Unilever/Dove Self-Esteem Fund’s already lauded “Evolution” viral spot added to its trophy collection earlier this week (Nov. 12) at the London International Awards (LIA), in a sense again bridging the gap between traditional and digital media. Created by Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto, and co-directed by Tim Piper of Ogilvy and Yael Staav who at the time was with Reginald Pike, Toronto (she has since joined Soft Citizen, Toronto, and Furlined in the U.S.), “Evolution” earned two LIA Grand Prizes, one for best of show in Television/Cinema, the other in the Digital Media competition.
This dual win mirrored the distinction “Evolution” earned at this year’s Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, namely coveted Grand Prix honors in both the Film and Cyber competitions, marking the first time in that festival’s history that the same execution won in the two categories.
A mega hit on YouTube while also striking a responsive chord among TV audiences, “Evolution” shows us how a woman’s face is digitally manipulated to conform to our society’s unrealistic fashion model-like standard of feminine beauty, a standard which has a negative impact on the self-esteem of women, particularly impressionable girls and adolescents.
The Ogilvy creative ensemble on “Evolution” consisted of chief creative officers Janet Kestin and Nancy Vonk, associate creative director/copywriter/art director/co-director Piper, associate creative director/art director Mike Kirkland, and producer Brenda Surminski. On the viral side, the producers were Surminski, Jennifer Walker and Stephanie Kouverianos.
The DP was Tico Poulakakis. Animation house was Edward Cha Animation, Toronto, with special effects from Soho Post & Graphics, Toronto. Editor was Paul Gowan of Rogue Editing, Toronto.
Another prime LIA Grand honor went to Fallon, London, in the Integrated Media competition for the ambient/digital media/print/radio campaign “Tate Tracks” on behalf of client the Tate Modern Museum. BT Design & Media Studio was the interactive video production company. The Fallon artisans on the project included executive creative director Richard Flintham, and creative director/copywriter/art director Juan Cabral.
TV/Cinema The U.S. scored five Gold LIA honors in TV/cinema, including two for direction in a dialogue commercial: American Express’ “Animals” directed by Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international Hungry Man for Ogilvy & Mather, New York; and Cingular/AT&T’s “Battle” directed by Alison Maclean of Park Pictures, New York, for BBDO New York and Atlanta.
Arnold Boston and Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami, teamed to score public service gold campaign honors with the American Legacy Foundation’s “Singing Cowboy,” “Garbage Cans” and “Melting Moms.” Director was Nicolai Fuglsig of bicoastal/international MJZ.
Copping Gold in public service/social welfare was MTV/Staying Alive Foundation’s “Condom vs. AIDS” directed by the Peter Martin duo of Santa Monica-based harvest for Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.
And Saatchi New York copped Gold in home products and humor for Tide-to-Go Stainpen’s “Interview,” directed by Calle Astrand via Dab Hand Media, New York.
Besides “Evolution” in the corporate and cosmetics/toiletries category, other Gold TV/Cinema Gold winners included: Sony Bravia’s “Paint” in the home entertainment category, from Fallon, London, and directed by Jonathan Glazer of Academy, London; campaign honoree Viagra, consisting of the spots “Chuckwubble (Dog Park)”, “Wombleminki (Diner),” “Flangerati (BBQ)” and Wubbleflapps (Bowling),” directed by Eric Lynne via Radke Films, Toronto, and Partizan, Los Angeles, for agency Taxi, Toronto; public service winner Child Friendly Australia for “Children See, Children Do” directed by Sean Meehan of Soma Films, Sydney for DDB Sydney; office equipment category topper Pilot V Liquid Light’s “History of Light” directed by Joan Gil of Arena Shots, Barcelona for Grey Barcelona; retail services winner Big Yellow Self Storage for “Tide” directed by Dougal Wilson via Blink, London, for CHI & Partners, London; and low budget honoree Samaritans’ “Doodles” out of BBDO London.
