Minority, female representation in Hollywood streaming films falls sharply, UCLA report finds

Minority and female representation in streaming films dropped significantly in 2025, reversing recent gains, according to a new report from UCLA’s Entertainment and Media Research Initiative.

The “2026 Hollywood Diversity Report: Part 2, Streaming Film,” released Wednesday, found that people of color lost ground in every major employment category examined — leads, total cast, directors and writers. The share of BIPOC leads in streaming films fell from 51% in 2024 to 36% in 2025, pushing minority actors below proportionate representation relative to their 45.2% share of the U.S. population for the first time in three years, the report found.

Representation behind the camera declined as well. The share of streaming films directed by BIPOC filmmakers fell to 31.5%, down from 41% in 2024, while films directed by women dropped to 23.6% — the third consecutive year that figure has decreased.

“After the big numbers we saw for diversity in streaming originals just a couple of years ago, we now see the path closing for people of color and women to premiere their film on a major streamer,” said Ana-Christina Ramon, the report’s co-founder and UCLA Entertainment and Media Research Initiative director.

The findings follow a similarly bleak picture for theatrical releases. Part 1 of the 2026 report, released in March, found the BIPOC share of lead roles in top theatrical films declined to 23.1% in 2025 — barely half the level needed for proportionate representation. Female representation in theatrical films dropped from 47.6% in 2024 to 37% in 2025, falling to levels last seen in 2022 and 2018.

Researchers noted a notable contradiction in the data: BIPOC households and women continued to drive the highest ratings for streaming originals even as their representation onscreen and behind the camera shrank. According to the report, BIPOC households were overrepresented as viewers for nine of the top 10 streaming films in 2025 and 17 of the top 20. Women made up a majority of viewers for six of the top 10.

Actors with disabilities remained significantly underrepresented as well, with just 14.6% of streaming film leads having a known disability — 11.4 percentage points below the estimated 26% of U.S. adults living with a disability.

The top-rated streaming film of the year was Netflix’s Oscar-winning “KPop Demon Hunters,” directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, which made Netflix history by remaining on the platform’s Top 10 list for 52 consecutive weeks and topped household ratings across all demographic groups studied.

“With continued rollback of BIPOC representation, major streamers may lose profitability potential and audience engagement from a key segment of the market,” researchers warned.

UCLA researchers concluded that major studios must adapt their practices to remain competitive. “Ultimately, major studios should consider how to gain and retain brand loyalty from a population that is increasingly BIPOC,” researchers wrote.