Comedy Categories Are a Rare Bright Spot for Female Directors at the Emmys

TheWrap magazine: Of this year’s seven directing categories, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series is the only one where women outnumber men

Female Comedy Directors
Clockwise from top left: Lucia Aniello, Cherien Dabis, Jamie Babbitt, Mary Lou Belli, MJ Delaney (Getty Images/BET)

A version of this story about female directors first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

This year was far from a landmark for female directors at the Emmys, with only 13 women nominated against 32 men across the seven directing categories. Sure, that’s better than last year, when 47 men and only 11 women were nominated, and it’s much better than 2018, when the lamentable total was 44 men and only four (!) women.

But this year’s total is a step down from 2020, when the record 16 female directors that were nominated made up a full 33% of the total; this year, that has slipped down to just below 29%.

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