Times Up and the 4% Challenge

Universal becomes the first major studio to commit to hiring female directors

Times+Up+and+the+4%25+Challenge

Nicole Desmond

Universal pictures have become the first studio to accept the 4% challenge. This challenge calls for major Hollywood studios to hire at least one female director in the next 18 months. This comes in wake of the Times Up movement and many other inclusion efforts in Hollywood. The name 4% comes from in the past decade women have only directed 4% of the top-grossing movies in the country. Universal announced their commitment at this year’s Sundance film festival.

Times Up is an organization that insists on safe and fair treatment of all women in all fields of work. As said on their website, “we want women from the factory floor to the floor of the Stock Exchange, from child care centers to C-suites, from farm fields to the tech field, to be united by a shared sense of safety, fairness, and dignity as they work and as we all shift the paradigm of workplace culture.” In the future, Times Up hopes to increase the number of women in the director’s chair.

Times Up was created in wake of all the recent sexual harassment cases in Hollywood. Realization of misbehavior started to become known to the public in the fall of 2017. Even though women have been harassed for what seems like forever, it’s only been in the last couple years that the public finally felt to make it known. Especially in Hollywood and the film industry, abuse of power has believed to be normalized. With Times Up and the 4% challenge, the goal is to change that with fair and equal treatment of all.

With Universal accepting the challenge to hire more women, there are hopes that they can set a good example for others in the industry. Having more women in charge, especially women of color, will show future generations that equality and inclusion are essential anywhere. Workplace culture is changing for the good, and there will hopefully be no more tolerance for unfairness and harassment.