These six films are a glimpse into what more diversity can do for advertising

The Commercial Directors Diversity Program has released spec ads for brands such as Adidas and Amazon that were created as part of its effort to nurture underrepresented groups in the industry. The program was created in 2016 by the Directors Guild of America and the Association of Independent Creative Producers. Under program director Tamika Lamison, who joined the last fall, the CDDP this year began offering promising talent intensive training through workshops, mentoring, shadowing opportunities and, finally, grants to help fund sample ads to bolster their reels. The CDDP chose six out of 25 finalists that competed to participate in the program and debuted the resulting films at a showcase held at The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences in L.A. this week. Check out all the films below and bios of all the talents on the CDDP site: Monty Marsh reimagined Adidas Originals' "Original is never finished" campaign through an Afrofuturistic lens. Tamika Miller tapped adorable (and slightly devious) kids to show off the features of Amazon's Echo. Maya Albanese created an uplifting film for Georgia-Pacific. Kryzz Gautier's AT&T spec captures the long-awaited reunion of a family experiencing the sort of split that's become all-too familiar in the real world. Erica Eng follows a young man's road to a new life after serving his prison term in this spec spot for Homeboy Industries. And Gabrielle Paciorek brings videogame spunk to her spec for the Apple Watch.

These six films are a glimpse into what more diversity can do for advertising

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