Focus on Women: Managers

The Chamber of Commerce registers make it possible to explore a further area for assessing the presence of women in companies within the audiovisual supply chain: management. By analyzing specific company positions⁸, it is possible to estimate the number of women managers in the audiovisual supply chain for 2024, which amounts to 2,668, representing a 2.9% increase from 2023. Although growing, their incidence in the industry as a whole (23.4%) remains slightly lower than the average for all companies (24.8%).

⁸ More specifically, this goes through a selection of 93 managers within the macro categories “Managing Director” or “Other offices”, such as President, Chief Executive Officer, General Manager, etc.

Female presence in corporate management in the audiovisual sector and in the overall industrial market
Year 2024 (%)

Source: Symbola Foundation elaboration on Infocamere data

Gender breakdown in audiovisual corporate management by sector
Year 2024 (absolute values and %)

At a sectoral level, an analysis of the data reveals:

• Theatrical, video & TV production. The women’s share has increased slightly from 22.2% to 22.6%, with an increase in the absolute number of women managers (+47 units).
• Post-production. The women’s share has decreased slightly from 21.7% to 21.3%, while the total number of top management figures remains stable (517 units).
• Distribution is confirmed as the sector with the highest incidence of women in management (27.2%), up compared to 2023 (25.4%), despite a reduction in the overall number of managerial positions.
• Exhibition shows an increase in the female share from 25.0% to 26.4%, with a net increase in women managers (+21 units) against a drop in men.
• TV programming & broadcasting show a slight increase in the share of women from 23.4% to 23.9% in a context of general growth in management.

Overall, 2024 marks a consolidation of women’s presence in top roles in the audiovisual sector, with positive dynamics particularly evident in film distribution and screening, while growth appears more contained or stable in other sectors.

Compared to 2023, the audiovisual core management shows a very limited overall increase (+0.5%), supported almost entirely by the female component, which grows by 2.9%, while the male component records a slight decrease (-0.2%). The figure indicates a strengthening of women’s presence in top roles within the audiovisual supply chain, albeit in a broader context of substantial stability.

Among the individual sectors, programming and TV broadcasting activities recorded the largest increase in the total number of managers (+2.5%), driven by growth among women (+4.5%) and, to a lesser extent, men (+1.9%). An interesting dynamic can also be observed in exhibition: despite an overall decline (-0.9%), women have increased significantly (+4.6%) compared to a decrease in men (-2.8%), thereby strengthening the female component in relative terms.

The distribution sector is different, with the total number of managers dropping sharply (-6.5%) due to a sharp % decline in men (-8.7%), while women remain stable. This leads to an increase in the female share, driven by the more marked reduction in the male component. In post-production, on the other hand, the overall number remains unchanged, with a decrease in the number of women managers (-1.8%) and a slight increase in the number of men (+0.5%), resulting in a consequent weakening of women’s presence.

Finally, in production activities, there was a moderate overall growth (+1.1%), mainly driven by the increase in women managers (+2.7%), which exceeds that of the male component (+0.7%).

Overall, 2024 consolidates a positive trend for the female component in audiovisual management, with signs of progress in many sectors, even where the total number of management positions has decreased.

2023/2024 gender breakdown in the core audiovisual corporate management by sectors
(%)

Source: Symbola Foundation elaboration on Infocamere data

In 2024, the incidence of under-35s in core audiovisual corporate management remained limited, at 7.6%, a slight increase from 2023 (7.5%). The growth is mainly due to the slight increase in the female component, which went from 8.2% to 8.3%, while the male component remained substantially stable (from 7.2% to 7.3%).

In detail, theatrical, video & TV production activities are confirmed as the sector with the highest incidence of young people in top roles (9.1%), with a female presence (9.4%) slightly higher than that of men (9.1%). However, this is stable compared to the previous year.

Post-production activities show a general growth (from 4.8% to 5.6%), driven by an increase in the male share (from 4.0% to 5.4%) and, despite a contraction among women (from 8.0% to 6.3%), who remain more represented than men.

In distribution, on the other hand, there was a marked drop in the presence of young people, which fell to 2.4% from 3.3% in the previous year, with a more pronounced decline among women (from 4.0% to 3.2%) than among men (from 3.0% to 2.2%).

Positive signs emerge from the exhibition sector, where the overall incidence increases slightly (from 3.4% to 3.8%), driven by a rise in under-35 women (from 5.0% to 6.1%), while the male component remains stable.

Particularly significant is the increase recorded in TV programming & broadcasting activities, which rose from 4.7% to 5.1%, with strong growth in the female component (from 5.7% to 8.0%), compared to substantial stability among men.

Overall, while remaining at low values, the presence of young people under 35 in the management of the audiovisual core shows signs of resilience and, in some sectors, of progress, with an overall incidence that grows slightly from 7.5% to 7.6%. This increase is mainly supported by the female component, which continues to show higher participation than men across almost all the sectors analyzed, confirming a greater propensity or ability of young women to access top roles in the audiovisual sector. This dynamic, although still marginal in absolute numbers, represents an important indicator in perspective, suggesting a possible evolution of the generational and gender profile of leadership in companies in the supply chain.

Under-35 gender breakdown in the audiovisual core corporate management by sectors
Year 2024 (%)

Source: Symbola Foundation elaboration on Infocamere data