Nisha Ganatra of Chelsea Pictures topped the directorial rankings in the global Lions Creativity Report, which benchmarks creative success across the industry. The rankings are compiled using data from Cannes Lion-winning and shortlisted work across the 2020 and 2021 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
Ganatra’s strong showing came on the basis of “#wombstories” which she directed for feminine hygiene brand Bodyform (Libresse outside the U.K.) from AMV BBDO, London.
Ranked second among directors was Markus Ahlm of Colony, recognized for Burger King’s “The Moldy Whopper” out of agency DAVID. Taking third place was the directorial team Similar But Different (Charlotte Fassler, Dani Girdwood) for Diesel’s “Enjoy Before Returning” out of Publicis Italy.
The global rankings within the Lions Creativity Report record the performance of the world’s most creative companies, people, and regions.
The official rankings were revealed at Lions Decoded, a one-day broadcast designed for international Lions Members to learn and be inspired. Tuning in from across the globe, Decoded audiences saw 11 multi-Lion-winning ideas deconstructed and brought to life.
The LIONS Creativity Report is available to all Lions Members and an expanded version is available to subscribers of Lions’ insights and intelligence platform The Work.
Simon Cook, managing director, Lions, commented, “Alongside the definitive rankings, the Lions Creativity Report contains actionable insights that can support the creative community to learn from the global talent behind the world’s highest ranking creative work. The report spotlights the companies and people producing game-changing work and sets the benchmark for the future of creativity.”
The official rankings are announced as follows. Full rankings are found within the report:
Creative Location Rankings:
1. USA
2. United Kingdom
3. Brazil
Creative City Rankings:
1. New York
2. London
3. São Paulo
Creative People of the Festival Rankings:
Director of the Festival:
1. Nisha Ganatra, CHELSEA PICTURES, New York, USA
2. Markus Ahlm, COLONY, Stockholm, Sweden
3. Similar But Different (Charlotte Fassler / Dani Girdwood), SMUGGLER, London, United Kingdom
Creative Director of the Festival:
1. Jean Zamprogno / Fernando Pellizzaro, DAVID, Miami, USA
2. Niels Sienaert / Tim Schoenmaeckers, FCB CHICAGO, Chicago, USA
3. Jim Hilson / Toby Allen, AMV BBDO, London, United Kingdom
Art Director of the Festival:
1. Felipe Antonioli, DAVID, Madrid, Spain
2. Andy Tamayo, DAVID, Miami, USA
3. Dwight Williams / Mateus Cerqueira, FCB CHICAGO, Chicago, USA
Copywriter of the Festival:
1. Luis Giraldo, DAVID, Madrid, Spain
2. Alexander Allen, DAVID, Miami, USA
3. Jared Schermer, DAVID, Miami, USA
Regional Network of the Festival – Asia Pacific:
1. DENTSU
2. OGILVY
3. DDB WORLDWIDE
Regional Network of the Festival – EMEA:
1. PUBLICIS WORLDWIDE
2. BBDO WORLDWIDE
3. OGILVY
Regional Network of the Festival – Latin America:
1. DDB WORLDWIDE
2. AKQA
3. OGILVY
Regional Network of the Festival – North America:
1. FCB
2. OGILVY
3. McCANN WORLDGROUP
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More