IWD2023 - Anouk Mertens on being female in a male-dominated industry

I have always worked in male-dominated industries and teams. Right after university, I launched a tech start-up which I sold many years ago to enter the world of production. At 22, while negotiating with big companies, they almost always started by handing me their coat and asking for coffee. Which I did and then started negotiating. This always put me at an advantage.

My first hands-on production experience was as a producer on the 2002 World Cup. I was young, I knew what I needed to do so just went for it. To be honest, I didn’t reflect much at the time that I was the ‘only’ woman and did not really feel different than anyone else that needed to do the job. I was confronted with lots of difficult fans during live shows, but handled it.

I’ve held senior management roles at Liberty Global’s Telenet and Eleven Sports. Now as CEO at NEO Studios, a global production studio specialising in bringing quality human stories in sport and entertainment, I am proud that we have been able to build a diverse group of talent globally. 

Although we predominantly operate in sports, NEO is primarily female-led with the LGBTQ+ community represented in leadership positions across the company. This has the tremendous benefit of having that diversity of perspectives and backgrounds when developing projects. It is not easy for anyone in a minority in the industry and you need to be lucky to encounter people who believe in you and support you. I had that at various stages in my career and I try to do the same for others.

I try to bring a unique perspective to how I lead NEO and to the type of stories we tell.

A lot of NEO’s recent series highlight unexpected stories and underrepresented voices from around the world as we focus on inclusive storytelling on and off camera. Also, I have two boys and I think it is important to be a role model for them as well. To raise them with an open mindset.

Sport is supposed to be fair and open, but still lacks equality and although equality breakthrough is around the corner, there are still barriers. On women’s sports specifically, there is increasing interest and there are great untold stories to uncover, but we are often confronted with hesitance from buyers and lack of budgets.

To platforms and buyers, I would say, go after what is overlooked. If ever there was a moment to invest in women’s sport and women’s content, now is the time. True commercial breakthrough is around the corner.