Contact Information

25-26 Dering Street
London Greater London W1S 1AT
Regno Unito
Telefono: +44 (0)20 7851 2000
Email:

Alli Albion

Alli Albion

Press Secretary

Basic Info

Fondata nel: 2006

Premi: 360

Creazioni: 262

Fondata nel: 2006

Premi: 360

Creazioni: 262

Rattling Stick

25-26 Dering Street
London Greater London W1S 1AT
Regno Unito
Telefono: +44 (0)20 7851 2000
Email:
Alli Albion

Alli Albion

Press Secretary

It's About Equity: Vanessa Beletic, Rattling Stick

Rattling Stick
London, Regno Unito
See Profile
 

 

In our latest 'Women in Advertising' installment, we chatted with Vanessa Beletic, Director at Rattling Stick, about her experience in the industry as a woman of color and what barriers we still face. A pioneer of branded video content, Beletic has created award-winning work for brands like Levis, Theory, Estee Lauder, Samsung and has influenced a new category of storytelling that continues to permeate digital culture today.

 

What barriers do women still face in our industry and why are they still there?

From a woman of color director point of view - access and opportunity is still a barrier. We are getting very specific boards, which you could probably guess are woman or POC focused spots (International Women’s Day, Black History Month) that sort of thing. I’m grateful for it all but would like to see brands/agencies bid women directors for all sorts of work and when they do, fund those projects properly so that we can do good work. An all-woman sports spot receives a third of the budget it would if it were a male led sports spot. These are old barriers that are slowly changing…very slowly. 

 

How should we tackle an issue such as equal opportunity, not solely for women’s equality but across the entire DE&I spectrum?

It comes down to having more women and POC as decision makers to create opportunities for others AND for all decision makers, no matter how they identify to make it a mission/mandate to open more doors. It has to be a conscious effort that becomes common practice - without that, the process stays in “auto pilot”.

 

How do you think agencies and brands would react if their ad strategy was created and produced by a majority female team?

I don’t know that it’s about being majority female over male - for me, it’s about equity. 

I’d just like to point out there are many studies showing that a diverse workforce brings with it an increase in innovation - not just in creativity, but with strategic thinking, problem solving and decision making. Social awareness goes up as well. The stats are out there. The more diverse, the more successful we all become!  Brands and agencies should WANT more women, especially women of color on their teams. 

 

What experiences did you have joining the industry?

For me, the path of least resistance to building a reel, was through branded content in the fashion and beauty space. As I built it, I’d hear from established women commercial directors describe how hard it was to get signed, because production companies didn’t feel they had enough work coming in for more than one woman on their roster. These words actually came out of an EP’s mouth to my friend: 

“We already have a woman director!” Remove the word “woman” and put in another identifier…how bad does that sound?

I waited a very long time to sign commercially and thankfully the experience with Rattling Stick has been lovely. The timing was right, and they have a specific approach to how they’re building their roster, that’s genuine.