Chipotle’s “Back To The Start” has been strong to the finish of the awards season, punctuated this evening by the exclamation point of two Grand Prix honors–for Film and in the inaugural Branded Content & Entertainment category–at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
Directed by Johnny Kelly of Nexus Productions, London, for Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, “Back To The Start” has won assorted honors this season, including a Best in Show Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial at the AICP Show, Best in Show at the One Show Entertainment Awards, best distinction with the GRANDY at the Andy Awards, and a Grand Clio.
“Back To The Start” centers on a misguided farmer who slowly turns his family far into an industrial animal factory before seeing the errors of his ways and opting for a more sustainable future. The beautifully executed stop motion animation is all contained in one long panning “shot.”
Meanwhile also scoring big tonight was R/GA with the Titanium Grand Prix for “Nike+Fuelband,” which earlier in the week earned the Cyber Grand Prix (SHOOTonline, 6/20).
Taking the Film Craft Grand Prix this evening was BETC Paris for its Canal+ promo “Bear” directed by Matthijs Van Heijningen of production house Soixante Quinze. The spot thrusts us into a medieval fight scene which soon centers on a female wrror who is besting her male counterparts. Just as she impales her foe with a spear, we hear the director say, “Cut.” We then meet the director, who is a bear, quite loquacious about the craft of filmmaking as we see him relate to his actors, give instructions regarding VFX and pyrotechnics, go on the obligatory tirade, and offer feedback on the art of directing to a film critic/interviewer.
It’s during this interview that we find out how he became a director. He used to be a bear rug laid out on the floor in front of a TV set, watching a lot of great movies on Canal+ and thought to himself one day, “why not me?”
While no Integrated Grand Prix was awarded, the Titanium & Integrated jury did bestow the Grand Prix for Good upon Droga5, New York, for Help Remedies’ “Help I Want To Save A Life.”
Palme d’Or, other honors
MJZ won the coveted Palme d’Or as the most awarded production company.
Finishing second was Rattling Stick, followed by Biscuit Filmworks, and then Caviar, with Smuggler rounding out the top five in the production house derby.
Smuggler was last year’s Palme d’Or winner.
As for the agency award tally, Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Oregon earned Advertising Agency of the Year distinction, finishing ahead of BBH London in second place and Ogilvy Brasil in third.
Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, also won the Independent Agency of the Year honor. Runners up were Serviceplan Munich in second place and Jung von Matt Hamburg in third.
Wieden+Kennedy’s performance went beyond the honors for Independent Agency and Advertising Agency of the Year. The shop’s co-founder Dan Wieden was honored and presented with the Lion of St. Mark trophy, awarded in celebration and recognition of an individual’s long and outstanding contribution to creativity in communication.
Continuing our rundown of annual honors at Cannes, Ogilvy & Mather was named Network of the Year. Second place went to BBDO and third to DDB.
Holding Company of the Year was WPP, followed by Omincom in second place and Publicis Groupe in third.
And taking the Advertiser of the Year trophy was Mars Incorporated.
In a record breaking year, the International Festival of Creativity drew some 11,000 attendees from 90-plus countries. Close to 25 percent of the industry turnout was from the client sector. For a full rundown of this year’s winners at Cannes, click here.
