AICP Week is set to kick off with a new venue for its series of Base Camp seminars and a new schedule for the premieres of its suite of AICP Awards competitions: The AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the Commercial, the AICP Next Awards and the AICP Post Awards.
Base Camp events will take place at Ease, the conference and event space around the corner from The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), while the awards show premieres will take place during the day at MoMA. At the gala presentation that caps AICP Week events at MoMA, AICP’s 32nd such celebration, the Best of Show winners for each AICP competition will be revealed and a special tribute to all winning work will be screened.
Highlights include the opening day session at Base Camp on June 6, which will focus on business affairs. This full-day event will feature panels and discussions examining the most compelling legal issues facing our industry and emerging business affairs issues related to technology. It includes the always-popular “Lawyers on the Clock” session, as well as presentations on postproduction, green production, working with AI and issues surrounding equity and inclusion. This day of programming is both included with AICP Week All Access passes and available as an a la carte option.
Two sessions on this day will address the growing impact of AI. In the session titled “Legal Perspective: What the Advertising Business Needs to Know About Artificial Intelligence (AI),” attorney Hannah E. Taylor, partner and co-chair of the Blockchain Technology and Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Groups at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC, will discuss how brands and those working on their behalf are using generative AI tools, addressing the ownership and authorship issues, what AI means for common advertising agreement provisions and other key concerns.
Additionally, there will be a case study presentation from Anomaly, in which Jason DeLand, founding partner, and Shannon Green, global general counsel, will recap the making of its 2022 ‘LyricAlly’ music video for client Ally, which was one of very first uses of Stability AI’s DreamStudio API. DeLand and Green will discuss the unique business and legal context of “early days” agency production using generative AI tools and share lessons learned and guiding principles to optimize generative AI into the future.
Wednesday, June 7, will be devoted to creative inspiration, as the world premieres of the AICP Show and the AICP Next Awards take place at MoMA. The Next Awards screening will include a panel discussion featuring the creators of the Most Next Award (Best of Show). Meanwhile, the most creative minds in the industry will take the stage at Ease for the popular “Curators in Conversation” session, during which curators from each AICP competition sit down for short (seven minutes), highly focused conversations with people who inspire them.
Also on tap for Wednesday is a discussion on growing and nurturing directors’ careers. In the session titled “The Directors Perspective: Growing a Career,” moderated by David Kolbusz, chief creative officer of Orchard, directors DAPS of Anonymous Content and Radha Ganti of Somesuch’s directorial duo King She will share insights into their careers, achievements and creative processes.
AICP Week concludes on Thursday with a lineup of events designed to showcase excellence and recognize those whose work has risen above the rest. The AICP Post Awards will premiere at the The Museum of Modern Art, following the presentation of the AICP Post Impact Award. This year, that honor goes to editor Hank Corwin, founder of the post boutique Lost Planet, in recognition of a career of creative achievement in both commercials and feature films, as well setting standards for quality and dedication that have been felt throughout the postproduction industry.
That evening, “A Tribute to 2023 Excellence” takes place at MoMA, as the AICP Awards Show Chairs–Sally Campbell of Somesuch, chair of the AICP Show; Jen Dean of Cut+Run, chair of the AICP Post Awards; and Greg Hahn of Mischief, judging chair of the AICP Next Awards–unveil the work honored as the “Best in Show” in their respective competitions in addition to paying tribute to the full collection of winners. The premiere is followed by a gala reception that will take place throughout the Museum and Sculpture Garden.
The full schedule of AICP Week events can be found here. Registration for AICP Week can be obtained here.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More