She Directs Ads Empowering Female Advertising Directors In India

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 19 March 2025

• She Directs Ads is a new project to make more pronounced the voices of women advertising directors in India
• Established by a women's network of filmmakers from the advertising world
• The group seeks to honor, connect, and provide opportunities for women

She Directs Ads is a new initiative 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.

While they are central to some of the most effective ad campaigns, female directors tend to go unnoticed. She Directs Ads, whose Instagram account is its initial platform, seeks to shift this by increasing exposure, promoting collaborations, and opening doors for both up-and-coming and seasoned talent.

“This is about recognition, representation, and reframing the narrative," said Superfly Films director and founder of the collective Kopal Naithani. "There are a lot of talented women who are directing commercials in India, but there are only a handful of them who get noticed. The time has come for the industry and the world to notice and empower them.”

From casual get-togethers to a collective, Naithani, who attended the 'See It Be It' career development program at Cannes Lions, was motivated by the support groups she met there. Encouraged to make something like it in India, she arranged an informal meeting of women directors at her office. The overwhelming response that night meant that it was not a one-night thing and eventually prompted the establishment of She Directs Ads

The collective now comprises 59 directors (and rising), who are actively involved in the effort. It hopes to grow even bigger by conducting forums, talks, workshops, and finally starting awards to honor women in advertising. One of its main goals will also be advocating gender parity in technical film crews and mentoring young women professionals coming into the field.

Even with great strides in developing more inclusive workplaces and greater female representation in many industries, there are still some that lag behind. While government policy can promote inclusivity, arts-based industries such as film and advertising struggle to apply and deal with such policies. It's often hard to know if a woman is being kept off a project for good reasons or hidden biases, so these biases can go unchecked.

Gender inequality in India's media and entertainment sector is still prevalent. The O Womaniya! 2024 report, which examined 144 directors and CXO roles in 25 large media and entertainment firms, finds that women hold just 12 percent of these positions. The fourth report edition, published by Amazon Prime Video and curated by Ormax Media in association with Film Companion Studios, indicates a decrease in female representation to 13 percent from 2023. This absence of female leadership also has a direct impact on on-screen visibility for women.

The report also emphasizes that women hold just 15percent of head-of-department (HOD) positions in core creative department’s direction, cinematography, editing, writing, and production design—up to 2024. The underrepresentation makes it crucial for urgent actions to empower and equip women directors and creatives so their voice is heard and valued in crafting the future Indian entertainment.