In 2018, Janelle Monáe and Belvedere Vodka had begun a partnership and were looking for a meaningful project that aligned with both of their values.
And then the Golden Globes happened. And Natalie Portman presented the “all-male nominees” for Best Director.
The Oscars were coming up and their record was even worse. In 90 years, only five women had ever been nominated for Best Director and only ONE had ever won.
So we pitched “A Beautiful Future,” a platform for promoting diverse and under-represented talent. It was a project that was meaningful not only to us, but to Janelle herself, founder of the “Fem the Future” movement.
We launched it on Oscar weekend by giving four female filmmakers a budget and a simple brief: Show the world what a beautiful future looks like to you in the form of a short film. Turns out, when you promote diverse storytellers, you get some pretty diverse stories.
Our campaign concept “A Beautiful Future” continues to inspire with Janelle’s new limited edition bottle design with Belvedere Vodka, launched in June 2019.