Their Animated Short "Taking the Plunge"Â garners coveted Black Cube
For the first time in ADC Annual Awards history–which spans some 95 years–the top honor, the ADC Black Cube signifying Best in Show, went to a group of students. The young coterie of talent consists of Thadaeus Andreades, Marie Raoult, Nicholas Manfredi and Elizabeth Ku-Herrero, students from the School of Visual Arts Computer Art, Animation and Visual Effects curriculum. Under thesis advisor Joe Burrascano, these students created Taking the Plunge, an animated short about a marriage proposal gone wrong. And the Plunge in turn took the Black Cube.
”Taking the Plunge presents a confluence of extraordinary skill, thoughtfulness, story, heart and dedication brought to life at the very beginning of some young careers,” said Rama Allen, executive creative director, The Mill, who served as chair of the ADC 95th Annual Awards Motion jury. “We would have applauded the remarkable craftsmanship of this piece regardless of how much experience lay behind it, but we felt the rare early talent we saw deserved to be recognized with a commensurate honor. We congratulate the SVA team for some damn good filmmaking that made us laugh, exclaim and even feel a little bit jealous.”
Based on ADC Awards across all categories, other top ADC honors this year included: Leo Burnett Worldwide earning Network of the Year distinction; BBDO New York being named Ad Agency of the Year; R/GA, NY taking the Digital Agency of the Year mantle; Dentsu, Tokyo, being designated Design Agency of the Year; Australia’s Goodoil Films being tabbed Production Company of the Year; Loterias Y Apuestas Del Estado, Madrid, Spain, being selected Client of the Year; and of course given the Black Cube result, the School of Visual Arts, NY, being School of the Year.
Additional notable winners included Leo Burnett Madrid, Leo Burnett Melbourne, The Martin Agency and Venables Bell & Partners with two Golds each, and Goodby Silverstein & Partners with six ADC Cubes, including one Gold. This year’s ADC 95th Annual Awards winners represent 25 countries, reflecting the program’s global reach.
For a full rundown of the ADC 95th Annual Awards winners, click here.
Juliette Welfling Takes On A Musical, A Crime Thriller, Comedy and Drama In “Emelia Pérez”
Editor Juliette Welfling has a track record of close-knit, heartfelt collaboration with writer-director Jacques Audiard, a four-time BAFTA Award nominee for Best Film not in the English Language--starting with The Beat That My Heart Skipped in 2006, then A Prophet in 2010, Rust and Bone in 2013, and Dheepan in 2017. He won for The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet.
Welfling cut three of those features: A Prophet, Rust and Bone, and Dheepan. And that shared filmography has since grown to most recently include Emelia Pérez, the Oscar buzz-worthy film from Netflix. Welfling herself is not stranger to Academy Award banter. In fact, she earned a Best Achievement in Film Editing Oscar nomination in 2008 for director Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Emelia Pérez is a hybrid musical/drama/thriller which introduces us to a talented but undervalued lawyer named Rita (portrayed by Zoe Saldana) who receives a lucrative offer out of the blue from a feared drug cartel boss who’s looking to retire from his sordid business and disappear forever by becoming the woman he’s always dreamt of being (Karla SofÃa Gascón in a dual role as Manitas Del Monte/Emilia Pérez). Rita helps pull this off, orchestrating the faked death of Del Monte who leaves behind a widow (Jessi, played by Selena Gomez) and kids. While living comfortably and contently in her/their new identity, Pérez misses the children. Pérez once again enlists Rita--this time to return to family life, reuniting with the kids by pretending to be their aunt, the sister of Del Monte. Now as an aunt, Pérez winds up adopting a more altruistic bent professionally,... Read More