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This paper reports on a network-based investigation of the gendered nature of work in the screen sector. Using nine years of Australian film and television production data, we explore how the networks of project-based collaboration might explain the disparities in the career trajectories of men and women. Our analysis finds that projects with men as directors tend to reproduce familiar teams to the exclusion of women, while projects led by women in key creative roles tend to make more space for women. Moreover, we find that there is a significant number of men who only work with men (regardless of whether they have worked with them before), but no corresponding group of women who only work with women. Our findings bear on proposed equity interventions, especially government policies designed to encourage women to enter the industry. Ultimately, even accounting for the statistical domination of men in the network, we argue that inequities in the organisation of the screen sector appear to be driven much more by the closed network behaviours of men than they are by the positioning or behaviour of women. • Men's clear dominance in camera departments is most pronounced in higher-level roles. • We analyse gender inequities in the sector's networks of project-based collaboration. • Projects led by women in key creative roles tend to make more space for women. • Homophilous collaboration tendencies are displayed by many more men than women. • Gender equity policy ought to target the closed, exclusive collaboration behaviours of men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of gender inequality in film industries have noted the persistence of male domination in creative roles (usually defined as director, producer, writer) and the slow pace of reform. Typical policy remedies are premised on aggregate counts of women as a proportion of overall industry participation. Network science offers an alternative way of identifying and proposing change mechanisms, as it puts emphasis on relationships instead of individuals. Preliminary work on applying network analysis to understand inequality in the film industry has been undertaken. However, in this study we offer a comprehensive approach that enables us to not only understand what inequality in the film industry looks like through the lens of network science but also how we can attempt to address this issue. We offer a data-driven simulation framework that investigates various what-if scenarios when it comes to network evolution. We then assess each of these scenarios with respect to its potential to address gender inequality in the film industry. As suggested by previous studies, inequality is exacerbated when industry networks are most closed. We review evidence from three different national film industries on network relationships in creative teams and identify a high proportion of men who only work with other men. In response to this observation, we test several mechanisms through which industry structures may generate higher levels of openness. Our results reveal that the most critical factor for improving network openness is not simply the statistical improvement of the number of women in a network, nor the removal of men who do not work with women. The most likely behavioural changes to a network will involve the production of connections between women and powerful men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]