Films directed by Afro-Americans have more Afro-American characters

A study has suggested in the Hollywood movies directed by African-American directors have more African-American characters with speaking roles than movies not directed by African-Americans.

One fitting extrapolation of this small study is that the race of directors may really matter. And one key to diversifying content would be to diversify who is at the helm," said USC Annenberg’s Dr Stacy L Smith.

Project administrator Marc Choueiti, Smith and teams of undergraduate researchers annually viewed the top 100 grossing movies released theatrically in the United States and Canada since 2006.

This report had examined in particular the presence or lack thereof of African-Americans and other ethnicities in the top 100 grossing films from 2007 and 2008.

According to the research, five African-American directors headed up a total of six of those top 100 productions in 2008.

Nearly 63% of the characters with speaking lines in those six films were African-Americans. In the other top 94 films from the same year, less than 11 percent of the characters with speaking lines were African-Americans.

In 2007, 13% of overall speaking roles in the top 100 movies went to African-American characters, but that percentage rose to 50% in films with black directors.

This report had examined in particular the presence or lack thereof of African-Americans and other ethnicities in the top 100 grossing films from 2007 and 2008.

According to the research, five African-American directors headed up a total of six of those top 100 productions in 2008.

Nearly 63 percent of the characters with speaking lines in those six films were African-Americans. In the other top 94 films from the same year, less than 11 percent of the characters with speaking lines were African-Americans.

In 2007, 13 percent of overall speaking roles in the top 100 movies went to African-American characters, but that percentage rose to 50 percent in films with black directors.

Smith said that the recent findings from the same data set for female characters and female directors run along the same general lines.

"It could be that a person in a position of power is advocating on behalf of their group, but the flip side to this is that the people responsible for green-lighting the picture may be associating black directors and female directors with 'black' storylines or 'female' storylines.