3) I think the biggest lesson I learned this year was how important communication and relationships are at every stage of the production and post process. We worked with Townhouse and Tool of NA’s Floyd Russ on the Gillette “Nothing Comes Easy” campaign. The work centered around Shaquem Griffin and showed his progression from growing up as a boy with an amputated hand to being drafted into the NFL. It was really important to the whole team that the final spots were both authentic in story and appearance. I believe the initial and ongoing conversations between Floyd, the agency creatives, our editor Stacy Peterson and our VFX team at Jogger really set the shoot, edit, and VFX up for success and gave us room to really explore the story. And how the entire team worked through the process together really paid off with the reception the work has received and the people it has inspired, including the award show judges.
5) Cause marketing has gone from a one-off category at award shows to permeating advertising as a whole. Award winners like Nat Geo’s “Nujeen” and the AICP Next honoree McDonald’s inverted arches for International Woman’s Day both speak to the fact that award show committees are taking notice of work that activates their audience and pushes the conversation forward.
6) Cut+Run’s management team is majority female and we were early supporters of Free The Bid. On a personal note, Cut+Run has a deep tradition of mentorship and I am a direct product of that. Having learned the craft and business of advertising and specifically editing right here as EP, I am now in the position of doing the same – nurturing and guiding the next generation of female editors and producers.
