March 31st marked Trans Day of Visibility, celebrating the vitality and courageousness of the trans community. As part of a rising tide of trans voices in media, model and activist Munroe Bergdorf has been an outspoken advocate, articulating intersections of her experience as a black trans woman to audiences on [...]
To showcase South African clothing retailer Edgars‘ winter line, agency VML South Africa enlisted the talents of not one, not two, but THREE talented Free The Bid women directors. Director Kit, Gale Maimane, and Jeana Theron each brought their unique vision to the table, creating richly textured short branded films [...]
Happy Women’s History Month! Although Free The Bid celebrates the accomplishments of women every single month, since women are incredibly f*cking talented and need to be celebrated EVERY day…we are all in for Women’s Day on March 8th! We hope this newsletter is a consistent reminder of the fact that [...]
Theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” in 1989, stating that “because the intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and sexism, any analysis that does not take intersectionality into account cannot sufficiently address the particular manner in which Black women are subordinated.” Filmmaker Marian Edusei, using Crenshaw’s [...]
In advance of the Women’s World Cup this summer, PRETTYBIRD director Eloise King envisions a not-so-far off utopia in her film for Nike Women, where powerful, beautiful, and multi-talented women can stretch, sweat, and move their bodies together in harmony. With a cast who embody a variety of intersectional identities, [...]
In her vérité-style documentary, “The Brink,” Washington Square Films filmmaker Alison Klayman took an unexpected approach to confronting political extremism, embedding herself directly in the belly of the beast. Following notorious former Trump administration Chief Strategist Steve Bannon during the year after his ousting from the White House, Alison went [...]
“To capture something striking,” photographer Elsa Bleda tells us, “you need to keep your eyes open.” Director Georgi Banks-Davies inspires viewers to do just that in her Lexus film “Sunrise to Sunrise,” which takes the city of Lisbon, Portugal as its subject. Inspired by the aesthetic of Elsa’s photography, Georgi [...]
Free The Bid-pledged brand Diageo is serious about crafting marketing that reflects the diverse reality that their consumers live within. As Diageo’s CMO Syl Saller puts it, “advertising is telling stories that are backed by billions of dollars to have them heard.” This means that brands can play a crucial [...]
February 2019: Women Directors WERE At The Oscars! Even though it’s the shortest month of the year, February has been quite an eventful one! The month was kicked off by Super Bowl LIII, where some of our directors had the opportunity to shine (although far fewer than we’d like – more [...]
What do a wind tunnel, an ultra-powerful magnet, and an elaborate light-show in the middle of the forest have in common? Director Linnéa Bergman‘s branded music video for Swedish musician Rein‘s cover of the 1995 euro-dance hit “Electric,” weaves footage of all three elements together – each scenario powered by [...]
For visual artist Leena Al Ghouti, the city of Dubai – her home – is alive with vibrant creative connection. Director Aldona Kwiatkowski, newly added to the Free The Bid database, brings viewers into Leena’s world in “My Chosen Family,” Aldona’s impressionistic short documentary created with agency Neuland + Herzer for [...]
In “Pagans,” filmmaker Lucy Luscombe‘s carefully observed portrait of adolescent loss, grief ripples outward through a tight-knit circle of young friends. Death is difficult to process at any age, and the three girls at the center of Lucy’s film have a doubly challenging gauntlet to navigate: understanding the passing of [...]
Rattling Stick director Sara Dunlop‘s masterful work for the Royal Air Force – created as agency Engine‘s winning entry for the Channel 4 Diversity In Advertising Award – brilliantly skewers the limiting portrayals of women in advertising. While a peppy voiceover runs through the all-too conventional tropes of commercial scripts [...]
Asking questions can open us up to new perspectives; allowing us to engage more fully with the world around us. Director Nicole Ackermann‘s cinematic spot for The Economist (their first television advertising in 10 years!), created with agency Proximity London and production company Flare Productions @ AMV BBDO, explores the [...]
Through the magic of VFX, director Elizabeth Orne, signed to the roster of The Famous Group, brings Toothless from the “How To Train Your Dragon” franchise into the real world in her latest work for Comcast Xfinity. As a tie-in with the new film, “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden [...]