grossing films,' said Dr. Stacy L. Smith, founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.
"This is not the result of an economic awakening, but is due to a number of different constituencies and efforts - at advocacy groups, at studios, through DEI initiatives - to assert the need for equality on screen," Smith added.
Films like"Wicked" with lead Cynthia Erivo, " Anora" with lead Mikey Madison and Anya Taylor-Joy in "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" set the stage for these gains in Hollywood gender equality.
Out of the 100 top-grossing films of 2024, 54 featured a girl or woman in a lead or co-lead role, the USC report said.
This reflects an increase from 2023, when only 30 movies featured a female-identified protagonist.
Over half of the films distributed by Universal Pictures (66.7%), Warner Bros. Pictures (55.6%)and Lionsgate (54.5%) featured a female actor as the lead or co-lead of the story, the report found.
About 40% or more of films were centered on a female lead or co-lead at Paramount Pictures (44.4%), Walt Disney Studios (40%) and Sony Pictures Entertainment (38.5%).
However, leads and co-leads from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups have declined significantly, as only 25 of the top 100 films featured a lead of color in 2024, a decrease from 2023, when 37 leads or co-leads were people of color.
A third of all Paramount Pictures films released in 2024 featured a lead or co-lead of color, with Lionsgate (27.3%) and Universal Pictures (26.7%) having similar demographics.
Walt Disney Studios (20%), Sony Pictures Entertainment (15.4%) and Warner Bros. Pictures (11.1%) reflected even lower numbers.
In 2024, no distributors reached proportional representation with the U.S. Census (41.6%).
'This downturn signifies a lack of investment in storytelling that reflects the audience as a whole,' Smith said.
'The reality is that audiences want to see stories about women and people of color — studios and filmmakers do not have to choose between the two,' she added.
Thirteen films in 2024 had a woman of color lead or co-lead, which is similar to USC's 2023 report and higher than the 2007 report.
'While this year's findings mark a historic step towards proportional representation for women there is still work to be done for women of color,' said Katherine Neff, the study's lead author.

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Disney, Universal sue image creator Midjourney for copyright infringement
Disney, Universal sue image creator Midjourney for copyright infringement

Reuters

time7 hours ago

  • Reuters

Disney, Universal sue image creator Midjourney for copyright infringement

LOS ANGELES, June 11 (Reuters) - Walt Disney (DIS.N), opens new tab and Comcast's (CMCSA.O), opens new tab Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters. The suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios, making and distributing without permission "innumerable" copies of characters such as Darth Vader from "Star Wars," Elsa from "Frozen," and the Minions from "Despicable Me". The studios claim the San Francisco company rebuffed their request to stop infringing their copyrighted works or, at a minimum, take technological measures to halt the creation of these AI-generated characters. Instead, the studios argue, Midjourney continued to release new versions of its AI image service that boast higher quality infringing images. Midjourney recreates animated images from a typed request, or prompt. In the suit filed by seven corporate entities at the studios that own or control copyrights for the various Disney and Universal Pictures film units, the studios offered examples of Midjourney animations that include Disney characters, such as Yoda wielding a lightsaber, Bart Simpson riding a skateboard, Marvel's Iron Man soaring above the clouds and Pixar's Buzz Lightyear taking flight. The image generator also recreated such Universal characters as "How to Train Your Dragon's" dragon, Toothless, the green ogre "Shrek," and Po from "Kung Fu Panda." "By helping itself to plaintiffs' copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney's and Universal's famous characters -- without investing a penny in their creation -- Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism," the suit alleges. "Midjourney's infringement is calculated and willful." Disney and Universal asked the court for a preliminary injunction, to prevent Midjourney from copying their works, or offering its image- or video-generation service without protections against infringement. The studios also seek unspecified damages. The suit alleges Midjourney used the studios' works to train its image service and generate reproductions of their copyrighted characters. The company, founded in 2021 by David Holz, monetizes the service through paid subscriptions and generated $300 million in revenue last year alone, the studios said. This is not the first time Midjourney has been accused of misusing artists' work to train their AI systems. A year ago, a California federal judge found that 10 artists behind a copyright infringement suit against Midjourney, Stability AI and other companies had plausibly argued these AI companies had copied and stored their work on company servers, and could be liable for using it without permission. That ruling allowed the lawsuit over the unauthorized use of images to proceed. It is in the process of litigation. In a 2022 interview with Forbes, CEO Holz said he built the company's database by performing "a big scrape of the Internet." Asked whether he sought consent of the artists whose work was covered by copyright, he responded, "there isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from."

