By Alexandra Henry, film & commercial director & producer Valiant Pictures
This is difficult to write because it feels like the same conversation we have had every year. Frankly, I’m exhausted. No women directors were nominated for Best Director at the Oscars; only one woman directed a Super Bowl ad. If we measure industry improvement by those awards shows and hallmark advertising events, why aren’t women able to participate? As a brand-side producer and director, I have observed two phenomena – directors and production crews feel frustrated by the lack of diverse teams selected by agencies and brands, while agency-side marketers feel equally discouraged by how many “risk-taking” creative ideas, including trusting in new and up-and-coming diverse directors, are modified or shut down.
I think the common denominator continues to be executive leadership, decision-makers who may want to take risks, but let “safe” options win, despite empirical evidence that demonstrates the real marketing winners are brands that roll the dice. Playing it safe, unfortunately, can often mean working with a legacy director who has a higher statistical chance of being a cisgender man. Ironically, if their audience is the brand’s concern, hiring diverse directors, crew, and talent can yield the authentic results new consumer audiences crave. Going “tried and true” may also be “tired”.
As a producer, I’ve seen plenty of diversity surveys sent to production and post companies before and after jobs. The gesture, and thinking about the end result, is optimistic. But how are they being utilised? Are brands actually using the surveys to drive change in their hiring practices? Increasing the number of women and BIPOC directors bidding on work, we have seen, doesn’t actually increase the number of women and BIPOC directors chosen for work. The same goes for hiring production and post production crews.
The latter issue, helping brands trust agencies who recommend new and up-and-coming talent, is an overarching problem. Brands should take a chance on new and upcoming talent. They say they want to take risks and trust young talent, or newcomers, but it takes a great deal more faith to walk the walk. This is an easy change to make for smaller jobs; trusting names that may not be as well-known for a Super Bowl ad or an Oscar takes a whole new level of reflection.
Effective leaders trust their teams, the juniors and mid-levels who bring talent to match the task at hand, and don’t push back. I’ve had the pleasure to work with such leaders before. This type of trust matters most in the weeds, when you have three contenders to direct a project and one of those three is a woman. Decision-makers may be tempted to deny their best instinct and feel pressured to run such choices by a less hands-on management body. Eschew those tendencies and empower leaders to make decisions of their own, without checking and cross-checking their decision-making with their bosses. Secondly, this can’t be an exclusively brand and ad agency solution. What are reps doing? Production companies? In-house marketing teams? By diversifying the leadership at partner companies, the industry can use an entire network of fresh perspectives and strategies.
There is an incentive to do the right thing that lies beyond inter-industry scrutiny – your own brand audience. It’s very hard to authentically seem like a diverse brand if the company in question is not also diverse behind the scenes. With a representative creative team, ads and films already feel more like an extension of the brand ethos, or the ethos of the filmmaker, and not a token grab. For creatives who want to excel and brands who want to compete, representation goes hand in hand with meeting your business goals. The gatekeepers to change, as always, stand among your leadership teams.