Welcome to a boardroom meeting—but it’s not in a boardroom. Instead, the session is taking place in the great outdoors, in the midst of rolling hills and a lush, expansive green landscape.
As we get closer, we see that seven women are seated at the boardroom-like table. It turns out they are all the same woman—clones of the meeting chairperson, each in different attire.
The topic of discussion is Julie. And the participants are eminently qualified to tackle the subject, because each one is Julie.
One presents "Julie’s gratification status report." Another tackles "Julie’s retirement panic," relating that she has 17 years until quitting time and is in dire need of a savvy plan.
Next up is Julie in denial—she puts her fingers in her ears and repeatedly utters, "Blah, blah, blah."
Then another Julie addresses college money for her daughter. Yet another talks about "Julie’s pipe dream," which entails adding a sunroom onto the kitchen and purchasing a ski house in Banff. The next Julie then shares her irrational fear of ending up a bag lady.
Chairwoman Julie soaks in all the input. "A lot to think about," she assesses. "See you tomorrow."
Some parting supers then put what we just witnessed into context. "There are a lot of sides to your financial life," reads the first super. That’s followed by the query, "Do you have someone devoted to all of them?"
An end tag carries Morgan Stanley’s logo, accompanied by the slogan, "One client at a time."
Titled "Julie," this :60—directed by Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles, for Leo Burnett USA, Chicago—won the Grand Hecate honor, signifying best of show at the Women’s Image Network (WIN) Awards Show last month in West Hollywood. The WIN Awards were launched 11 years ago to recognize outstanding films and TV shows that feature female protagonists and/or have been directed or created by women. This marked the first year that the WIN competition diversified into commercials. The expansion was made to honor deserving TV ads written, directed or art directed by a woman. Men could also enter the competition; work is eligible as long as it conveys a media message that empowers women.
"Julie" topped the spot portion of the competition; it was one of seven Hecate winners, with judges deeming it the best of that field, elevating it to Grand Hecate status. The Morgan Stanley commercial copped its Hecate in the category TV over :30 written and/or art directed by a woman. The art director for Burnett was Sarah Block. The Hecate was named after a Greek goddess to symbolize creative excellence. Greek goddesses Isis and Persephone were also part of the WIN honorees, signifying second and third place honors, respectively.
The other six Hecate winners—all in the TV :30, written or art directed by a woman, category—were: four Apple spots ("Hip Hop," "Rock," "Dance" and "Break Dance") directed by Dave Meyers of bicoastal/international @radical.media for TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles; Miller Brewing Company’s "Circle of Tools" helmed by @radical’s Errol Morris for Wieden+ Kennedy (W+K), Portland, Ore.; and Nike’s "Marry Me" directed by Lionel Goldstein (a team consisting of Koen Mortier and Joe Vanhoutteghem) of Czar.US, New York, and Czar.BE, Brussels, for W+K.
The art director on the four Apple commercials was Susan Alinsangan. The art director on Nike’s "Marry Me" was Sorenne Gottlieb. And the writer on Miller’s "Circle of Tools" was Ginger Robinson.
Additionally, WIN honored Linda Wolf, chair/CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide, with the ’04 Lifetime Achievement WIN Award.
Founded by actress Phyllis Stuart, the WIN organization saw the need for an annual competition to help encourage the inclusion of women in media creation. According to WIN, women remain vastly underrepresented in content creation, especially in advertising, where they comprise just 15 percent of ad agency creative departments. WIN also cites a similar shortfall on the directorial front, noting that women make up just 22 percent of DGA membership.
Stuart explained that the WIN Awards’ diversification into advertising this year was designed to help "enhance women advertising creatives—and men who create ad work which empowers women—thereby encouraging the entire ad industry to create advertising that depicts women as fully dimensional, capable, contributing people."
