Free The Work: Free The Work

Alma Har'el, director of this year’s Sundance winner Honey Boy - written by and starring Shia LaBeouf - is launching FREE THE WORK to increase the number of women, trans identifying, non-binary and underrepresented creators involved in all aspects of film making. The launch is accompanied by a hard-hitting film, from creative agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland and directed by Amber Grace Johnson through Object & Animal, which takes viewers on a 200-year journey, imploring us to open our eyes to often-overlooked creative voices. FREE THE WORK's talent discovery service is powered by machine learning to promote intelligent, personalised discovery, in hopes of fighting systemic discrimination within industry hiring practices. The platform represents the next generation of Free The Bid, Har'el’s game-changing nonprofit initiative in the world of advertising. Actors and industry leaders, including Emmy award winners Lena Waithe, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jill Soloway, Oscar nominated actor Lucas Hedges, 2019 Emmy nominee Natasha Lyonne and Oscar nominated DOP Rachel Morrison, appear on the discovery page, which provides curated playlists of global talent. Four of the world’s biggest companies, including Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Facebook and Amazon Studios have joined Har'el as founding partners of FREE THE WORK and will lead its global expansion over the next three years. Additionally, Verizon has signed on as the inaugural guardian patron. FREE THE WORK launches with the support of its allies: The Sundance Institute, The Unstereotype Alliance, and the ANA’s #SeeHer initiative.