FREE THE BID is a 501c3 non-profit initiative advocating on behalf of women directors for equal opportunities to bid on commercial jobs in the global advertising industry.

HOW TO FREE THE BID

FREE THE BID is an Initiative guaranteeing women directors an equal opportunity to bid on commercial jobs in the advertising world. Less than 7% of directors are women, and less than 3% of creative directors at ad agencies are women. These numbers are hard to swallow for 50% of the world’s population, especially when the Harvard business review and many publications suggest that women are and the NUMBER 1 consumer group that makes for 85% of product purchase decisions. Problem: A cycle that keeps women from being considered. At the bidding stage, ad agencies typically present the brand with three [...]

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ANGIE BIRD x GILLETTE

As we approach Pride month in June, visual stories like director Angie Bird‘s new spot for Gillette, created with agency Grey Canada, showcase some of the hidden and tender moments that trans people experience in their daily lives. Bird, who is signed to production company Chelsea, came to directing after learning the ropes as an art director at Leo Burnett, where she worked with brands like Special K, Weight Watchers and Robert Mondavi Wines. Bird also wrote and directed the short documentary “You Won’t Regret That Tattoo”. Her latest work for Gillette, a Free The Bid-pledged brand as part of the [...]

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LENA BEUG x GM CERTIFIED PRE OWNED

Lena Beug is no stranger to adventure, and her relentless filmmaking journey is testament to how much she’s willing to take risks to tell thought-provoking stories. Raised in Ireland, and then making head way to New York City after a stint in Berlin and Paris, Beug has been developing ideas and creating visual stories for the last decade, believing strongly in the idea that “everyday life is really quite funny. You don’t need to make stuff up.” In her recent spots for General Motors, Beug’s ability to bring the comedic into everyday-life shines through. The audience explores each characters’ journey [...]

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HERE’S THE WORK: MAY 2019

May 2019: Big Things Brewin’   Change is in the air, and we couldn’t be more excited! In preparation for a very big announcement coming in June, this edition of our Here’s The Work newsletter will be the last monthly roundup of Free The Bid work until early September! Don’t worry, fam – we’ll still be on the lookout for all of the incredible ads, branded content films, shorts and music videos directed by the filmmakers in our database all summer long. Please keep us posted with all of your latest and greatest projects! This month, one member of our [...]

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LISA BONET x DOROTHY, ANGEL HAZE

With experience on set as an actress and filmmaker since her late teens, Lisa Bonet is no stranger to being in front and behind the camera. She’s directed music videos such as Lenny Kravitz’s Let Love Rule and Milla Jovovitch’s Gentlemen Who Fell, and the short doc Waking Compton. With Freedom, Lisa continues her directorial journey, and her vision for this project is brought to life through the collaborative effort of a majority women crew. Featuring mesmerizing choreography, and shots filmed in a tightly packed night club setting, the audience is drawn to the video through the synchronized choreography of dancers [...]

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#FreetheBid is supported by:

Marc Pritchard

Chief Brand Officer

"P&G brands are using advertising as a force for good and for growth, and our pledge to Free The Bid is an important step in accelerating the progress toward gender equality. We aspire to see an equal world between women and men with equal representation, equal voices, equal roles, equal pay and equal respect – and Free The Bid is the catalyst to move us all closer to equal representation among directors for the advertising we create."

Karen Kahn

Chief Communications Officer

"#FREETHEBID is more than a pledge, it is part of our operating principle and belief that diversity is a business imperative. We strive to create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere, and that extends to ensuring that female voices have equal access – at every level – in the creative process. The powerful work architected by #FREETHEBID delivers cultural and societal impact and aligns with our brand promise to constantly keep reinventing."

Anastacia Maggioncalda

Head of Production

"At LinkedIn, we strive to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Diversity of voice and perspective is critical to creating opportunity and transforming the creative voice as a whole. We are proud to join the #FreeTheBid movement to ensure more female voices are heard and that access to opportunity continues to evolve across the industry."

Lynne Biggar

Global CMO

"Visa is thrilled to take the pledge to #FREETHEBID globally. We want to partner with like-minded agencies who value diversity and inclusion as much as we do and are looking forward to seeing more women at the pitch and behind the camera."

