How BIPOC Audiences Drive Moviegoing: UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report

variety.com:

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorA study of the top 252 English-language movies released in 2021 demonstrates how significantly people of color drive box office revenue, particularly on opening weekends.The ninth installment of the respected UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report chronicles the notable rise in on-camera representation in top films over the last decade.

The report also documents the relatively slow growth in behind-the-camera roles for people of color, particularly women and particularly among Latinos.“Last year, every time a big movie exceeded expectations or broke a box office record, the majority of opening weekend audiences were people of color,” said Ana-Christina Ramón, co-author of the report and the director of research and civic engagement for UCLA’s social sciences division. “For people of color, and especially Latino families, theaters provided an excursion when almost everything else was shut down.

In a sense, people of color kept studios afloat the past couple of years. Studios should consider them to be investors, and as investors, they should get a return in the form of representation.” Pandemic-battered 2020 marked a milestone achievement for representation in Hollywood as the mainstream film business reached what the study calls “proportionate representation” on screen, meaning that the casts of movies in aggregate reflect the general level of diversity among the U.S.