Paul Feig Adds Equality Clause to Future Film Contracts, Ensuring Gender-Balanced Casting for Women

A lot of things happened in 2015 (the rise and fall of Leonardo DiCaprio's man bun, for one), but Jennifer Lawrence's essay (opens in new tab) on the Hollywood wage gap had to be one of the most transformative. The think piece sparked a huge conversation about gender diversity in Hollywood, and it looks like we're finally seeing a tangible change from male power players in the industry—starting with Paul Feig (opens in new tab).

The Ghostbusters director announced that he'll add an equality clause to all future film contracts that will require minor roles to have gender-balanced casting. This means background scenes won't be a massive boys club, which makes sense given that women make up more than half the U.S. population, ahem.

"I think we need to set these things in stone so it forces everybody to think that way," Feig recently told the Associated Press (opens in new tab), adding that "the roles still aren't there for women." He also noted that female directors haven't been given the same opportunities he's been given due to the Hollywood gender bias, which couldn't be more true.

There's a lot of work to be done before the playing field is truly even (equal pay would be nice...), but consider this one small step by mankind for womankind.

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