By Robert Goldrich

Kerstin Emhoff, co-founder/executive producer of PRETTYBIRD, was at press time about to head over to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Cannes comes on the heels of Emhoff serving as chairperson of the 2015 AICP Show. She presided over not only the Show but the entire AICP Week (June 2-4), which also included the AICP Next Awards as well as various educational sessions at the AICP Base Camp.

As Show chair, Emhoff oversaw the AICP Show Committee, which is responsible for promoting and marketing the AICP Show, and facilitating the judging process and selection of judges (the AICP Digital Chapter worked with the AICP Show Committee to select the judges for the Visual Effects, Animation and Design categories). Emhoff was also on the AICP Show’s Board of Governors, which is the final arbiter of the AICP Show, charged with ensuring the quality of the Show and adherence to its rules.

Emhoff brought to the AICP Show chair a track record of creative and entrepreneurial accomplishment. She founded PRETTYBIRD in 2007 with lauded director Paul Hunter. Since its inception, PRETTYBIRD has established itself as a leading content provider and developer not only in advertising and music videos but also in documentaries, live installations, fashion shows, interactive shorts, and now feature films. PRETTYBIRD has offices in Los Angeles and London.

SHOOT caught up with Emhoff who shared her reflections on chairing the AICP Show.

SHOOT: What did you learn from being AICP Show chairperson? What did you personally and professionally take away from the experience?

Emhoff: The overall takeaway for me from the Show was seeing what a strong creative community we are. I was thinking about this as I was getting ready for Cannes. The AICP Show more than any other connects everyone in a way that no other show does–all of our businesses share and feel a bond, from the advertising community to post, music and effects houses, all the production companies. We may be competitors but at the AICP Show the realization sinks in that we are all part of a strong creative community, and different people and businesses make this community stronger through collaboration. People see the work at the Show and they are inspired and excited about where we are today.

When Matt [AICP president and CEO Miller] invited me to be the chair of the Show, I had in mind the theme of inspiration. The Show was an exploration of work that is creatively inspiring, and we saw everyone who came in touch with the Show, who were involved in the process, come away inspired. To see people being inspired made the experience of chairing the Show very gratifying.

SHOOT: What trends or themes did you discover or confirm based on the entries you saw and/or the work which wound up being honored?

Emhoff: Last year was a World Cup year. There was a lot of strong work related to the World Cup. Most of us were talking about it at the show–particularly in the context of it kind of confirming that broadcast television is not dead. Maybe fewer TV spots are being done but there’s still a premium on–and great relevance to–high quality work being made for TV.

At times, we also saw that longer is not necessarily better. Longer pieces can be a challenge and sometimes don’t compare well to a really tight :60 that’s well done and a good idea.

SHOOT: What does your AICP Show experience now enable you to bring back to your colleagues at PRETTYBIRD?

Emhoff: My commitment to chair the show inherently became a PRETTYBIRD commitment. I feel like the whole company was involved in the Show; they had to be in a way. When I took on AICP Show chairperson responsibilities, my company was there to support me. Everyone came together to either contribute or take on company responsibilities to free me to work on the Show. I think we came together as a community within the company and we felt the entire industry as a community as we got more deeply involved in the Show.

SHOOT: What was the most difficult part of chairing the Show, and/or the toughest decision in terms of judging entries and why?

Emhoff: The higher calling is maintaining the integrity of the MoMA [New York Museum of Modern Art] relationship. (Each year all the AICP Show and Next Award-honored work becomes part of the archives of the Department of Film at MoMA. The collection now numbers over 1,700 pieces of advertising in the motion image. For a full rundown of 2015 AICP Show winners, click here.)

MoMA is such a strong component of the Show. This Show is truly an archive of the industry–the best work the industry has made each year. Every judge is very aware of that fact–especially everyone on the Curatorial Committee. At one time or another in judging, the group would be reminded that this is the work that people are going to look back on. If a casting choice wasn’t quite right in an entry, we discussed it. Good wasn’t good enough when you’re talking about being part of an industry time capsule. This made our judging much more difficult than if we were just judging any competition. With the MoMA component, the bar is set so high.
 

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