Alma Har’el

Spotlight on: Alma Har’el, music video and film director known for her trademark ability to artistically blur the lines between documentary and fiction in her award-winning films Bombay Beachand LoveTrue; and most recently, Honey Boy starring Shia LaBeouf.

With a “transcend that shit” creative philosophy, Alma radiantly embodies a tenacious spirit in her approach to all projects, one of which is Free the Bid – a non-profit advocating on behalf of women directors for equal opportunities to bid on commercial jobs in the advertising industry. After three years of business, they’ve seen incredible results including “taking HP from 0 women directors to 59% women directors on their campaigns within a year of their commitment.”

Inspired by its success, the business concept has broadened to Free The Work, a pivot to push the Free The Bid vision even further by implementing the same principles across more industries to reach even wider pool of underrepresented filmmakers. The goal is to be the ultimate hub for underrepresented creators.

The platform is already revolutionizing the way the creative industries are sourcing talent: “By implementing our database, along with a bespoke data-tracking tool for our Business users where they can view results of their diversity efforts in real time, we’re hoping to see a new dawn of talent discovery.”