Report Highlights Decline in Female Representation in India's Media and Entertainment Sector

According to the O Womaniya! The 2024 report, India's media and entertainment sector reveals a significant gender gap, with women holding just 12 percent of the 144 director and CXO positions analyzed across 25 major media and entertainment companies in the country.

The fourth edition of O Womaniya!, released by Amazon Prime Video, is a study on female representation in the Indian entertainment industry. It was researched and curated by Ormax Media, a media consulting firm, and produced by Film Companion Studios.

This edition shows a slight decrease in women's representation compared to the previous year. In 2023, women's representation across the top 25 firms was still only 13 percent.

In 2024, women occupied just 15 percent of the head of department (HOD) positions across key areas such as direction, cinematography, editing, writing, and production design.

“Streaming had a significant contribution to this, with both streaming films and series having over 20 per cent of HOD positions helmed by women,” said the report. Among various departments, editing took the lead, with over 18 per cent of films and movies, mostly on streaming platforms, having female editors.

“O Womaniya! exemplifies the power of collaboration in addressing female representation in the industry,” said Stuti Ramachandra, director and head of production, international originals, Prime Video India, in a statement. “This latest edition of the report calls on all of us to accelerate these transformative efforts—not merely taking small steps, but making bold strides toward a world where opportunities and growth are defined by capability and talent, not gender.”