She Directs Ads brings together India's 1st collective for women directors

On International Women's Day, 59 professionals launched 'She Directs Ads' initiative to celebrate, connect, and create opportunities for women directors

A new initiative, She Directs Ads, has been launched to amplify the voices of female advertising directors in India. Founded by a group of women filmmakers from the advertising industry, the collective aims to celebrate, connect, and create opportunities for women in a field where they remain underrepresented.

 

Despite their contributions to some of the most impactful ad campaigns, female directors often go unrecognised. With an Instagram page as its first platform, She Directs Ads seeks to change that by increasing visibility, fostering collaborations, and opening doors for both emerging and established talent.

 

“This is about recognition, representation, and rewriting the narrative,” said Kopal Naithani, founder of the collective and director at Superfly Films. “There are many talented women directing ads in India, yet only a handful are acknowledged. It’s time the industry, and the world sees and supports them.”

 

 

From informal gatherings to collective

Naithani, who was part of ‘See It Be It’, a Cannes Lions career acceleration programme, was inspired by the support networks she witnessed there.

 

Wanting to create a similar space in India, she hosted an informal gathering of female directors at her office. The overwhelming response that night made it clear that this could not just be a one-time event, leading to the creation of She Directs Ads.

 

She Directs Ads expansion plans

The collective has since grown to include 59 directors (and counting) who are actively shaping the initiative. It plans to expand further by hosting forums, talks, workshops, and eventually launching awards to celebrate women in advertising.

 

A key focus will also be bringing more gender balance to technical film crews and mentoring young women entering the industry.

 

Women in entertainment industry

Despite significant strides toward creating more inclusive work environments and boosting female representation across various sectors, some industries continue to face challenges. While government policies can encourage inclusivity, sectors like film and advertising, which are inherently creative, find it harder to implement and navigate such regulations. It’s often difficult to determine whether a woman’s exclusion from a project is due to legitimate reasons or underlying biases, leaving space for these biases to persist unchecked. 

Female representation drops in Indian media, entertainment sector: Report

 

The gender disparity in India’s media and entertainment industry remains stark. According to the O Womaniya! 2024 report, which analysed 144 directors and CXO positions across 25 major media and entertainment firms, women hold just 12 per cent of these roles. The fourth edition of the O Womaniya! report, released by Amazon Prime Video and curated by Ormax Media in collaboration with Film Companion Studios, highlights a slight decline in female representation, down from 13 per cent in 2023.  This lack of female representation in leadership positions translates directly into limited on-screen visibility for women as well.

 

The report further reveals that only 15 per cent of head-of-department (HOD) positions across key creative areas — such as direction, cinematography, editing, writing, and production design — are held by women as of 2024. This underrepresentation highlights the pressing need for initiatives that support and empower women directors and creatives, ensuring their voices are heard and their contributions are valued in shaping the future of Indian entertainment.