"The Art and Technique of the American Television Commercial" is reflected and embodied in the annual Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show. As AICP president Matt Miller observes, "The AICP Show presents the best work of our advertising industry to the world." Hence the collection of AICP Show honorees has earned the apt nickname "America’s Reel."
Following its debut each year– traditionally at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, but this year at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City– the AICP Show hits the road. "America’s Reel" is screened at museums and cultural institutions throughout the U.S. and in foreign countries. Over the years, the overseas venues have included such markets as Sydney; Tokyo; Hong Kong; Barcelona; Prague; Warsaw; Moscow; Minsk, Belarus; and Nicosia, Cyprus.
The impact of the AICP Show has been felt on several levels internationally. Take the Czech Republic, for example. In a sense, the annual AICP Show screening event in Prague has proven to be a precursor to globalization, opines Tomas Krejci, a founding partner of international production services company Milk & Honey Films, which has operations in Prague, Moscow, Los Angeles, London, Rome, Montreal and Mexico City. Krejci is a chief organizer of the AICP Show events in Prague and Moscow.
"When I first became involved in the AICP Show in Prague in 1998, work from the U.S. was just starting to have a much more significant influence than in the past on the ad industry in the Czech Republic," relates Krejci. "During the Prague event, we screen the AICP Show reel alongside a collection of the best Czech work. The contrasting approaches are fascinating. The commercial reel out of any kind of market or territory pretty much tells you the story about that particular society. It provides a great perspective, with the U.S. style and vision exerting a profound influence."
Since ’98, however, globalization has firmly taken hold, with day-to-day marketplace conditions bringing the American influence to the Czech community. "American talent– directors, DPs and agency creatives– are now making an impact as they come to Central Europe to shoot," says Krejci. "Our crew members see them work and learn from the experience."
At the same time, the continuing AICP Show screenings provide an overview of the best that America produces. And that big-picture context when screened with the best Czech work still proves invaluable. "The AICP Show only makes the influence of great advertising better. That’s why the screening is the hottest ticket in town. In fact, there aren’t enough tickets to meet the demand," notes Krejci.
Last year, some 2,900 people, mostly from the Czech advertising and production community, filled the prestigious Czech National Modern Gallery for the AICP Show. That’s a 50 percent increase in attendance as compared to the Prague screening in ’98.
Fittingly, advertising plays a role in creating public excitement over the event. An ad campaign promoting the AICP Show in Prague includes some 35 billboards, several radio spots, and advertisements in the Czech daily newspaper that herald the screening. Members of the public also attend the Czech National Modern Gallery to get a dose of American ad culture.
"I don’t see the borders between the U.S. and Czech Republic anymore as far as film production and advertising are concerned," assesses Krejci. "It has become so international nowadays. And the AICP Show puts those influences into better perspective."
The AICP Show has also provided impetus for the Czech Republic to gather a collection of its best work. Michal Pacina, who recently ended a five-year tenure as creative director at BBDO Prague to pursue a directing career, notes that each of the major production houses in the country annually selects its top five spots for screening alongside the AICP Show honorees.
"In that respect, the AICP Show helps to bring out the best in the Czech Republic," observes Pacina, who prior to BBDO was creative director at DDB Prague. He is currently serving out his term as president of the Czech Art Directors Club, which is involved in organizing the AICP Show event in Prague. "The AICP Show provides insights into not only the American market, but American society. Advertising speaks quite perfectly about a society, its style and the way its people are thinking. From that standpoint, the Show is fascinating– particularly when alongside Central Europe’s best advertising as judged by the production companies themselves. Some years are stronger or weaker than others, but every year you get a big picture overview of different societies and their brands of advertising. For me as an agency creative, that’s always been valuable and beneficial."
The value and benefit continue for Pacina now that he’s making the transition to director, working through Milk & Honey Films, Prague. "To see what other directors bring to projects as reflected in the AICP Show can only help," assesses Pacina, who is actually returning to his roots. Prior to embarking on an agency career, he worked as a filmmaker and photographer on projects that often made their way to public exhibit venues, including museums. Today, his directorial touch is being applied to the advertising arena. At press time, he had just wrapped a commercial for Croatia. He plans to initially focus on the Central European market in that it’s his area of expertise.