In terms of TV/cinema disciplines, taking the direction-visual, new director-broadcast and utilities category, was the helming collective The Vikings of Paranoid Projects, Paris, and Paranoid US., for Epuron/German Ministry for the Environment’s “Power of Wind.” Winning cinematography gold was Anil Mehta who lensed Happydent Teeth Whitening Chewing Gum’s “Happydent Palace” directed by Ram Madhvani of Equinox Films, Mumbai, for McCann Erickson, Mumbai.
The sound design Gold winner was sound designer/mixer Parv Thind of Wave, London, for Skoda’s “Giggle” directed by Andy McLeod of Rattling Stick, London, for Fallon, London. And honored with Gold for original music with lyrics were agency writers Christian Belej (composer/lyricist), Gunnar Immisch and Ali Rakhshandeh (lyricists) via music production company Hantaan Music, Munich, for BMW Mini’s “Safety Feature Campaign” and DEF Mini Records “The Disc Brakes” out of Munich ad shops .start and Interone Worldwide.
Digital Media
Beyond the Gold bestowed upon Dove’s “Evolution” in the viral category, there were several noteworthy American winners in the LIA digital media/website competition, including Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami. The latter scored four Golds: two in online campaigns–one for Volkswagen Jetta’s “Safe Happens,” the other for Burger King’s “Xbox Games Campaign.” Furthermore the overall BK “Xbox Games Innovative Campaign” won Gold in the “Weird Wonderful Work” category. And Crispin’s “Blank Like A Rabbit” for VW earned interactive banner Gold.
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners mined LIA digital gold in the online games and beverages-non alcoholic categories, both for its Got Milk? “Get The Glass” fare for client the California Fluid Milk Processors Advisory Board.
Other digital Gold honorees were: McCann Worldgroup and Mekanism, San Francisco, in the business to business category for their joint effort on Microsoft’s Windows Vista “Clearification”; and 65Media, Marina del Rey, Calif., in the entertainment category for The Simpsons Movie website offerings for client 20th Century Fox.
Integrated Media
There were two Gold winners in the integrated media competition: the aforementioned “Tate Tracks” from Fallon, London; and GAIA’s ambient/poster & outdoor/TV/cinema campaign directed by Wim Bonte and Birger Platteeuw of Caviar, Brussels, for agency Duval Guillaume, Brussels.
A complete list of London International Awards winners is available at www.liaawards.com.
Bensimon Byrne’s “Short Life Stories” For White Ribbon Wins ONE Screen Best of Show
“Short Life Stories,” created by Bensimon Byrne Toronto on behalf of White Ribbon, is the top winner in the global 2024 ONE Screen Short Film Festival, the premiere short film festival produced by The One Club for Creativity celebrating global filmmakers from both commercial advertising and film industries.
“Short Life Stories” tells a fictional story of a young trans woman as she celebrates the beginning of her new life and navigates the obstacles that ensue.
The work was selected by a global jury as 2024 ONE Screen Best of Show and Best of Region: North America, as well as winner in the Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Fiction, and Best Music Composition disciplines.
Klick Health Toronto also had a strong year with five ONE Screen wins. They include three for “47” on behalf of Café Joyeux (in Best Animation, Best Branded Entertainment Film, and Best Production Design), and two for “American Cancer Story” on behalf of Change the Ref (in Best Directing and Best Drama).
Other 2024 ONE Screen winners are as follows.
Craft winners
Best Emerging Filmmaker: Parker Schmidt Santa Monica “Bowl of Life”
Best Screenplay: Zulu Alpha Kilo Toronto “Living From Work” for Zulubot
Best Type on Poster: Lucky Together New York “Don’t F*ck With Ba”
Best Visual Effects: Candice Wu Los Angeles “Erasure”
Genre winners
Best Branded Content Film: Stink Films Berlin “The First Speech” for Reporters Without Borders
Best Comedy: FCB Chicago “The Last Barf Bag” for Dramamine
Best Experimental Film: Parker Schmidt Santa Monica “Bowl of Life”
Best Independent Film: Violeta Films Mexico City “The Mark... Read More