For the third consecutive year, bicoastal/international production house MJZ topped the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, this time scoring a grand total of 16 honors. Directors Nicolai Fuglsig and Rupert Sanders led the charge for MJZ at the 17th annual competition.
Work directed by Fuglsig scored six Show honors as did spots directed by Sanders. Fuglsig and Sanders each had a share in the Advertising Excellence/Campaign category honor for the Monster.com spots “Legs” and “Daybreak,” respectively. The third commercial in that campaign is Monster.com’s “Stork” which was directed by Daniel Kleinman of Rattling Stick, London (who’s repped stateside by bicoastal Epoch Films). The Monster campaign came out of BBDO New York.
The AICP Show distinction continues a stellar awards season for Fuglsig who earlier this year won the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award as best commercial director of 2007. Boding well for him relative to next year’s DGA Award competition is the fact that five of his aforementioned six AICP Show honors were for work that debuted in ’08: Coca-Cola’s “It’s Mine” for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., and Monster’s “Daybreak.”
“It’s Mine” was honored in the Production, Animation and Visual Effects categories (with The Mill, New York serving as the effects studio). “Daybreak” scored not only in the coveted Advertising Excellence/Campaign category but also for Original Music (done by Cherry-Tate Music Productions, New York).
JC Penney’s “It’s Magic” for Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, garnered the sixth honor in the Visual Style category; it was one of the spots that helped Fuglsig earn the DGA Award.
Sanders’ AICP Show-honored work was: Microsoft Xbox’s “Diorama” for McCann Worldgroup and T.A.G., both in San Francisco; and Monster’s “Legs.” The latter nabbed Show honors in not only the aforementioned Campaign category but also for Visual Style and Visual Effects (Mass Market, New York, was the effects studio).
Meanwhile “Diorama” topped the categories for Production Design (James Chinlund, Matthew Gratzner), Agency Art Direction (Nate Abel and Tim Stier) and the coveted Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial.
This too continues a breakout awards season for “Diorama” as well as McCann and T.A.G. The overall Xbox campaign–for which “Diorama” was a centerpiece–has already this year garnered Best of Show accolades at The One Show and the International ANDY (the GRANDY Award) competition. Also at the ANDY Awards, the campaign picked up the Big Idea Chair kudo.
Meanwhile other MJZ directors getting into the AICP Show act were: Dante Ariola, Fredrik Bond, Tom Kuntz and Rocky Morton. The Kuntz-directed “Touch” for Skittles candy and agency TBWAChiatDay, New York, was honored in both the Copywriting (Eric Kallman) and Performance/Dialogue categories.
Also scoring in Performance/Dialogue was JCPenney’s “Aviator” directed by Bond for Saatchi & Saatchi New York.
The Ariola-helmed “Drowned Circus” for Farmers Insurance and Campbell-Ewald, Los Angeles, earned AICP Show distinction in the Production category. And the Morton-directed GE Corporate Jet Engines commercial “Duet/Jet Engine” for BBDO New York was honored in the Musical Arrangement category (David Horowitz Music Associates, a.k.a. DHMA, New York).
Gorgeous Showing
London-based Gorgeous Enterprises was next in the production house countdown with four honors all directed by Frank Budgen: Monster.com’s “Slots,” which gained recognition in the Visual Effects (A52, Santa Monica) and Cinematography (Budgen and John Mathieson) categories; Sony Bravia’s “Playdoh” from Fallon London, which topped the Advertising Excellence/International category; and Live Earth’s “S.O.S. Save Our Selves” for Young & Rubicam, Chicago, which was honored in the Original Music category (music from bicoastal shop Human).
The latter was co-produced by Gorgeous and bicoastal Anonymous Content (which reps Gorgeous directors, including Budgen, in the U.S.). Anonymous Content garnered three AICP Show honors, the other two being: Peace on the Streets’ “Kill The Gun” PSA directed by Malcolm Venville for Abbot Mead Vickers BBDO, London, which took the Public Service category; and Jordan Brand Air “Takeover” helmed by Mark Romanek for Wieden+Kennedy, New York, which was honored in the Editorial category (editor Robert Duffy of bicoastal house Spot Welders).
Also copping three honors was bicoastal Smuggler, with the Happy-directed Mini International’s “Pinball” for Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, San Francisco, scoring in the Production Design category (Ondrej Nekvasil), the Randy Krallman-directed “Bus Station” for Starburst and TBWAChiatDay, New York, in the Performance/Dialogue category, and the Henry-Alex Rubin-helmed “Whopper Freakout” for Burger King and Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami, and Boulder, Colo., in the Advertising Excellence/Next category.
Two-timers Several production houses copped two honors apiece: bicoastal/international RSA Films and @radical.media, London-based Rattling Stick, Paranoid on both sides of the Atlantic, Hollywood-based The Directors Bureau, and bicoastal Superfad.
RSA’s honorees came in the Advertising Excellence/Next category for HBO’s “Voyeur” directed by Jake Scott out of BBDO New York (a joint RSA/Big Spaceship production); and in the Copywriting category (BBDO’s Colin Nissan) for HBO’s “Surprise” directed by noted feature filmmaker Sam Mendes.
Rattling Stick’s two honors were: the Kleinman-directed Jordan Brand Melo M4 Sneaker commercial “Engine” for Wieden+Kennedy, New York, which was recognized in the Sound Design category (Human); and the aforementioned Monster’s “Stork” which was one of three commercials collectively earning the Campaign Excellence kudo.
