Cannes Lions has announced the presidents for the Film Craft, Design and Radio categories at this year’s International Festival of Creativity. The jury presidents will come to Cannes to preside over their juries for the 2012 Festival, taking place from June 17-23.
Director Ivan Zacharias of Stink, U.K., and Smuggler in the U.S., will lead this year’s Film Craft Lions Jury. Zacharias’ most notable work includes “Impossible Dream” for Honda, “Born Free” for Land Rover, “Smile” for Volkswagen Beetle, and “Doctor” for Stella Artois. He has also directed Hollywood actors Gael Garcia Bernal for Levi’s out of BBH NY as well as Harvey Keitel and Jude Law in pieces for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Zacharias’ commercials have won more than 100 awards over the years, including seven Gold Lions.
Leading the Design Lions Jury will be Bruce Duckworth, creative director, Turner Duckworth, U.K. After working as a designer at Michael Peters, Minale Tattersfield and Lewis Moberly, Duckworth started the brand design agency Turner Duckworth in 1992 with his friend and fellow designer David Turner. With agencies based in San Francisco and London, Duckworth runs the London office and is jointly responsible for Turner Duckworth’s creative output with Turner. Both studios work collaboratively on all projects, which gives a unique design viewpoint. He has won over 200 design awards including D&AD, DBA Design Effectiveness, Design Week and a Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Coca-Cola. His work has been published in many design books and magazines all over the world and he is an in demand speaker for design and marketing conferences as well as design education.
Rob McLennan, executive creative director, Net#work BBDO, South Africa, will take the helm of the Radio Lions Jury. Winning a multitude of awards over the years, Rob has been responsible for many memorable campaigns including Dulux’s “Any Colour you can Think of”, Axe’s “Get a Girlfriend,” Virgin Atlantic’s “Plain Insanity” and Mercedes-Benzs’ “Accident Avoidance.” Net#work BBDO is one of South Africa’s leading agencies and has won three of South Africa’s six Cannes Lions Grands Prix honors, including two Radio Grands Prix (2009 and 2001), with McLennan amassing an impressive collection of 35 Lions.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More