Director and filmmaker Rhi Bergado’s list of credits is a beauty enthusiast’s dream, featuring work with industry mainstays like Manny MUA and Patrick Starr, as well as brands including Urban Decay and ColourPop.
But the work hasn’t always been glamorous. In fact, the Long Beach-based creative has encountered multiple instances of problematic ideology throughout their more than seven years in the business.
“I experienced so many macro- and microaggressions while working in the beauty industry including colorism, body shaming, racism, ageism and transphobia—and the absolute worst of these elements came from the Asian Pacific [APAC] market,” they candidly told Adweek.
“If a brand created 60 shades of foundation, the APAC market would only take the eight lightest shades; Filipino and Southeast Asian models were referred to as ‘down market.’ Once, an APAC executive even jokingly handed me a skin-lightening mask at a business dinner.”
While that would be enough to cause some marginalized directors to make an understandable exit from the industry altogether, Bergado is using their experience to fuel a different purpose—one that would work to heal the AAPI beauty community.
“I have found that my new mission is to only work on projects that move the culture forward,” they shared for Adweek’s AAPI Creative Spotlight series, done in collaboration with Asians in Advertising. “My ideal project would [involve] finding a large umbrella beauty group that is willing to commit to addressing the problematic marketing approach for Asian Americans and the global Asian and Pacific Islander market.”
The art of empathetic storytelling
On their proudest work: Bergado’s work extends well beyond entertainment and beauty communities. They’re also a passionate documentarian with an eye for empathetic stories like the ones they helped shape for ViiV Healthcare. The project allowed them to follow the experiences of long-term HIV patients, including a faith-based leader.
“Our industry has shifted from searching for what is the most aspirational to searching for authenticity that already exists in people,” they observed. “I love a good story, and oftentimes the best story is the kind that you can’t write. I am most proud of my documentary work.”
On how they developed an interest in creative marketing: They started in production at age 19. “I was always an image-maker, doodler, tinkerer [and] artist, and I always felt that in a way the branded and commercial world pursued me because of it,” they said. “I realized very quickly how important my role was, especially to young women and to people who weren’t seen or heard in this industry for its first 100 years.”
You can learn more about their work at their website.
To view the entire AAPI Creative Spotlight 2022 series, click here.
