Emmy and Peabody Award-winning creator, actor, writer, producer and director Pamela Adlon has joined the roster at commercial production company Girl Culture Films, marking her first representation in the advertising space. Upon signing with Girl Culture, Adlon has directed her first campaign–for period and incontinence underwear brand Thinx–which launched this week.
Adlon has one of the most distinct and essential voices in Hollywood, as illustrated through her FX comedy series Better Things, which recently wrapped after five seasons. Better Things showcased her singular insights and unapologetic, elevated commentary on motherhood, feminism, and the complexity of modern life. A veteran of the business for over 40 years as a working actor, Better Things marked Adlon’s seismic shift into directing, showrunning, writing, producing and more, all at the highest level of her craft. Now she is further expanding her directing career into the commercial realm with Girl Culture, starting with the Thinx campaign produced in collaboration with agency Oberland.
Adlon shared, “I auditioned girls and women from ages 11 to their mid-70s for these Thinx commercials. So many of the actors, as well as the crew, told me they love and are obsessed with Thinx. My kids and I have been using Thinx for years. And when I told them that I was going to be directing these commercials, they all screamed and asked if they could get some new ones. Thinx are beyond good for girls and women and the same goes for our planet. It is an honor to be directing commercials where I can celebrate and share products and ideas that are meaningful. Girl Culture Films and I share the same goals: produce quality work that makes people feel things and learn things, while creating commercials that are just really watchable.”
Lauren Greenfield, founder and creative director of Girl Culture Films, shared, “I’ve known and admired Pamela since we were both starting out–she is so incredibly talented, with an acerbic wit and a cut through the bullsh*t vision that is once in a generation. A multi-hyphenate before that was a thing, Pamela’s hilarious and authentic voice has many exciting applications in advertising. One of my personal goals has been to break the glass ceiling of advertising comedy that remains male dominated. I am so excited to see what Pamela brings to this space as she adds commercials to her extensive resume. Her first ad work for Thinx is relatable, inclusive, and bitingly funny.”
In addition to her extensive screen work both in front of and behind the camera, Adlon also leads her own all-female television production company, Slam Book Inc., where she currently oversees more than a dozen handpicked projects in development. She has been vocal in her support of women and other under-represented groups, elevating their voices and stories through Slam Book. This activism attracted Adlon to Girl Culture Films, which was founded in 2019 by award-winning filmmaker Greenfield to address the advertising industry’s demand for diverse, world-class storytelling from female and gender non-conforming directors. With a deeply talented directorial roster including Catherine Hardwicke, Karyn Kiyoko Kusama, Juliana Curi, Marina Zenovich, Heidi Ewing, Liz Unna, Ro Haber, Claire Edmondson, Barbara Kopple and Peggy Sirota, Girl Culture Films has quickly established itself as an influential creative force in the commercial and branded content space. It is also the sister company of photography and visual art studio INSTITUTE.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More