‘Black Widow,’ ‘CODA,’ ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Zola’ Among Films to Earn ReFrame Stamp

Twenty-eight of the 100 most popular films from 2021 have received a ReFrame Stamp, marking a slight dip from 2020’s record when 29 films qualified as gender-balanced productions. The list, announced today by ReFrame and IMDbPro, is based on an analysis of data provided by IMDbPro, including a list of the 100 most popular films, which is based on page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide.

Per the report, such films as Black Widow, CODA, Cruella, Encanto, Eternals, House of Gucci, In the Heights, Last Night in Soho, The Matrix Resurrections and West Side Story were among the 28 to receive the stamp. In addition to those 28 films in the Top 100, more than 68 films released last year also met the criteria including The Lost Daughter, Passing and Zola, among others.

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In other data, there were 31 films written by women (a 47.6 percent increase) and 9 films written by women of color (a 125 percent increase). Meanwhile, there were significant dips in the number of films directed by women with 14 (down 17.6 percent), four films directed by women of color (down 33.3 percent), and fewer films with women cinematographers, composers and VFX supervisors.

The IMDbPro list of the 100 most popular films of the year includes releases from all major studios. Of Disney’s 15 films to make the Top 100, 7 of those earned a Stamp while Netflix had the most entries with 28 films and most Stamps with 10. “Stories that allow people to see themselves reflected on screen are incredibly powerful, and research shows that including more perspectives behind the camera leads to better representation in front of the camera,” said Netflix’s vp of documentary and independent films, Lisa Nishimura.

Said ReFrame director Andria Wilson Mirza: “The ReFrame Stamp is a measure of who is being hired in key roles across a production, and reviewing each year’s most popular films through this lens gives us a snapshot of how much further we need to go to reach gender parity. In the past five years, increased research, investment and industry initiatives have contributed to sustained growth opportunities for women directors, but women cinematographers, composers, and those in the VFX field remain seriously underrepresented.”

The ReFrame Stamp has been around since 2018, and the coalition reports its honorees annually on both the film and TV side. A full list can be found here.