Peace Pirates “Work & Life Balance in Production” Event Report

At TBWA\HAKUHODO, Peace Pirates — a volunteer, cross-departmental group dedicated to DEI discussion— has been quietly reshaping the organization from within. Since 2020, their bottom-up approach has inspired meaningful change across HR policies, workplace culture, and even the way employees talk about work and life.

In October 2025, the group hosted “Work & Life Balance in Production,” a candid conversation about the future of work in the advertising and film industries. Five speakers — each from different corners of the creative world — joined to explore the structural, cultural, and emotional realities shaping how creative work gets produced today.

Speakers
• Takahiro Hosoda — Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\HAKUHODO
• Hirotaka Fukatsu — Head of Content Production, TBWA\HAKUHODO
• Yuki Hamajima — Senior Producer, TBWA Media Arts Lab Tokyo
• Megumi Banse — Producer, Entertainment Content Production Dept., AOI Pro.
• Miyuki Fukuma— Producer, BUNBUKU Inc.

The Moment That Sparked a Movement

The roots of this event can be traced to the set of The Last Scene, a short film shot entirely on iPhone 16 Pro and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. For Senior Producer Yuki Hamajima, the project was memorable for reasons that went beyond filmmaking craft.

At the kickoff meeting, Hirokazu stood up and stated, without preamble, that he would not tolerate any form of workplace bullying or sexual harassment on projects he led. It was a simple but powerful declaration — one that set a tone and, in Yuki’s words, “made clear what kind of place this production site aimed to be.”

That moment stayed with her.

It also mattered for others in the room. Megumi Banse, a producer at AOI Pro., had joined the production with her husband — also crew — and their two-and-a-half-year-old child. “I was delighted when the director asked if my husband would work on the project too” she recalled. “However, I asked whether the team could create an environment that welcomed not only my husband but our baby as well. The team agreed, and on-set childcare was arranged in coordination with a babysitting service”

For four of the six shooting days, their child spent time on set, playing nearby during shoots, sharing lunch with the staff, and going home with the family after wrap. The sitter was treated as a member of the crew and credited in the end roll — a symbolic but meaningful acknowledgment of the invisible labor that enables creative work.

Megumi made clear that on-set childcare is not the only solution, but a very important one, where a sitter who understands the nature of production realities becomes essential.

What Overseas Film Sets Revealed

For Miyuki Fukuma, a producer at Bunbuku (Hirokazu Kore-eda’s production company), it was not the Last Scene set but her experience working on the Japan–France co-production The Truth (2019) that shifted her perspective.

In Japan at the time, there was little conversation about labor conditions in filmmaking. Like many working parents, she assumed personal struggles were to be resolved privately, not addressed structurally. But in France, she encountered a very different environment: regulated working hours, robust public childcare, strong support for freelancers, and a visible presence of women on set.

She recalls how the French staff encouraged her to bring her five-year-old daughter to the set — an unthinkable suggestion in Japan at that time. The experience seeded an awareness that labor environment and family life need not be mutually exclusive.

These conversations eventually contributed to broader changes. In 2023, the Japan Film Production Appropriateness Organization (EITEKI) was founded to advocate for better labor practices. Films created under compliant conditions now receive an EITEKI Mark, and more production companies require anti-harassment training as a result. Filmmakers themselves — especially those with international experience — have formed groups such as ction4cinema to push for further systemic reform.

Miyuki believes progress is slow but steady. Although Japan has yet to establish a CNC (The French National Centre of Cinema)like system for film funding, collaboration between creators and the government has begun. “I believe we’ll continue moving forward, one step at a time,” she said.

When “Work–Life Balance” Isn’t Enough

For Megumi, the tension between work and parenting defies simplistic labels.

As a mother working in production, she lives with the daily pressure of whether she can finish work before daycare pickup — and the emotional weight when she cannot. At the same time, as a producer, she is responsible for enforcing EITEKI rules on set. When a director or crew member asks to shoot “just one more cut,” the rule meant to protect the team can suddenly feel like a constraint working against the creative process. Her personal life and professional responsibilities often collide rather than coexist.

Miyuki’s challenges took a different shape. When she returned to work after childbirth, no role model showed her how to navigate both parenting and producing. Koreeda’s continued trust — assigning her major domestic and international projects — kept her motivated. But the balancing act was grueling; she recalls working at 3 a.m. while raising a young child. It is not something she would recommend today, but it was the only way to fulfill her responsibilities then.

