The Science has spoken: People of color are now the audiences you should pitch to when making movies.

Okay, here's what The Hollywood Reporter actually said, exactly:

"At 42.7 percent, people of color still represent a minority of the U.S. population, but they comprised the majority of ticket-buyers for most of 2021's highest-grossing movies."

This data comes to us straight from the 2022 Hollywood Diversity Report - which found that, while there was a major shift in the tides of audience interest this year, and a major shift in the tides of diverse casting as well:

"Analyzing the eight top-billed actors in each of 252 English-language titles in 2021 (including the 200 highest-grossing movies worldwide as well as films released by major streamers), the new study finds that people of color - when counted as an aggregate - achieved proportionate representation onscreen (43.1 percent) but not as directors (30.2 percent) and writers (32.3 percent). The plurality (31 percent) of the films in last year's sample featured casts that were more than 50 percent nonwhite, a marked contrast from a decade ago, when the majority of movies (51.2 percent) were more than 90 percent white."

In plainer language: An analysis of leading actors in top-grossing films from 2021 revealed that, altogether, they achieved what is considered "proportionate representation" onscreen. That means that the distribution of white actors to actors of color more or less mirrored the way real life looks, diversity-wise; and while that may sound like a small and basic feat, it's something studios have been struggling to achieve.

There is still, however, a long way to go, because how well a movie does does not necessarily reflect how much the studio believed in it.

Although the study didn't cross-reference film budget by distribution strategy, the authors did examine budget by race and gender of star and director. There was little difference when it came to a lead character's race, but nearly half (45.9 percent) of films starring women were low-budget (under $10 million) with just 4.6 percent of their movies costing more than $100 million, whereas male-led movies enjoyed a more even spread. Directors who aren't white or male also experienced a greater disparity in film budgets, with 40.3 percent of movies helmed by people from the global majority and 47.1 percent of women-directed films pegged at the sub-$10 million range (compared with 28.6 percent and 28.2 percent of movies helmed by white directors and men, respectively). Women were also about half as likely as men to get a shot at a $100 million-plus film.

In other words: The report also found that much lower budgets were given to nonwhite, nonmale directors, and films led by women were largely low-budget as well.

So, overall, the 2022 Diversity Report was a mixed bag. While it showed we have made significant progress in accurately representing our population and culture as a whole on-screen, we still have much more work to do when it comes to supporting them.