Andrew Robertson

President and CEO, BBDO Worldwide

"We’ve seen firsthand how ‘Free the Bid’ opens up new opportunities for female talent and improves the quality of the work. We’re happy to support it."

Christoph Becker

CEO+CCO Gyro

"This is about supporting some of the most talented directors in the world. Giving them a platform, with #FreetheBid, to shine as they deserve is a logical call to action we believe in 100%, on all fronts."

Fred Raillard & Farid Mokart

Creative CEO, Founders Fred & Farid

"It's great to be "aware" of a problem, but only behaviors drive true change. #FreeTheBid is not a wishful declaration, it's powerful new reflex to hack our change-resistant industry."

We would like to thank the following production companies for their contribution to our website upgrade:

Thanks to the following Editorial Companies for contributing to our site maintenance.

Thanks to the following companies, whose donations helped to make
Free The Bid's database of women colorists into a reality.

Additional financial support from the following individuals:

Aine Clarke, Antiestático, Beth George Schulberg, Caitlin Clarke, Claudia Cifuentes, Dana Offenbach, Emi Lofgren, Emilia Ferreira, Emily Anderson, Kelly Mitchell, Malia James, Mariana Cobra, Orlando Wood, Patricia Santana, Patrick Li, Peyton Wilson, Ramaa Mosley, Sasha Markova, Soilfilms, Sonja Phillips, Stella Scott, Yvonne Bernard

Thanks to Emma Neal for the Free The Bid logo design

Free The Bid is proud to partner with:

Free The Bid would like to thank NeueHouse for providing us
a creative work environment in which to be inspired.

Alma Har'el

Director, Producer and Cinematographer.
Founder of #FREETHEBID

"I’m starting #FreeTheBid so the ad industry can come together and take an affirmative step towards addressing what stops advertisers from working with women directors. I couldn’t have been an independent filmmaker and make the films I love if I didn’t make a living directing commercials. I want to make sure other women filmmakers have the same chance to sustain themselves while being creative and shaping the way women are represented in advertising. We have to start the change right now in the only practical and effective way – Let women be heard."

Spike Jonze

Film director, film producer, screenwriter
and co-president of Viceland

"I find Free the Bid so inspiring. It seems like a no brainer. Of course we should be getting more women filmmakers to bid on jobs! As with all great ideas, its such a simple one and the end result is going to be getting more diverse voices into the conversation and therefore more diverse voices into the work which makes the work better."

Cindy Gallop

Advertising consultant, founder and former chair of the US branch of advertising firm Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and founder of the IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn companies.

"I am absolutely thrilled with this initiative and could not support it more.It appalls me how much our industry, clients and brands are missing out on a huge, untapped, completely wasted pool of female directorial talent, not to mention female talent across all stages of production. A huge amount of money (from creating more brand success for our predominantly female-targeting clients) and awards (for truly innovative, disruptive work) are being left on the table. END THAT NOW and pledge #FreeTheBid."

PJ Pereira

CCO & Co-founder
Pereira & O'Dell

"A simple idea that would force the entire ecosystem to consider women directors."

Susan Credle

Global CCO
FCB Global

"We’ve included a female director for consideration in 95% of our production bids. A female director was awarded the job on 30% of the projects. Before the initiative roughly 40% of all bids included a female director, now we are at 95%. Before the initiative roughly 10% of all bids resulted in a female director, now we are at 30%."

Kate Hildebrant

VP/Director of
Content Production
CP+B

"Free the Bid’s work to raise awareness and transparency of the issue has motivated us to help change the stats. For us, it is not about filling a quota by giving opportunity to female directors regardless of talent, it is about the extra push to discover the best female directors in the industry.

Since CP+B pledged to Free The Bid, we have increased the amount of jobs directed by female talent by 400%. Of our jobs that required triple bidding, 20% were awarded to women."

Glenn Cole & John Boiler

CCO + CEO
72andSunny

"We can all agree on the importance of diversity, but it comes down to access and opportunity. Free The Bid fosters both, prioritizing action over talk. It also points to a future where our daughters have the same access and opportunity we had. Hell yes to that."

Maria Smith

Executive Creative Director
M&C Saatchi LA

"It's all too easy to see the disparity in our industry. So championing an initiative like Free the Bid was a no brainer. It's a simple and smart way that we can all affect a sea of change."

#freethebid

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