Today, she sees meaningful shifts. Limits on shooting hours have improved energy and focus on set. Conversations about work–life balance are more common while young people increasingly see family time as essential, not optional. For her, now raising a 12-year-old daughter entering adolescence, this cultural shift feels especially significant.

One memory stands out. For a stretch of time, her daughter was always the last child waiting at daycare pickup. Miyuki often had to leave shoots early for evening meetings, feeling that she was failing at both roles. When she once muttered, “Maybe I should change jobs so I can come home earlier,” her daughter responded gently:
“…but Mom, you look happy when you talk about movies. I don’t think you should quit.”

It was a simple and geniune comment from her child, and it reframed everything for Miyuki. Creative work is sustained not only by individuals, but by the understanding and support of families and colleagues.

Japan and Overseas: What It Means to Be a Professional

While Japanese creative industries have long associated “time spent on the job” with “quality,” the comparison with overseas practices reveals different perspectives on professionalism.

Hirotaka Fukatsu, TBWA\HAKUHODO’s Head of Content Production, described the striking contrast between U.S. and Japanese production processes. In Japan, creative, account, and production teams spend long hours meeting together, and many of these staff attend client presentations. In the U.S., small creative pairs meet only briefly with the creative director, and only the CD and account team join client meetings. Fewer meetings mean less time pressure per person — structurally enabling more diverse participation.

Takahiro Hosoda, TBWA\HAKUHODO’s CCO, noted that structural imbalance can exist even in places that appear diverse. During his time in the U.S., he observed many women producers leading schedules and logistics. Yet male creative pairs often had their ideas approved more easily because they were expected — and allowed — to work longer hours. Beneath a seemingly balanced surface, leadership roles often remained male-dominated. The industry continues to address these inequities, but change is ongoing.

Updating Systems and Changing Mindsets

Takahiro reflected on how work is evaluated. If systems reward those who simply work the longest, long hours will persist. But enforcing strict hour limits risks constraining people who genuinely wish to invest more time in their craft. TBWA\HAKUHODO’s long-held value — “Good Enough Is Not Enough” — captures creative ambition, yet also risks reinforcing a structure where more hours equal better work. The reality, he suggests, is more nuanced: diverse teams require diverse rhythms of work. The only path forward is continued dialogue and individual understanding.
Miyuki added that improving quality while protecting labor requires sufficient budgets. Under EITEKI rules, maintaining previous levels of quality can demand roughly 1.5 times the budget. She believes producers must explore new funding mechanisms to support this shift.

“Don’t Do the Right Thing, Do the Brave Thing.”

Toward the end of the event, organizers shared an illustration from the action4cinema Anti-Harassment Handbook — a drawing of a crew boarding a ship together. It symbolized the idea that film and advertising, despite differing scales, are both acts of collective navigation through uncertainty.

(Source：action4cinema）

Yuki reflected on this metaphor: creative work succeeds when leaders listen to their teams, respect their choices, and create environments where everyone can contribute safely and fully. She referenced a well-known line by Lee Clow of TBWA\CHIAT\DAY:
“Don’t do the right thing, do the brave thing.”

Courage, she suggested — not compliance — is what sheds light on problems, sparks conversation, and leads to real change.

In preparing for the event, the Peace Pirates interviewed many employees in childcare or eldercare roles. Their concerns were strikingly honest: some men admitted feeling embarrassed about picking up their children (won’t others think it’s a mothers job?), while others feared that leaving meetings early would negatively affect their evaluations. Speaking these truths aloud takes courage.

And that courage is precisely what the speakers embodied — Megumi negotiating on-set childcare, Miyuki working with Koreeda to reshape production practices, Takahiro and Hirotaka questioning the fundamentals of how creative work is valued. These acts of bravery disrupt the status quo and open space for new ideas to take root.

The Peace Pirates hopes to champion such everyday acts of courage, working alongside teams across the company to transform insights into action.

Toward a New Creative Culture

The event made one thing abundantly clear: improving the future of work requires more than new systems — it requires cultural transformation.

Both advertising and filmmaking are collaborative pursuits built on solving problems within constraints. TBWA\HAKUHODO is committed to exploring the future of work with those who choose to do the “Brave Thing,” continuing conversations that cross corporate and industry boundaries.

🏳️‍🌈 Peace Pirates will continue hosting events on the themes of “work styles” and “diversity.”
We invite you to follow the journey and join the conversation.