CHICAGO—The Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE) Awards competition has moved closer to its goal of calendar year judging, with a gala ceremony set for May 13 at Soldier Field in Chicago. This is the third AICE Show—the inaugural event took place in New York in ’01 and then shifted to Los Angeles in ’02.
The first two shows had been in the last quarter of the year, a schedule which meant that the awards honored editing on spots that debuted during a July through June eligibility period. Rather than hold a November ’03 awards ceremony, AICE officials opted to push back the event five months so that the competition could be positioned from ’05 on to recognize the best-edited work of the previous calendar year. This year’s show will cover an 18-month eligibility period from July 1, ’02-Dec. 31, ’03 to account for the event’s altered schedule.
Per its rotation designed to bring the prestigious event to different chapter cities, Chicago was selected for ’04. The other new wrinkle is the addition of a category honoring the best-edited public service spot. This brings the total of categories to 11, the others being for best editing in: comedy; dialogue; graphics; montage; local spot; music/sound; national campaign; spec spot; storytelling; and visual effects.
Finalists will be chosen by a vote of more than 650 editors from 125 AICE member companies. The AICE maintains chapters in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York and San Francisco. A blue-ribbon panel of judges—consisting of top editors, directors, agency creatives and producers—will then vote on the winners in the 11 categories.
As it was in ’02, the AICE Awards will also be paired with the AICE Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which honors an editor for lifetime achievement. This year’s Hall of Fame inductee will likely come from the Chicago editing community.
The Hall of Fame honor was launched in ’94 and held annually until ’01, when the AICE decided to give it a one-year hiatus in order to focus on establishing the AICE Awards competition. The Hall of Fame induction then returned in ’02 (the honoree being editor Jacques Dury) and will continue to be coupled with the annual awards gala.
The Chicago soiree will be emceed by members of the Second City comedy/improvisational troupe, which will bring this year’s show theme of "Editors Unveiled"—bringing cutters from their low profile to the limelight—to life. AICE Chicago chapter president Tom Duff chairs the ’04 event. Duff is president of Optimus, Chicago.
This year’s awards and Hall of Fame gala is expected to draw some 500 attendees from the editorial and advertising communities. While in Chicago, AICE officials will convene for their semiannual AICE board meeting. That session is scheduled for May 12.