And Pacina continues to feel gratified regarding the ongoing progress being made by the AICP Show. "Last year’s presentation was the best produced here yet," he contends. "We’re constantly working on improving the projection because we care very much about the quality of the presentation." He adds that the Czech Art Directors Club is working closely with Milk & Honey and others in the production community to continue the improvement being made in the AICP Show screening: "Bringing the agency and production people closer together is another benefit of the Show."
MOSCOW
Krejci also organizes the Moscow screening. Though not nearly of the scope of its counterpart in Prague– which he describes as "a cultural icon event"– the AICP Show exerts influence in Moscow, albeit more subtly than it does in the Czech Republic.
"The AICP Show is very well received in Moscow, but there are different dynamics there," observes Krejci. "Part of what’s ingrained in the Russians is to resist the U.S. influence. It’s like, ‘Why do we have to learn from Americans what we can do for ourselves?’ I don’t see this as arrogance, but more an attitude that reflects Russian pride.
"Still, though, Russian professionals value the AICP Show as a statement about, and offering visualizations of, the state of commercialmaking in the U.S.," Krejci continues. "And the Russian community is very respectful of that. Individuals, including some directors, may be influenced– consciously or subconsciously– by what they see. But it’s nothing like the widespread influence of American advertising in other parts of Central Europe."
The Moscow screening is also a year behind the Prague event. Drawing about 600 industry professionals annually, the Moscow event is held in April, whereas the Prague screening is in December. This past April, the reel of honorees from the 2000 AICP Show was shown in Moscow. The Moscow event also includes a screening of the year’s best Russian spot work.
Playing a pioneering role in helping the AICP Show make its initial inroads into Central Europe– including Moscow, Prague and Warsaw– was Przemek Mlynczyk, now president of the board of the Young Cinema Foundation, which continues to present AICP Show screenings in Poland. Based in Warsaw, the Young Cinema Foundation was established in 1990 by a group of young filmmakers and graduates of the Prague Film School. Mlynczyk teamed with the AICP to bring the Show to Poland in ’92, the first year of the AICP Show. While in New York in ’91, Mlynczyk heard that the AICP was planning to launch the Show. He met with then-AICP chairman Jon Kamen and returned to Warsaw to lay the groundwork for screenings in Poland.
Mlynczyk did the same in Moscow. He recalls Kamen promising that "if you make the Show in Moscow, I’ll come there." Sure enough, Kamen traveled to Moscow in ’93 for a groundbreaking presentation, hosted by the Russian Society of Filmmakers. Kamen recollects that the Moscow experience was moving for him personally and professionally. The trip gave Kamen the opportunity to visit family members there whom he had never met before. He also vividly recalls reactions from the audience at the Moscow screening. "I was absolutely blown away by the level of attendance, and the hunger and desire to learn exhibited by the audience. It’s like we’re ambassadors providing other countries with the best we have to offer as a community. And the work is truly appreciated and valued from educational and artistic standpoints."
To explain the value of the Show, Mlynczyk translated the observations of his Polish compatriot DP Andrzej Musia: "We often hear that the television commercial is only a part of marketing. But when the commercials are shot on such a level– with such an understanding of the small elements of our world– that slighting opinion is not appropriate. There are really not many creative commercials in Poland; clients are afraid of new ideas. The fear of originality causes the information to be given in a schematic way. This is not so in America. The authors have a lot of freedom for creation. And they use this freedom."
Mlynczyk notes that the main attendees at the AICP Show events in Central Europe are agency people, artists and students. "For the advertising and film people, the Show is a source of expertise, of new ideas." Mlynczyk continues that that audience knew the style of directors such as Joe Pytka, David Fincher, Michael Bay and Gore Verbinski from their commercials– well before these filmmakers went on to make their movie premieres in Polish cinema (e.g., Pytka’s Space Jam).
Mlynczyk observes that it remains important for the Young Cinema Foundation to continue to present the AICP Show throughout Poland, including in Warsaw. "The aims of the Show and the Foundation are similar: We both promote excellence in filmmaking and creative filmmakers. Our Foundation is an educational and creative center. We are proud that we have a chance to screen the commercial masterpieces."
