Red Rage commercials director Lena Beug has just completed a new campaign for the Road Safety Authority (RSA) for BBDO Dublin. The campaign urges drivers to ask their passengers, both in the front and rear seats, to put on their seat belt before setting off. As the driver of the car, they have the authority to tell anyone travelling with them to belt up.
RSA analysis of all rear seat passengers involved in fatal collisions between 2008 and 2012 showed that of those not wearing a seat belt 45 per cent were killed, while rear passengers who wore a seat belt, 22 per cent were killed, and 78 per cent survived. In studies of rear seat fatalities in cars from 2009 to 2017, 42 per cent were not wearing a seat belt.
Beug, who has worked with Red Rage Films for several years, is one of very few female directors working in Ireland. She was born and raised in Kinsale with no TV in the house. After studying fine art at NCAD and law at TCD, she moved to New York in the mid-90s and ended up with an internship at in the graphics department at MTV. She now lives in Brooklyn.
“I was such an innocent when I landed in New York,” Beug said, “a bit of a country bumpkin growing up in rural Ireland, but I’d spent the summer here babysitting for my cousins when I was 16 and from that day was determined I’d live here one day. It was a rocky start, I was totally blown away that one could actually have a job at a place like MTV.
“Everyone was so ‘cool.’ Seeing what was possible made me determined to get there. I ended up a senior art director, and then made that scary move to freelance directing.” Beug’s MTV promos won multiple awards including gold, silver and bronze at the One show. Her work is quirky yet understated art direction and subtle nuanced performance.
