Prime Video releases new edition of O Womaniya! report

Prime Video has released the fourth edition of O Womaniya! report, a definitive study on female representation in Indian entertainment.

Researched and curated by Ormax Media, a media consulting firm; produced by Film Companion Studios; and championed by Prime Video, the O Womaniya! 2024 study delves into current and emerging trends and identifies gaps in female representation across key areas of production, corporate leadership, and marketing in Indian entertainment.

This year, the report analysed 169 films and series released last year in nine Indian languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, and Gujarati), across streaming and theatrical.

Key findings of the report include:

● Content – The O Womaniya! Report institutionalised a new test, Gender Equality Toolkit, this year to measure female representation in content, and enable filmmakers to apply the test and eliminate biases early on in the content creation cycle. The test checks whether women in a film or series have agency, and are drivers of their own stories or are just accessories to driving the male point of view in storytelling. Only 31% of the titles analysed passed the Gender Equality Toolkit test, with streaming series taking the lead with 45% passing the test.

The report also revealed that more stories pass the test when there is a female commissioning-in-charge, as 48% of the titles that passed the test were commissioned by women. The report also deployed the more traditional Bechdel Test to analyse content to reveal almost half the titles falling short on this test as well.

● Creative talent – Only 15% of the HOD positions analysed across key departments of direction, cinematography, editing, writing, and production design, were held by women. Streaming films and series had over 20% of HOD positions helmed by women. Editing took the lead among departments with over 18% of films and movies, mostly on streaming, having female editors.

● Marketing – Women still have only 29% talk time in trailers. Of the titles analysed, Made in Heaven Season 2 (Hindi), Boo (Telugu), Jhimma 2 (Marathi), Taali (Hindi), Rainbow Rishta (Hindi), Wedding.con (Hindi), Sweet Kaaram Coffee (Tamil), Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo (Hindi), and Jaane Jaan (Hindi) were some of the films and series to feature high in the list.

● Corporate talent–Among the 144 Director/CXO positions analysed across 25 leading M&E firms in India, only 12% were held by women, a slight decline over the last year.

Stuti Ramachandra, Director & Head of Production, International Originals, Prime Video, India said, “O Womaniya! exemplifies the power of collaboration in addressing female representation in the industry. 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.”

Shailesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO, Ormax Media, said, “With every edition of O Womaniya!, we have looked at expanding the scope of the report. In this year's edition, the introduction of the Gender Equality Toolkit offers a nuanced perspective on representation of women in entertainment. The toolkit is designed to be action-oriented, and can help creators and producers evaluate new ideas at their end, from an inclusivity perspective.”