Women and web series, 2012–2019
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Abstract
This chapter explores women’s roles in web series production between 2012 and 2019. In the global screen industry, women are dramatically underrepresented in the key creative decision-making roles characterised as “above the line”, but anecdotal evidence suggests more women have been taking the creative reins in web series. To examine whether this is true, the authors used festival submission data to create the largest known international archive of web series. Detailed analysis showed that women were writing, directing, and producing web series at rates comparable to men in many countries. Do achievements in low-budget, transitory media count for anything? We contextualise these findings with historical research on ephemeral media as an area where more equitable production relations may be forged. Our findings suggest that ephemeral media such as web series have the potential to disturb entrenched patterns of gender discrimination in media production cultures worldwide.
Keywords
women in media, web series, gender representation, screen production, media industries, creative labor
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Publication Title
The Web Series Experiment
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
99623
ISBN
[9781041012405, 9781041012412, 9781003613862]
Copyright
subscription content
Content Type
Metadata only
First Page
102
Last Page
120
Recommended Citation
Evans, N., McCutcheon, M., Bassaget, J., King, E., & Ellingsen, S. (2026). Women and web series, 2012–2019. In S. Ellingsen, M. D. Ryan, & S. Turnbull (Eds.), The web series experiment. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003613862-6