DE&I: Accelerating Change with Cali Bondad

Cali graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Film Production and cut her teeth as a commercial editor and storyteller at ad agency Mekanism. She then made the transition to director, helming award-winning campaigns for Amazon, Cox, Google, Sparklight, Nivea, HP, Apple, Vizio, Muscle Milk, Uber, and so on. Her work has been featured in Vimeo Staff Picks, National Geographic, The Atlantic, PBS, Slate, and Popular Science. 

As an Asian American with a mixed ethnic background, she has found great inspiration in celebrating diverse voices and perspectives, always looking to bring people together.  Cali is currently based in Los Angeles and repped commercially by Dear Friend in Canada and Reverse in the US.

LBB> What drew you to the field of DE&I?  

Cali> As a female commercial director, I have experienced instances of implicit bias due to my gender and background. There have been many times where I was treated differently than my male counterparts. Even though my portfolio of work and years of experience showed my competence, I wasn’t taken seriously in these situations. These experiences have pushed me to get involved with DE&I rather than just resent the inequities 

LBB> Before it became your job role, what was your specialism? And how did you get involved?  

Cali> It’s from my personal and professional experiences that I’m drawn to helping other women and POC to find a real belonging in the commercial and film industry. I want to help pave the way in the DE&I landscape and truly close the gap. 

LBB> There’s a lot of frustration around the industry’s glacial pace when it comes to improving DE&I across all sorts of axes. What’s getting in the way?  

Cali> I would identify the glacial pace as a symptom of human nature and it’s flaws. Firstly, people operate within their comfort zone. They hire people that look like them. They work with people that are familiar. If you haven’t worked with a female director or female cinematographer before, you may be very reluctant to do so. It’s new and scary. And, with the obvious disparity of women in these types of roles, the problem keeps feeding on itself.  

Secondly, I would chalk it up to implicit biases tied to women and POC in leadership roles. There are preconceived notions, stereotypes, and misconceptions that are perpetuated by movies, media, and the narrative that’s been around for eons. When it comes down to it, many people can’t imagine women in roles that are authoritative, technical, and visionary. I gotta say, these people need to do some real introspection as to why they didn’t give that female director a shot. Maybe the answer is deeper than they realise. 

LBB> Outside of the advertising industry, where do you see examples of large-scale meaningful progress (if at all), and what should our industry learn from it?  

Cali> Honestly, I can’t pinpoint a perfect example for this but I can say that a lot of women in various industries are fighting like hell. We have spokeswomen like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan on the US Women’s Soccer team pushing for equal pay and resources. The beauty is that it’s all interconnected. When positive change and progress is made in one industry it has an influence and sets the bar for others. We’re all in this fight together. 

LBB> The dimensions of DE&I can differ somewhat according to geographic/cultural context - I’m curious, where you’re based, what are the big issues or most urgent elements of DE&I that you need to address? (And if your role covers more than one market/territory, how do you and your team navigate the local nuances while having a cohesive and  consistent set of values?) 

Cali> I’m based in Los Angeles and work with both US and Canadian production companies. Reverse Production Company in the US and Dear Friend in Canada. I’m working with both production companies to really push the optics that we see on set. In particular, Garth Collins (EP at Dear Friend) and I are taking a conscious initiative to start our own mentorship and shadow program in Canada. We’d like to work with ad agencies and clients to welcome up-and-coming women and POC to participate in an on-set shadow day. The plan is to start with our own projects and clients and then branch out from there. 

I’m very fortunate to live in such a progressive and forward-thinking city as Los Angeles. Although, I’m often reminded that I live in a protected bubble here and there’s still a lot of work to do across the board, internationally. 

LBB> In your role, what have been some of the most meaningful projects or policies you’ve been involved in regarding DE&I?  

Cali> As a woman director, some of the most meaningful projects have been when a creative team or agency has taken a real chance on me. Maybe my reel wasn’t perfect for the job, or I was up against some A-List, million dollar name, but they truly saw my potential. They saw me as more than the sum of my parts. They believed in my vision and abilities and they knew that I would deliver. (Which I always did, by the way). It’s these types of projects where we both grew together. They grew as a creative team and I grew as a director. They didn’t just take the safe route - i.e. the one that they’re used to. They took a chance and it paid off. I can say that much of my career’s success is due to these types of projects. I was able to build and garner momentum from partnerships that really saw me as more than a website or a name but a well rounded artist and person. 

LBB> What role are clients playing in holding agencies accountable and driving better DE&I (e.g. via RFPs)? Is this something you are seeing or would like to see more of?  

Cali> Often times, I see clients and brands pushing the ad agencies to reach better DE&I initiatives and values. It seems like the tables have turned. Agencies used to be the tastemakers and culture leaders in pushing the client toward that. These days, agencies operate with so much fear and reservation - they’re at the mercy of the client. A lot less risks are being taken by agencies these days. So, when I see clients like Amazon suggesting that a woman shadow me on set as part of a mentorship program, I’m all about it. It’s a great thing when they take the initiative. 

LBB> We often see DE&I siloed or pigeonholed as an HR issue - what’s the key to ensure that it’s embraced as an agency-wide or industry-wide responsibility?  

Cali> It needs to be more than an HR issue. It should be a culture shift. It should be a desire to make greater art, build new relationships, to grow creatively, expand socially, and to elevate the community as a whole. The more diverse your crew or creative team is, the more it benefits all of us. By identifying the real issues first, we can build empathy, build bridges, and evoke change in our collective values. 

LBB> What are your thoughts about where accessibility fits in the DE&I agenda? Covid-19 changed things up across the industry. On the one hand it opened up remote working  opening up opportunities to those who can’t afford city living, but on the other hand it’s had a notably negative impact on other groups, notably mothers. Now that some time has passed since the extremes of lockdowns in most territories, what’s your assessment of the positives and negatives to come out of that time of disruption?  

Cali> After our collective Covid experience, I feel like people are way more real with one another – and with themselves. There’s a lot less skirting around mental health issues, career woes, and the disparities in the DE&I landscape. People are more open to talking about these things and in addressing them. I find it refreshing - and extremely important - to have these conversations on very real topics. 

LBB> What resources/platforms/programmes have you found useful on your DE&I journey and would recommend to our readers?  

Cali> Podcasts like ‘Code Switch’, documentaries like ‘This Changes Everything’, and Sight and Sound’s 'The Female Gaze' issue are all important pieces of education. They all bring awareness in the deeper stories and issues that come to play when trying to find a place of belonging for women and POC in the film and commercial industry.  

LBB> The scale of the change needed is so massive that individuals can often feel powerless without the levers to move huge structures. What’s a more personal act of positivity that you’ve seen recently that others could look to as inspiration for change on a the human scale. If you’d like our readers to take one thing away from this interview what would it be?  

Cali> Start in your own backyard. Take risks. Work outside of your comfort zone. Question Why is this my comfort zone in the first place? Ask What are my preconceived notions and assumptions about this person? Hire someone that you believe in but may not have the perfect reel or portfolio (yet). Invite marginalised artists and up-and-comers to shadow you. Be a mentor to someone behind you on their career journey. Find a mentor like you that’s where you want to be. Keep the real and important conversations going (even when it’s hard). Don’t stay quiet. Build bridges and not rifts. Find a way forward while learning from the past. Hire women and POC in leadership roles - it benefits everyone.