W+K's "Write The Future" A Big Winner; Droga5 Registers With Bing/Jay-Z Initiative and Puma Spot; Smuggler Wins Palme d'Or
By A SHOOT Staff Report
CANNES, France --Wieden+Kennedy won the coveted Film Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the second consecutive year–except this time it was W+K Amsterdam and London that scored with its Nike “Write The Future” commercial directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu of Independent, London, and bicoastal Anonymous Content. Last year, W+K’s Portland, Ore. office took the Grand Prix for Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” directed by Tom Kuntz of MJZ.
“Write The Future” is a soccer-star laden spot in which the world’s greatest players envision their future if they and their teams perform well at the World Cup. Unfortunately the flip side reveals a future of disgrace and ridicule if they perform poorly. The cause and effect, though, goes much deeper than that as nations’ economies and mindsets–like the fans who live vicariously through their favorite teams and players–flourish or suffer accordingly depending on the World Cup outcome.
While W+K continued its pattern of Grand Prix success during tonight’s awards ceremony at Cannes, Droga5 soared to new Grand Prix heights with three such honors this year–two for Bing/Jay Z’s “Decode Jay-Z with Bing” initiative. The out-of-home experience had people on a scavenger hunt to find pages of Jay-Z’s autobiography hidden outdoors in 13 cities. Those folks who first found a page and checed in on a Bing-sponsored website got the chance to win tickets to Jay-Z concerts for life. Tonight the campaign won the Integrated Grand Prix, just a few days after earning the Outdoor Grand Prix.
Droga5 also won tonight’s Film Craft Grand Prix for Puma’s “After Hours Athlete” commercial depicting night-time casual athletes such as bowlers, billiards and darts players. The spot was directed by Ringan Ledwidge of Smuggler.
No Titanium Grand Prix was bestowed this year as judges concluded that no work merited the honor.
Film Gold
Nike’s “Write The Future” wasn’t the only favorite going into Cannes that came out a winner. Two lauded spots from this year’s Super Bowl also scored Film Gold Lions–Volkswagen’s “The Force” directed by Lance Acord of Park Pictures for Deutsch LA; and Chrysler’s “Born of Fire” directed by Samuel Bayer of Serial Pictures for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland.
“Write The Future,” “The Force” and “Born of Fire” each also scored two Film Craft Gold Lions.
For a full rundown of Grand Prix and Gold Lion winners, check here.
Palme d’Or
Puma’s “After Hours Athlete” was one element in a body of work that earned Smuggler the Palme d’Or. In fact four of the top five production houses in the Palme d’Or derby were from the U.S.
Smuggler was followed by O Positive with MJZ finishing third. Taking fourth place was the U.K.’s Stink. And earning fifth place distinction was Hungry Man.
Crisp Grand Prix
Taking the inaugural Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix was Abbott Mead Vickers/BBDO London for a Walkers Crisps initiative which brought excitement to the town of Sandwich, Kent, underscoring Walkers’ complimentary snack prowess to a lunch sandwich.
Bringing excitment to Sandwich and the sandwich were a series of celeb-featured events in the small town. The transformation of the sleepy Sandwich into a vibrant, buzz-generating town fueled web chatter, PR and the like, bringing Walkers crisps to a more top-of-mind status when it comes to lunch planning. Brown bagging took on a new crispy dimension.
“Overnight Success” Has Been More Than A Decade In The Making For Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson
Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson, two of the stars of Netflix's whodunit "The Perfect Couple," have news for you if you want to call them breakouts: They've been working in this business for more than a decade.
Fahy made her TV debut in 2009 in an episode of "Gossip Girl." Hewson's first big film role was in 2011's "This Must Be the Place." They do concede, however, that it's recent TV roles — "The White Lotus" for Fahy and "Bad Sisters" for Hewson — that have led to new frontiers of opportunity.
Susanne Bier, who directed "The Perfect Couple," says both Fahy and Hewson are "going to be big stars."
"They certainly have proper, profound star quality, Both of them in very different ways," Bier says. "Both are incredibly creative, incredibly smart, and also have a impressive insight as to who they are. You can be a great actor or actress and not necessarily really know who you are yourself. And they do."
Hewson, 33, whose dad is U2 front man Bono, may have grown up in a famous family but she's now in demand in her own right. She will next be seen in a second season of "Bad Sisters, " out in November. She's in Noah Baumbach's next film, alongside Adam Sandler, George Clooney and Riley Keough. She's also been cast in Steven Spielberg's next production and is set to star opposite Murray Bartlett in a racing series for Hulu.
Fahy, 34, is in production on a limited series with Julianne Moore and Milly Alcock called "Sirens," written by Molly Smith Metzler ("Maid") for Netflix. She also has two films in the can with Josh O'Connor ("The Crown," "Challengers") and Brandon Sklenar ("It Ends With Us").
The two actors spoke candidly about this phase of their careers. This interview has been condensed for clarity and... Read More