@Radical.media’s pair of honors came for the Steve Miller-directed “Most Interesting Man” for Heineken Dos Equis and Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York, which earned distinction in Agency Art Direction (Karl Lieberman); and for the Rosey-helmed Hershey’s Pay Day “Time Machine” in the Spec Spot category.
The Directors Bureau copped a couple–the Patrick Daughters-helmed “Ballad of Tina Pink” for Microsoft Zune and T.A.G., San Francisco, which earned a Production Design honor (K.K. Barrett); the Mike Mills-directed Saturn spot “Numbers” for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, which scored in the Editorial category (Angus Wall, Rock Paper Scissors, Santa Monica).
Paranoid, Paris, was honored in the Advertising Excellence/International category for Epuron/German Ministry for the Environment’s “Power of Wind” directed by The Vikings for Hamburg agency Nordpol+ while Paranoid U.S. gained recognition in the Animation category for the Olivier Gondry-directed Beringer Vineyard’s “Vineyard” out of Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco.
And Superfad’s pair came in the Graphic Design category–for director/graphic designers Will Johnson and William Campbell on the strength of Target’s “Art Connects” from agency Catalyst; and for director/art director Kevin Lau on Sony PlayStation’s “Universe of Entertainment” via TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles.
Solo shots Rounding out the field of production companies were several that scored single honors: bicoastal/international Epoch Films; bicoastal/international HSI Productions; bicoastal/international Hungry Man; bicoastal/international Moxie Pictures; Park Pictures, New York; bicoastal/international Partizan; Passion Pictures, London; a joint Psyop/Stink effort; Panda Panther, New York; Outsider U.S. in Santa Monica; bicoastal Furlined; The Joneses, bicoastal; Uber Content, Hollywood; Benzo-matic Photographic, Los Angeles; and Dab Hand Media, London.
The latter scored in the Humor category for the Calle Astrand-directed Tide-to-Go “Interview” commercial for Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.
Also recognized in Humor was Hungry Man for the David Shane-directed Bud Light ad “Swear Jar” out of DDB Chicago.
Partizan landed a Visual Style honor for Motorola RAZR2’s “Experience” directed by Michel Gondry for agency Cutwater, San Francisco.
Park Pictures’ director/DP Joaquin Baca-Asay registered in the Cinematography category for the Nike commercial “How I Fight.” Agency was Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam.
Panda Panther’s Animation honor was earned on the basis of Microsoft Zune/Zune Arts’ “Masks” directed by Jonathan Garin and Naomi Nishimura for ad agency 72andSunny in El Segundo, Calif.
Psyop, New York, and Stink, London, teamed on a Graphic Design-honored piece “Dot” for Guinness AI, directed by Eben Mears for Dublin agency IIBBDO.
Epoch’s honoree came in the Original Music (composer Dave Winer, sound designer Gus Koven of Venice-based stimmung) category for Gatorade’s “Thief” directed by Stacy Wall for Element 79 Partners, Chicago.
Outsider’s score came in Sound Design (Human) for Audi TT’s “Moments” commercial directed by Jorn Threlfall for Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco.
The Furlined-produced Lifesavers’ “We Are Sweet” was honored for Musical Arrangement (Mat Morse of Spank! Music & Sound Design, Chicago). Outsider’s Ted Pauly directed the job which came out of Energy BBDO, Chicago.
Three individual production house winners came in the Low Budget category: HSI for the Smith Micro Software StuffIt Deluxe :10 titled “Pregnancy” directed by Simon Green for Saatchi & Saatchi, New York; The Jones for Suzuki Automotive’s “Honkin’ Bastard” helmed by Pondu Krek for Dentsu Next; and Benzo-matic Photographic for Ray-Ban Wayfarer’s “Sunglass Catch” directed by Bonzo Theodore for Cutwater in San Francisco.
Uber Content scored in the Spec Spot category for Microsoft Zune’s “Music Is Life” conceived and directed by Stewart Hendler.
Moxie Pictures produced Kohler’s “Existential Dilemma” for GSD&M, Austin, Texas. Directed by Frank Todaro, the :30 was honored for Copywriting (Michael Buss, Mark Peters).
And Passion Pictures saw its adidas “Impossible Is Nothing–Where Sport Meets Art” directed by Sean Thompson and Dean Maryon garner an Advertising Excellence/Next honor. Agency was 180 Amsterdam (180/TBWA).
Rounding out the AICP Show honorees was director/DP Espen Bjorshol Solberg of Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Calif., for Red Bull’s “Synch,” recognized in the Student Commercial category.
The directorial derby saw MJZ’s Fuglsig and Sanders atop the field with six honors apiece, followed by four for Gorgeous’ Budgen and two apiece for MJZ’s Kuntz and Rattling Stick’s Kleinman.
Agencies Leading the way in the advertising agencies’ tally was BBDO New York with a total of nine honors. Next were Saatchi & Saatchi New York, TBWAChiatDay, New York, and McCann Worldgroup San Francisco and T.A.G., San Francisco, with four honors each. Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, garnered three honors, and Cutwater, San Francisco, and Wieden+Kennedy, New York, each scored a pair of honors.
A category-by-category breakdown of 2008 AICP Show honorees (also in this week’s SHOOT e.dition or available on www.shootonline.com or aicp.com) begins on p. 14.