Look at the head on that! Bottoms up to a pint of 28 Years Later beer
Look at the head on that! Bottoms up to a pint of 28 Years Later beer

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time11 hours ago

  • The Guardian

Look at the head on that! Bottoms up to a pint of 28 Years Later beer

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George Clooney, 63, reveals BIG pop star his twins, 8, want to meet but the only problem is he's NOT friends with her
George Clooney, 63, reveals BIG pop star his twins, 8, want to meet but the only problem is he's NOT friends with her

Daily Mail​

timea day ago

  • Daily Mail​

George Clooney, 63, reveals BIG pop star his twins, 8, want to meet but the only problem is he's NOT friends with her

George Clooney made some very rare comments about his twin children who are eight years old. When at the Tony Awards the 63-year-old said that Ella and Alexander love celebrities, just no one he is familiar with. And he has a lot of close pals: Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro and Julia Roberts are just a few. His little ones - whom he shares with wife of 11 years Amal, 47 - tend to like the stars that dad is not friends with. One of their top idols is the number one pop icon at the moment. 'They want to see Taylor Swift,' said Clooney to E! News. Swift has currently been taking a break from touring and staying out of the spotlight with boyfriend Travis Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. One of their top idols is the number one pop icon at the moment. 'They want to see Taylor Swift,' said Clooney to E! News. Swift has currently been taking a break from touring and staying out of the spotlight with boyfriend Travis Kelce. Seen in February in Los Angeles He also said that they were big fans of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked and are 'looking forward to the second part,' which will be released in theaters on November 21, 2025. As far as Clooney's inner circle, the tots are not impressed. 'The funniest part is that they have no idea of references. Robert De Niro will be at the house, and they're like, "Who's that?" They don't care,' said the actor. He also praised his wife, who is a known human rights lawyer, for being such an 'incredible partner' that he is 'lucky' to have. 'I have this incredible partner who I couldn't be more proud of. She's the bravest human being I've ever met in my life. I am deeply proud of her and the fact that she's in any way proud of me, if just, I can't believe how lucky I am,' said Clooney. He was a hit at the Tonys held at Radio City Music Hall in NYC on June 8. George dyed his famous salt and pepper locks dark brown back in March for his role as legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow in his Broadway show Good Night And Good Luck. While the temporary hair might not impressed many, his work in the play certainly did - he was nominated for the Tony for Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role In A Play, but the award ultimately went to Cole Escola for his performance in Oh, Mary! They were shielded by an umbrella as they headed to Radio City Music Hall, where the awards show is being held As far as Clooney's inner circle, the tots are not impressed. 'The funniest part is that they have no idea of references. Robert De Niro will be at the house, and they're like, "Who's that?" They don't care,' said the actor. Robert seen with Tiffany Chen on May 13 in Cannes The actor looked in his element as he confidently posed on the red carpet with Amal by his side. They even showed some PDA with Amal - who has been married to George since 2014 and shares eight-year-old twins Ella and Alexander with him - planting a kiss on him. It comes after George endured ridicule over his shock hairstyle. Fans have shared been sharing their disapproval of his new darker hair and orange fake tan, with some admitting it makes him look '20 years older' Others joked he's put a 'full blown black sharpie on his hair' as they begged for him to wash out the hair dye. They wrote on X: 'Weird seeing George Clooney once had non-grey hair. I figured he popped out of the womb a silver fox!', 'What in the Sam Hell is that awful dye job on George Clooney? He looks pathetic'. George himself even admitted during a recent interview on CBS Mornings he knows his hair isn't good and said he still isn't used to the new look himself. Gayle King said: 'I have to take a moment looking at you with the dark hair.' 'I know it's not good!' George interjected. Gayle added: 'I didn't say it wasn't good!' 'Oh, It's not good! I'm not used to it, you never get used to it. Listen, I started getting grey when I was 25 so I've been grey most of my life so it's not my favorite look. 'And my wife, she thinks it's funny,' he said, adding their children 'laugh' at his hair. 'Honestly nothing makes you look older than being 63 and dying your hair,' he said. The play is based on his 2005 film of the same name which he previously wrote, directed and starred in. In his 2005 film, David Strathairn played the lead role, while George took a supporting role as CBS President Fred Friendly, in addition to working behind the camera. The movie, which was shot in black-and-white, focused on Murrow's reports on Senator Joseph McCarthy's unfounded claims of communist infiltration in the US government. This leads to a fiery confrontation between the two men on Murrow's CBS broadcast ahead of the senator's humiliation at the Army–McCarthy hearings and subsequent censure from the Senate.

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