By Carolyn Giardina
The Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show and Lecture Series (6/8-9) at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York remains one of the industry’s hottest attractions. Tickets to the June 9 premiere screenings of the 8th annual AICP Show: The Art and Technique of the American Television Commercial sold out one week after they officially went on sale. The AICP Show is a black-tie gala that encompasses the screenings as well as a cocktail reception and buffet in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden and the museum’s restaurant, Sette MoMA.
"I’m really proud of the work [in the AICP Show] and what it represents in each category," said Carol Case, ’99 chairwoman of the AICP Show & Lecture Series, and partner in bicoastal Original Film and sister shop Holiday.
In a departure from prior years, the committee that reviewed the final show was made up not just of representatives from AICP, but also a cross-section from the agency, editorial and commercial music communities. Committee members included Young & Rubicam’s Ted Bell; Berlin, Cameron & Partners’ Andy Berlin; Wieden & Kennedy’s Stacy Wall; and BBDO New York’s Regina Ebel. Other participants included directors Mark Pellington of Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago, and Bob Giraldi of bicoastal Giraldi Suarez Productions. In past years, the committee was comprised of the AICP board of governors. Case was pleased with this year’s combined effort in the judging.
AICP Show tickets include admittance to the two-day lecture series. As previously reported (SHOOT, 5/14, p. 7) scheduled speakers include: filmmaker/actor/writer/director Spike Lee of Brooklyn-based Forty Acres And A Mule Filmworks and New York agency Spike/ DDB; Hollywood agent Jeffrey Berg of International Creative Management (ICM); John Hegarty, chairman/creative director of London-, Singapore- and New York-based agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) and commercial director Pellington.
Additionally, Scott Ross, CEO/president of Venice, Calif.-based Digital Domain, has signed on as moderator for the lecture series. Founded in 1993, Digital Domain has created visual effects for such films as True Lies, Interview with the Vampire, Apollo 13, and Titanic, as well as commercials including such past AICP Show honorees as Isuzu’s "Giant," directed by Bruce Dowad of Hollywood-based Bruce Dowad Associates via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
Case commented that the series theme, "Creative Convergence," explores the convergence of entertainment and advertising, making Ross the "perfect moderator."
"We are right in the middle of [this convergence]," she noted. "Commercial directors are doing movies. We are very much part of the [film] community."
AICP president Matt Miller agreed. "Scott is intimately involved with this business and the feature world. His experience with taking talent-directors, producers, whoever-from one field and applying them to another is what has made his company so successful and is the thrust of creative convergence," said Miller. "His insights into these industries will add a lot to the discussions."
World Tour
Miller noted that The AICP Show tour following the premiere "keeps building momentum every year." At press time, the AICP Show tour had a host of dates scheduled in the U.S. and abroad. Additional dates are also being planned.
With the premiere selling out the last few years, Miller commented, "the tour is becoming more and more important." He noted that last year the L.A. event was almost as large as New York’s, which draws roughly 1,500. Miller added that over 1,000 attended last year’s Prague screening.
"It’s unbelievable," he enthused. "This show has just become an institution in only eight years. This is the event people measure the work by."
The AICP Show tour dates set thus far are: July 19, Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis; Sept. 9, High Museum of Modern Art, Atlanta; Sept. 29, SFMoMA, San Francisco; Nov. 14, Lakewood Theater, Dallas; and Nov. 18, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago. The AICP Show will also visit Los Angeles, St Louis, Miami and Hawaii. Dates for those locales had not been finialized at press time.
Abroad, The AICP Show will be screened in Prague on Dec. 9 and Moscow on April 8, 2000. Arrangements are in the works for dates in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Warsaw, among other prospective cities.
Oscar-Nominated Director Sean Wang Joins Park Pictures For Spots, Branded Content
Park Pictures has added director Sean Wang to its roster of talent for representation spanning commercials and branded content. His feature-length debut, Dìdi, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by Focus Features and released later that summer to critical acclaim.
Wang is a Taiwanese-American filmmaker hailing from Fremont, Calif., and currently based in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Park Pictures, he was repped by Even/Odd Studios. Often pulling from his lived experiences, Wang can turn hyper-specific story points into universally relatable, memorable moments.
Dìdi won the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Film Festival. His documentary short Nai Nai & Wài Pó premiered at SXSW 2023, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, later earning an Oscar nomination. The film following Wang’s two grandmothers is currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Other films from Wang include the lauded documentary shorts 3,000 Miles, H.A.G.S., and Still Here. As a Google Creative Lab 5 Alumnus, Wang has directed several commercial campaigns for Google that highlighted live captions and teased large news from the tech conglomerate, including an ad that aired during the 2017 Emmy Awards.
Wang said of Park Pictures, “I can’t think of a better artistic home for me as a director. The work that comes out of Park Pictures is incredible, and I admire the work they do in advertising and the documentary and narrative space. Everyone I’ve met there is just as obsessed with making great films as I am, and I look forward to growing my career with them as I move into the commercial space.”
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