Screen Actors Guild Employment Statistics Reveal Increases In TV & Theatrical Roles For Minorities.

Employment statistics released by the Screen Actors Guild revealed a 7% increase last year in the total number of TV/Theatrical roles for SAG members, with roles for performers of color reaching record levels.

The information for these statistics are based on all television and theatrical productions that are reported to the Guild via the Casting Data Report. SAG contracts do not include daytime television, game or reality shows, animated programs, or most non-prime time programming.

For the year 2000, 53,134 roles were signed to Guild contracts, an increase of approximately 7% from the 49,662 roles cast under Guild contracts in 1999, (see charts in ‘More Images’ above).

African Americans received 14.8% of the roles cast, their highest percentage since the Guild began tracking these statistics in 1992, up from the 14.1% of roles they received in 1999.

Latino/Hispanics received 4.9% of the roles cast, their highest percentage since the Guild began tracking these statistics in 1992, up from the previous high of 4.4% they received in 1999.

Asian/Pacific Islanders received 2.6% of the roles cast, their highest percentage since the Guild began tracking these statistics in 1992, up from the 2.2% of the roles they received in 1999.

Native American Indians received 0.3% of the roles cast, up from the 0.2% of the roles they received in 1999.

Screen Actors Guild President William Daniels, while encouraged by the increase in the numbers, noted, “We’re moving slowly but steadily toward the reality of portraying the American scene. We are delighted to see gains for all ethnicities on the large and small screen, but there’s no question there’s still plenty of room for growth in diversity in the television and film world.”

Ethnicity

SAG’s casting data indicates that 22.9% of the roles in 2000 went to performers of color, the highest percentage since the Guild began collecting these statistics in 1992, up from the 21.2% of roles received in 1999. A total of 11,930 roles went to African Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders, or Native American Indians in 2000. It should be noted, however, that the data only examines the quantity of the roles, not the quality of roles that are cast.

While Latino/Hispanics reached their highest ever percentage of roles, 4.9%, this figure is still considerably less than the approximately 11.4% Latino/Hispanic population in the United States.

The same holds true for Asian/Pacific Islanders, who reached their highest ever percentage of roles, 2.6%, but still lag behind their approximately 4.0% representation in the U.S. population.

Gender and Age

Although women make up the majority of Americans, men received 62% of the roles cast in 2000. These numbers are similar to data found in previous years. In addition, men had almost twice as many roles and worked more than twice as many days as women in roles cast for TV/theatrical projects in 2000.

People under the age of 40 are still highly favored in the entertainment industry. More than twice as many roles were cast with actors who were under the age of 40 than actors who were 40 or over, although Americans who are 40 and over comprise 42% of the American population.

Older women are affected by ageism to a greater degree than older men. Women over the age of 40 were cast in only 26.2% of the roles for women, compared to 72.3% of the roles cast for women who were under the age of 40. Furthermore, leading women over the age of 40 comprised only around 20% of the roles for women in 2000.

Conclusion

The SAG statistics report an overall trend towards growth in the number of roles for all performers of color. To help achieve this growth for their members of color, SAG has undertaken the following activities over the past few years:

SAG issued a series of talent directories aimed at promoting employment access within the entertainment industry. There are separate directory listings for African American performers, Latino/Hispanic performers, Asian/Pacific Islander performers, Native American Indian performers as well as Performers with Disabilities and Stunt Performers of Color.
In conjunction with the SAG-Producer’s Industry Advancement and Cooperative Fund (IACF), SAG commissioned the African American Television Report, which is the most comprehensive study to date of the quantity and content of African American portrayals on prime time television. In addition, SAG and the IACF commissioned Missing In Action: Latinos In and Out of Hollywood, which examines the representation of Latinos in the media as well as Latinos as audience members.
Two other studies are in development: Casting the American Scene: An Analysis of Aging on Prime Time Television and An Analysis of the Employment of Performers with Disabilities in the Entertainment Industry.

In addition to the aforementioned reports and directories, SAG has hosted a number of entertainment industry roundtables, including a session at CBS with casting directors, showrunners, and producers, and sessions held in conjunction with the Directors Guild of American and the Writers Guild of America, such as: Race and Ethnicity in the Entertainment Industry: Defining and Implementing a Common Agenda and Affirmative Action: The Blueprint for Building One America.

Earlier this year, Screen Actors Guild introduced a dialogue-driven series entitled From Inception to Completion: Diversity at Work in Hollywood examining motion pictures and television programs by those underrepresented in the industry. Installments include 4 Faces, exploring seniors, No Turning Back, featuring a multi-racial cast, and Dancing In September, presented in conjunction with Black History Month in February.

“We hope to convince industry insiders that diversity can improve their bottom line — and they need look no further than the Screen Actors Guild for highly competent performers. We believe many producers and programmers are missing opportunities to reach a larger, broader audience through more diverse casting,” concluded SAG President William Daniels.