The World Needs More Female Commercial Directors

Having women absent behind the camera causes problems in the depictions we see on screen, often distorting perceptions of women by propagating outdated and unacceptable stereotypes. Last year, the Gina Davis Institute on Gender in the Media did some research analysing two thousand-odd Cannes Lions films from 2006 to 2016.

What blows my mind is that over a 10-year period the needle barely moved: the industry still, for the most part, shows disregard for women in how they and their lives are represented in advertising. That’s why Like a Girl and This Girl Can are shining beacons, and, possibly, tent pole moments that partly mask what hasn’t really changed.

The study found that women accounted for just a third of all characters in ads; men had four times the screen time of women; men spoke three times more than women; lines spoken by men were 30% more likely to be about power and achievement; lines spoken by women contained more simple language; women were three times more likely to be shown nude. Just a selection of the horrors. According to the Institute, 85% of women say advertising needs to catch up to the real world when depicting women – you think? Given the research data, it’s no wonder. 

The answer is a no-brainer: get more women making ads so that ads appeal more to consumers, because they reflect real life and how real life should be. The ad industry has a profound impact on defining culture and shifting values so, aside from fixing its own systemic gender imbalance, it needs to harness this power to help dismantle destructive and disappointing stereotypes.

The best way to do that is to champion new and different voices, to embrace a cohort of talented and exciting female directors. This is what we do at Mofilm, by tapping into a global pool of diverse talent. And there are some initiatives already going beyond a hashtag to make sure this happens much more. 

Free The Bid has put together an accessible database of female directing talent and asks agencies and brands to publicly commit to including one female director for every three-way pitch. My agency has just signed up, joining a long list of heavyweight ad agencies and global brands. It’s all pretty brilliant and inspiring, and it’s certainly moving the conversation towards action, so long as it doesn’t become a bandwagon on which agencies jump to pay lip service to The Year of Women.

And, while I have your attention, can we just kill dead this term ‘femvertising’ – what is that about? Why do we have to stick a stupid label on anything connected to women? “Hey, can you get me the number of that male director...” isn’t something you’ll ever hear. We need to quickly arrive at a place where ‘female director’ isn’t a thing either, just directors who are men and directors who are women. 50/50 if possible, please. 

I firmly believe the industry has a responsibility to nurture, employ, and champion more women directors right now, this moment, today. Not because it’ll be frowned upon if we don’t or because it’s currently fashionable, but because we must be accountable for the messages we put out into the world and the influence they have. Imbuing our work with messages that have a positive effect on how women feel about themselves and how men view and treat women, is so important; to the world and to our brands’ bottom lines. 

It’s an exciting time to be in the industry, and to be a woman. Let’s not have it pass us by; let’s convert hashtags into action.