Over the course of the last few weeks, I've had many conversations about Free the Bid. Whether it's about if agencies I have worked for have taken the pledge, if my last set of bids have consciously included women in the mix for directorial candidates, but the majority of the time it's someone asking the same and most frequent question: where are all the women directors?
Our industry faces the same situation time and time again. A products target market is women - and yet much of the time, the creatives, the director and editor are, largely, men. The representation for the female voice is still by and large dominated by the masculine voice. So when this question has been asked, I have not always had an answer. Until now.
I recently came across Adolescent Content, a production company comprised of Gen Z and Gen Y directors, photographers and influencers. Helmed by Executive Creative Director Ramaa Mosley and Executive Producer Hope Farley, Adolescent functions as a traditional production company that both mentors up and coming talent and partners them with agencies and brands to bring authenticity and a fresh voice to youth driven advertising and entertainment.
Adolescent has the most equitable roster of talent that I have ever come across, with 50% of the talent being young women. That's right...50%.
To give a sampling, Claire Jantzen, a Gen Z director, bewitches us with her maturity in a Levi's spec spot, brings authenticity to friendship in Netflix's "13 Reasons Why You Matter," and her work for Target. Similarly, Allison Raskin, a Gen Y director, gives us all a reason to laugh and cheer her heroine on in Buzzfeed's "One Woman Discovers the Wage Gap," and shows us her pro-chops in spots for Spotify and Snickers.
When we ask, "where are the women directors" - they are at places like Adolescent, and we should all be paying attention to where they go next. If these talent, both young men and women, are doing this kind of work now, what will they be captivating us with in ten years?
Adolescent makes me hopeful that we won't ever have to hear the question, "where are the women directors," again. Because they are out there, and will soon be ready to join the rosters of the shops we love and work with today. The future is looking equitable.
Check out their site: http://adolescentcontent.com/
If you are interested in partnering with Adolescent on your next project, contact:
JULIUSSON+RATCLIFFE: Dawn Ratcliffe - dawn@juliussonratcliffe.com and/or Marguerite Juliusson - marguerite@juliussonratcliffe.com