Women directors are rare in Hollywood, but is gender bias in play?

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Podcasts Take Two

May 14, 2015

Listen • 14:37

Women directors are rare in Hollywood, but is gender bias in play?

Melissa Goldman, director of the LGBT Gender and Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU of Southern California, is weighing this question.

Ava DuVernay arrives at the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Melissa Goldman, director of the LGBT Gender and Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU of Southern California, is weighing this question.

Women directed only 4 percent of top-grossing films over the last dozen years. While it is a shame, is it also illegal?

Melissa Goldman, director of the LGBT Gender and Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU of Southern California, is weighing this very question. She's calling on state and federal agencies to investigate the hiring practices of major Hollywood studios, networks and talent agencies to see whether gender discrimination is in play when recruiting and hiring female directors.

Goldman and television director Tawnia McKiernan both join host Alex Cohen to discuss the issue of gender bias in Hollywood.