“I feel passionately about being able to champion female directors, to get them more opportunities and the recognition that they are just as talented and capable as their male counterparts,” says Poklar. “When I've talked to people at agencies, it's not that they don't want to hire female directors,” notes Poklar, “they just seem unclear about where to find them. I decided to create Empress to address this issue and to empower female directors as they helm a wide range of projects within the industry.”

As a hub for agencies and brands to locate and hire female directors for compelling, diversified content, Empress Studios is helping to ignite a movement of acceptance and openness toward women working in all roles of production. This unique business model aims to advocate for female directors and show, through great work, that they can conquer advertising production. With the recent gender-equality movement in advertising--and the growth of empowering initiatives such as The 3% Conference and Free the Bid--Poklar was inspired to take a further step by launching Empress.

Empress is represented by Devine Reps’ Sara Barnthouse and Steven Cook on the West Coast.