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

Producers JJ Abrams, Jordan Peele and actor 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 Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal in 2017, and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative have come up with a new initiative, called the "4PercentChallenge" with an aim to increase the number of women directing major studio films.

The initiative, formally launched by actor Tessa Thompson, derives its name from the study which recently stated that only four per cent of the top grossing movies 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 underrepresented racial/ethnic groups," a statement posted on Time's Up website.

"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," it added.

Lena Waithe, Rashida Jones, Olivia Wilde, Armie Hammer, Kumail Nanjiani, Josh Gad, Amy Pascal, Bryce Dallas Howard, Brie Larson, Eva Longoria, Rachel Brosnahan, Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez and Kerry Washington are among the people who have taken on the "4PercentChallenge".