ABSTRACT
Women were prominent fi lm makers in the early days of the cinema, before 1920, when many actresses had their own production companies and directed fi lms, too. However, the burgeoning Hollywood structure made it difficult for women to be directors. Between 1939 and 1979, women directed only 14 of the 7,332 Hollywood feature fi lms produced. By 1990, women directed 4 to 5 percent of feature fi lms annually.
