The seventh annual Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE) Awards Show, set for May 21 at Gotham Hall–a midtown Manhattan venue that’s a work of art unto itself–will fittingly be an event that’s all about works of art and craftsmanship: the competition’s nominated spots and music videos. The latter discipline is being recognized for the first time by the AICE Awards with the establishment of a music clips category.
Each of the three nominated finalist videos has been cut down to 90 seconds for screening during the AICE Awards event. The other 54 nominated commercials will be shown in their entirety.
“It’s all about the work,” relates Burke Moody, executive director of the AICE. “The work says it all.”
“There’s no glitzy emcee, just an elegant cocktail hour and dinner–and a chance to see the industry’s best crafted spots and videos from an editorial perspective,” says AICE Awards Show chairman Bob Cagliero who is also president of AICE’s New York chapter, a VP for AICE International, and executive producer of 89 Editorial.
The nominated work spans 11 prime categories: Comedy; Dialogue; Local Spot; Montage; Music/Sound; Music Video; National Campaign; Public Service; Spec Spot; Storytelling; and Visual Effects.
Additionally, for the third consecutive year the AICE competition will encompass awards for the best work from individual AICE chapters (Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Toronto). The Best of Chapter honors help gain recognition for worthwhile commercials that might otherwise slip below the proverbial radar. It’s part of an inclusiveness initiative to extend the award show’s reach well beyond what are often high-profile, bigger ticket spots to begin with.
Meaningful dialogue For the second straight year, judging panels viewed, discussed and assessed the work. The 22 panels consisted of a mix of editors, agency creatives and production people from across the U.S. and Canada. Two panels judged each category, determining the top three finalists in each category–and ultimately the highest scoring entry will win the category award statuette.
Prior to the committee system, the first stage of judging had AICE member editors being given the opportunity to vote. They would pare a large field of entries down to 10 finalists per category. The finalists were then judged by a blue-ribbon panel.
But with more than 600 editors in AICE’s chapters, the old judging process was cumbersome. And given the seemingly always demanding schedules of editors, many didn’t even vote.
“It was a much more passive process than what we have in place now,” observes Cagliero. “What we have now are judges discussing every piece of work, agreeing, disagreeing and coming to fair assessments. There’s discussion around the table about what the editorial contribution was in a certain spot.
“And,” notes Cagliero, “bringing in agency creatives, production house producers and directors into that discussion with editors provides a more well-rounded judging of all the entries.”
The prime pitfall, though, to guard against in this process, says Moody, is the natural tendency of agency and production house folk to look at concepts, the creative, the direction and the cinematography, even the popularity of a commercial–not so much the editorial contribution.
“That’s why we put judging session leaders in place to emphasize what the focus needs to be for these awards,” notes Moody. “This means that careful attention is paid to such elements as the way images are put together, the pacing, the arc of the story, the way the sound and music are incorporated, how graphics are used. These contributions are made by editors at the very end of the process and they have a major bearing on the final work and whether it will successfully connect with viewers.”
Magic theme The AICE Awards ceremony comes to New York for the third time per the rotation system of different chapters hosting the event from one year to the next. The theme for this Big Apple engagement is “Editors Magic.” It builds upon last year’s theme, “Editors Transform,” when the awards show was held in Chicago. The ’07 motif included pieces of origami, reflecting the transformation of a plain sheet of paper into a moving, charismatic work of art–much like editors take dailies and transform them into a beautiful final work.
“We’ve now extended that ‘Editors Transform’ theme to ‘Editors Magic’ in that what editors do in an edit room to material given to them appears to be magical, creating something much greater than what they started out with. It’s an artistic achievement, a combination of art and the sensibilities of marketing communication,” says Moody. “Again it puts the focus squarely on the many contributions of the editor.”
In that spirit, the New York ceremony will be highlighted by three strolling magicians who will be “working the room,” performing various feats of close-up magic for attendees.
Hall of Fame Also in the magical spirit, the AICE will honor legendary editor Billy Williams by inducting him into its Hall of Fame. Williams started the venerable Billy Williams Enterprises in New York (which is now Moondog Edit), cutting groundbreaking spots over the years. His body of work reflects how an editor can be a true artist.
Williams will join a select list of AICE Hall of Fame inductees who are artists in their own right and who helped to shape the industry, influencing and mentoring many others along the way.
Over the years, those select individuals inducted into the AICE Hall of Fame have been such luminaries as Jerry Bender, Edna Paul, Howie Weisbrot, John Quinn, Dennis Hayes, Bea Conetta, David Dee, Jeff Dell, Jacques Dury, Bob Blanford, Tony Izzo, Jimmy Smyth, Arthur Williams, Roger Roth, Lee Lipner and Bob Sinise.
Reflecting on his career, Williams notes, “I started in the business in 1964 when I was 17 years old. I left the editing business in 2004. What a great time I had in those 40 years in-between. My editing career took me all over the world, editing in countries like Japan, Italy, Guatemala, and also on location in cities like Bakersfield, Calgary and Miami–luckily, always working with top directors the likes of Penny Marshall, Francis Ford Coppola, Bob Giraldi and Leslie Dektor to name just a few.
“I owned my own company for over 25 years,” continues Williams, “and worked on the earliest music videos like ‘Love is a Battlefield’ with Pat Benatar, ‘Hello’ with Lionel Ritchie and many, many more. Humbly said, I have won the awards that are given for editing, but the best memories that I have about the editing biz are those of the people that I have worked with: legends like Howie Weisbrot, David Dee, and the greatest editor, Hank Corwin.”
For both the AICE Awards competition and the Hall of Fame induction, affirms Moody, the bottom line is to recognize the achievements of editors and their invaluable artistic and creative contributions to successful commercialmaking and brand building.
