By Robert Goldrich

Jesse Coulter, co-chief creative officer of CAA Marketing, a division of entertainment and sports firm Creative Artists Agency (CAA), was recently named president of the 2015 London International Awards (LIA) Branded Entertainment Jury. Last year, he was a member of the same jury during its inaugural year.

LIA founder Barbara Levy said of Coulter, “With a strong background in creating award-winning entertainment-driven advertising, he seemed a natural choice to chair the Branded Entertainment category.”

Coulter has had a hand in work that has garnered major advertising and entertainment awards, including two Grand LIAs, five Cannes Lions Grand Prix honors, two Emmys and an Annie–the lion’s share bestowed on such CAA Marketing shorts as Back to the Start and Scarecrow for Chipotle.

Coulter was raised in Portland, Ore., describing himself as “a kid who grew up on Nike commercials.” He cited a high school newspaper article in which he said his dream was to work at Wieden+Kennedy. His attraction to advertising wasn’t to merely make commercials but to create work that would reflect and influence pop culture as the Nike fare he admired had done.

He eventually wound up at W+K’s NY office as a creative, and later at his current roost, CAA Marketing. “The narrative hasn’t changed," observed Coulter. "I’m still that kid on the couch watching Nike commercials, but now I’m trying to figure out what people might like, what they find inspiring–and what’s right for a brand.”

The LIA’s Branded Entertainment Awards recognize creativity and the power of the idea across films, TV programming, live events, audio, gaming and music videos that engage consumers by entertaining them, rather than through traditional advertising. LIA defines Branded Entertainment as an entertainment-based vehicle that is funded by and complementary to a brand’s marketing strategy.

The LIA entry system is now accepting submissions. LIA judging is scheduled for Oct. 1-10. Shortlists will be announced as each category judging session concludes. Winners will be revealed and honored on November 2, 2015

SHOOT connected earlier this week with Coulter who shared his experience in year one as a judge and what he hopes to accomplish as jury president in year two. Here’s an edited rundown of our questions and his responses.

SHOOT: What did you learn from your experience last year as a member of the inaugural LIA Branded Entertainment Jury? How did that experience inform your work at CAA Marketing?

Coulter: You see great work, great craft, interesting stuff. It makes you want to push yourself to be better and to do better. In the entertainment world it’s not just about what the story is but what the distribution is, what gives a project a little something more to break through. There is so much work out there in the world, so many projects. Judging gives you the opportunity to see how a particular piece of work was able to break through. You do what I call the “pop culture math.” What equation makes the work resonate with people and become part of pop culture.

The first year we were trying to define the category. What’s content vs. entertainment, content vs. advertising? You try to simplify it, break it down by form and format. There was a lot of discussion about the category itself as we were looking and evaluating all the work. That discussion will continue. Even the definition that the LIA has [as “an entertainment-based vehicle that is funded by and complementary to a brand’s marketing strategy”] is still subjective. It’s exciting to be able to define a category. For me, this is the future. It’s the most exciting category.

SHOOT: How do you see the category evolving?

Coulter: The category is still so young. So far we’re seeing a lot of documentaries, short documentary work, very little scripted content, very little gaming. Scripted long-form series are very difficult to create and sell. A good scripted series is the holy grail. Music too has been surprisingly light. There’s not a lot of original music. It would be exciting to see more of that.

I think a lot will evolve. The creative community in Hollywood is more open than ever to working with brands–especially if it’s the right fit for the brand and you’re doing something interesting, not so product-driven but driven by the brand and the brand’s values. It’s all maturing and there’s no real reason that brands and agencies can’t do more work in entertainment. There’s no lack of desire. But it’s a difficult category in which to produce great work.

SHOOT: What are you looking to accomplish as president of the LIA Branded Entertainment Jury?

Coulter: We’re looking for work that is not only entertaining but that also helps to move the brand along, something that is right for the brand, entertainment that only this brand could have created. A brand loosely attaching itself to entertainment is not enough. It’s got to be great work that fits the category and is an important part of the brand’s marketing mix.

One thing that’s been a challenge is the way the work is evaluated within the juries I’ve sat on in the past in different competitions. With a two-hour documentary or a TV series, you need to spend enough time to evaluate the work. Case studies are one thing. But you can’t award something–or dismiss something–based on a case study. One thing I want to do is have a movie night, to look at a bunch of work we think is interesting–to watch the films and play the games so that people have a hands-on understanding of what they’re judging. This doesn’t always happen because you run out of time and there are short attention spans. That’s why it’s important to find people who enjoy the process so we can push the category forward.

I want to build on what we did last year when Jimmy [Smith, chairman/CEO, chief creative officer of Amusement Park Entertainment] was jury president. He ran a great room.

MySHOOT Profiles