Sydney Sweeney BTS Euphoria Video Spotlights Lack of Women in Hollywood Below-the-Line Jobs
For those working in the industry, the lack of women holding below-the-line positions on film and television sets isn’t shocking, as it’s been the case for as long as anyone can remember. But everyday viewers just got a taste of that reality. When season three of Euphoria premiered in mid-April, a behind-the-scenes video started circulating…
For those working in the industry, the lack of women holding below-the-line positions on film and television sets isn’t shocking, as it’s been the case for as long as anyone can remember. But everyday viewers just got a taste of that reality.
When season three of Euphoria premiered in mid-April, a behind-the-scenes video started circulating on social media of a scene being filmed with star Sydney Sweeney, who plays Cassie on the Sam Levinson-created drama. The scene in question featured Alexa Demie’s character Maddy shooting Cassie’s OnlyFans content in a tiny red and white bikini by the latter’s apartment pool.
In the BTS video (below), Sweeney is seen posing on the poolside lounger, with several crew members around her as they prepare to film the scene. The original video has since been deleted, but not before the clip was re-uploaded and spread across social media.
For people who have worked on active film and TV sets before, nothing likely seemed out of the ordinary. However some fans were quick to point out that the majority of the crew members seen in the clip were men. And what made the clip even more jarring to the average eye is that Sweeney was in a suggestive pose at the time.
“How uncomfortable it must be to film all those scenes with a bunch of old dudes,” one person wrote on X. Another person added, “Wow, isn’t there a woman in this production for Sydney Sweeney not to be so uncomfortable????”
On Reddit, a screenshot from another video, HBO Max’s official behind-the-scenes of episode five, again put a spotlight on the predominantly male crew surrounding Sweeney. This time, it was for the Godzilla-like monster scene. “Especially this season the women on the show feel way moreobservedthan understood imo,” the Reddit user wrote. “Sure, the aesthetics are incredible and the emotions are heightened, but to me there’s always this lingering sense that the camera is fascinated with these girls and their bodies rather than truly inhabiting their perspective.”
To be fair, if you look closely at the first BTS clip, there appear to be at least two women crew members standing in the back of the clip. But the online discourse still spotlights a real ongoing issue in Hollywood — the lack of progress in women-held below-the-line positions.
In 2024-25, the ReFrame Report— an initiative launched by Sundance Institute and WIF in partnership with IMDbPro to track gender equity — saw little change in these types of roles since 2020 overall, but did see small gains across the year within the top 100 series.
While some below-the-line positions saw increases in representation (women, nonbinary and trans people) — directors of photography (6 percent increase), first assistant directors (8.5 percent increase), unit production managers (6.5 percent increase) and production designers (10.5 percent increase) — these roles are still held by the majority of men. Overall, women, nonbinary and trans people only accounted for 33 percent of production managers, 46 percent of first assistant directors, 26 percent of directors of photography and 39 percent of production designers. Line producers and composers also saw decreases of 7.5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
Kirsten Schaffer, the CEO of WIF, the L.A.-based organization that advocates for women across all screen industries, tells The Hollywood Reporter that while they “take the small wins,” seeing slight increases in some positions, it’s still “a huge problem” industry-wide in the post-#MeToo era.
“There are still a lot of men in the core decision-making roles, and they tend to hire people who they have worked with the most in their careers, which also tend to be men,” she explains.
San Diego State University’s Boxed In report examined those relationships and found that broadcast and streaming projects in 2024-25 with at least one woman creator employed higher percentages of women as directors (42 percent), writers (62 percent) and editors (32 percent), compared to programs with men working as creators, which saw women account for 20 percent of directors, writers and editors, respectively.
That’s also why Schaffer stresses the importance of “more male advocates,” who are committed to gender equality, hiring more women behind the camera and paying them equally, such as Bradley Cooper, the late Chadwick Boseman and Chris Pratt, who previously promised to share salary information and to advocate for pay parity with women co-leads. She also names director Paul Feig, who helmed the Sweeney-starrer The Housemaid, as someone who’s also been committed to gender equality on his sets.
When Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first-ever woman to win best cinematography at the Oscars this year, she also shouted out Sinners director Ryan Coogler for giving “us those opportunities to shine and be ourselves and work in a creative environment where we’re leading, we’re strong, we have power, trust us, and that’s a very important thing, and it doesn’t happen very often.”
Arkapaw’s win wasn’t just history-making but also put a bright spotlight on women’s talents and abilities. Schaffer also notes that awards are the “most helpful” way to change the narrative around these behind-the-camera roles.
Another reason the Euphoria BTS videos were unsettling for some fans is that there have already been online debates throughout the show’s three-season run about the sexualization of women in the series. Schaffer admits she’s not surprised by the videos, saying it falls on the man in charge of the set, Levinson, who would be behind staffing his crew.
“Because Euphoria has such strong female leads, you just expect that that’s gonna be reflected behind the camera, and then when you don’t see it, it’s surprising,” she says. “I mean, it was surprising to me a little bit, but then when I thought about it some more, that really is his [Levinson’s] show from start to finish. He directs all the episodes. It’s ultimately disappointing, but it’s not surprising.”
THR reached out to HBO for comment, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
When an industry like Hollywood has been male-dominated for this long, especially in below-the-line roles, it takes time to see any kind of progress. But Schaffer reminds people that even when the business is going through a “tough time” — such as the current budget cuts, production relocations, AI concerns and project cancellations — “it’s time for us to double down on gender equality and maintain all the progress that we’ve made.”
IATSE and Teamsters, the two largest labor unions representing behind-the-scenes workers, did not immediately reply for comment.
Schaffer also calls on the public, notably those who also want to see change behind the camera, to make an impact by “voting with their dollars.”
“If they want to see more gender equality in film and television, then go to the theater and see the films that are produced by women, directed by women, have women in leadership roles,” she says. “Go watch TV shows that are created by women and have gotten the ReFrame Stamp, have gender diverse sets.”
