The International Women's Day Focus

In honour of this year's International Women's Day, we look back at some interviews, profiles and opinions from the industry's top female talent.

Talent

Rebecca Skinner's secret symphony

Film Craft jury president and Superprime Films co-founder Rebecca Skinner tells Tim Cumming “the best craft is the one you don’t feel” and how she’ll be seeking that magical symphony that happens when all the elements of film come together

Talent

Kim Gehrig: Cutting edge creativity

It might surprise the online trolls but the director of Gillette’s controversial We Believe ad started her career bigging up the boys, helming music videos for the likes of Primal Scream & Gomez. But from the moment she shot her first ad she’s been making work that challenges, questions and empowers. Though she still knows how to have fun doing it.

Talent

This space is reserved for Georgia Hudson

A reluctant runner but enthusiastic supporter of the south London squatting scene, the young Georgia Hudson hated being told what to do. That disdain for authority drew the Park Pictures director to her chosen career, where she's brought movement to music videos and dynamism to sports ads for Under Armour, Nike and the BBC. She tells Selena Schleh how she's put aside her rage and why curiosity, not passion, powers her creativity.

Talent

Alice Bottaro: Creative journeys and changing everything

One of the greatest heroes of the automotive industry was a women - a fact that few people outside of the historically male-dominated sector knew about until Mercedes-Benz launched its film about Bertha Benz this year. Through this campaign and more, Alice Bottaro, Creative Director at antoni, Berlin, is helping Mercedes-Benz connect with a female audience in a job that she considers to be the best in the world.

Talent

Sharon Horgan: The Way I See It

The writer/director/producer/actor/co-founder of Merman/Mermade and all-round comedy hero talks to Jamie Madge about turkey farms, terrible advice and perfect creative partnerships.

Craft

Jess Kohl: The Prettybird breakthrough capturing the fringes of society

With her latest music video and a brand-new spot for Nike providing a hefty industry one-two punch, we speak to the filmmaker and photographer about what documenting marginalised communities has brought to her subsequent work.

Talent

Changing the face of automotive advertising

Spindle's Aldona Kwiatkowski has fused automotive commercials with a fashionable flare, notably with her work for Mercedes. David Knight talks to the Polish-born director about her 'melancholic mindset' and the necessity of the female gaze.

Talent

Elena Petitti di Roreto: The hunger for story

Noted for her exquisite fashion films for such clients as Vogue Italia, Valentino and Hugo Boss, and with a flair for visual language, Italian director Elena Petitti di Roreto has amassed an impressive body of work in just three years as a director. She tells Carol Cooper about her quest for the possible and impossible in film.

Talent

Shimmy Ahmed: how an obsession with music led to a passion for fashion

From working on fashion titles like Elle and Twin Magazine to collaborating with Alexa Chung and FKA Twigs, director Shimmy Ahmed casts a liberal sprinkling of sass and swagger across everything she touches. For our Fashion Special, she tells Natalie Mortimer about her work, inspiration and how she intends to connect rural India and Brexit Britain through style and storytelling.

Talent

YDA-winner Nina Holmgren wants us to panic

The filmmaker talks us through how talks by young climate activists Greta Thunberg and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez inspired her to create her visually dazzling, emotionally charged short.

Insight

What does it mean for a music video to go viral?

Doomsday founder and Music Video EC, Danielle Hinde, takes a look back at some of the music video moments that blew up the internet... and why it happened.

Send in the (lady) clowns Emily Maye's sporting excellence Thessa Meijer on picking up this year's YDA Special Jury Prize

Insight

Vicki Maguire's disjointed world

The CCO of Grey London, Vicki Maguire, is one of the headline speakers at this year's Kinsale Sharks. Her talk will focus on 'our disjointed world', and here she tells us how the world being fucked can sometimes be for the best.

Talent

Margaret Johnson on how to tame a tornado

In over two decades in the industry, one lesson that Goodby Silverstein & Partners' CCO has learned is that out of chaos, comes creativity - which makes this award-winning creative the ideal candidate to weather the stormy conditions of the jury room, as the Film Lions President.

Insight

Calm down, dear: it’s only advertising; The universal fight against emotional women

This month Amy Kean wonders why we're afraid of emotion, especially when it's displayed by women. If emotion can help Captain Marvel storm the box office and save the universe then we should be harnessing it, not holding it back.

Talent

Rosie Arnold on smashing glass ceilings with a smile

Even Rosie Arnold – an icon and inspiration for all women in the industry – needed help from a fellow female to get her first break. Now, the creative partner and head of art at AMV BBDO tells Tim Cumming, she’s happy to be in the ideal position to preach – and practise – sisterly solidarity

Craft

WaterWipes tells the truth about parenthood

We talk to agency The Brooklyn Brothers and Pulse Films’ director Lucy Cohen about the beautiful campaign that captures the warts-and-all experience of newborn life in #ThisIsParenthood

Insight

How to… make diversity about more than just a day

International Women’s Day, Pride and Black History Month are important dates in the calendar, but real diversity can only be achieved through constant effort and progress, argues Eira Ellis, Head of Creative Production at Hogarth Worldwide.

Karena Evans: Force of nature Cloé Bailly on why comedy makes life less boring, and the effects of winning at the YDA Becky Martin on funny bones, female directors and formulas for LOLs

Insight

From knickerbockers to glory – part one

It’s a game of two halves, as shots reflects on the marketing around this summer’s Women’s World Cup. In part one, Carol Cooper takes to the pitch with expert commentators and explores how the fickle fortunes of women’s football down the years fed into the narrative of ‘the struggle’, the legacy of This Girl Can and how brands have backed the rebirth of a sport.

Insight

Why we need to talk about talking to women

shots columnist Amy Kean examines how brands are engaging with female audiences and looks at how the words and sentiments being used to convey their messages are getting lost in translation.

Craft

Robin Hays wants us to Post No Bills

Making its online debut on shots, Hays' adorable short tells the endearing love story of Noodle Boy and Miss Fortune. We chat to the director about how a wall of posters became her working canvas.

Insight

From knickerbockers to glory – part two

In part two of shots’ VAR-enhanced look at the impact of this year’s Women’s World Cup, Carol Cooper joins the pundits to celebrate how, this summer, the shared goals of brands and fans – to engage with a new generation of female athletes – points to a brighter future for the game and its marketing

The Sustainability Focus

It’s the burning question – with humanity facing an existential threat more potent than war, famine or disease, how can an industry full of world-class communicators talk about the climate crisis? shots discusses low-carbon film production, greenwashing and the paradox of consumerism vs planetary survival.

The Neurodiversity Focus

With growing awareness that an estimated 20 per cent of the global population is neurodiverse - the fact that advertising needs to get on top of the spectrums is a no-brainer. This month, shots speaks to experts, commentators and ADHD/ASD-powered adfolk about battling stigma, enhanced creativity and making more ND inclusive campaigns.

The Music Video Focus

Since the 90s, when their budgets ran to millions, the internet and tech advances have made music videos easier to view, cheaper to produce and, possibly, more disposable. But is the medium a dying art, or still the best way for a director to get noticed? shots probes the state of the promo nation.

The Photography & Cinematography Focus

In a cacophonous digital culture that bombards us with a stream of personal image-sharing and branded visuals, it can be hard for photography to stand out. This month, shots pulls focus on the DPs and photographers whose work sets the optic nerves a-tingle and considers the input of non-human image generators.