Jordan Peele, Reese Witherspoon, JJ Abrams vow to work with female directors

Producers JJ Abrams, and actors Jordan Peele and Reese Witherspoon are among the Hollywood A-listers who have pledged to work with at least one woman filmmaker in the next 18 months.

The Time's Up movement, launched in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal in 2017 and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative have come up with a new initiative, called the 4PercentChallenge - which aims to increase the number of women directing major studio films. Launched by actor Tessa Thompson (of Creed and Thor: Ragnarok fame), the initiative derives its name from a study which revealed that only four per cent of the top grossing films in the past decade were made by women.

"We are supporting women directors from all backgrounds in this challenge, as studies show that women-directed films are more inclusive in terms of girls and women on screen, female characters 40 years of age and older and under-represented racial/ethnic groups. Women directors also hire other women in key behind-the-camera roles. The aim is to humanize production processes so that all groups can thrive at work in safe contexts. This is a step in that direction," says a statement posted on the Time's Up website.

A host of men and women in Hollywood including, but not limited to, Rashida Jones, Olivia Wilde, Armie Hammer, Kumail Nanjiani, Bryce Dallas Howard, Brie Larson, Eva Longoria, Rachel Brosnahan, Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez and Kerry Washington have signed up for this 4PercentChallenge.