For the first time ever, the executive jury for the New York Festivals International Advertising Awards selected only one outstanding entry to receive the coveted title of “World’s Best Idea®”: Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam was honored for its integrated campaign “Write The Future” on behalf of client Nike.
The objective of “Write The Future” was to weave Nike into conversations taking place around the World Cup. The winning entry celebrates the participating Nike athletes by giving a glimpse into their future based on their success and failures on the World Cup stage. Jason Clement, director of emerging platforms at Wieden+Kennedy New York, accepted the award on behalf of W+K Amsterdam during a gala ceremony for the 54th annual awards show held at Skylight West in New York City.
Nike was also presented with the New York Festivals 2011 Advertiser of the Year Award for its commitment to creativity and innovation. In addition to being awarded the “World’s Best Idea®,” Nike earned one Gold World Medal, seven Silver, one Bronze, and seven Finalists.
BBDO was honored with the title of Network of the Year, receiving three Gold World Medals, 18 Silver, 38 Bronze and 72 Finalist Certificates.
“We’re humbled by this recognition,” said David Lubars, chairman/chief creative officer, BBDO North America. “We want to thank our many clients for demanding our best.”
Leo Burnett Sydney was awarded the Agency of the Year Award for its stellar work, earning four Gold World Medals, five Silver, two Bronze and 10 Finalist Certificates.
The New York Festivals Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to legendary advertising executive Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide, for his contributions to the advertising industry. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes prominent industry leaders whose accomplishments and contributions have advanced the field of advertising and made a lasting impression on the creative community.
Meanwhile two NYF Living Legend Awards were bestowed. The honor recognizes prominent industry luminaries, whose personal excellence and extraordinary contributions have advanced the field of advertising, made a lasting impression on the creative community, and who continue to influence the profession in a significant way.
This year NYF honored iconic director Bob Giraldi of Giraldi Media with one of the first ever NYF Living Legend Awards. JD Gargano, former student of Giraldi and broadcast designer/motionographer for Tribune Creative Group, presented the award along with fellow Giraldi students. A second NYF Living Legend was awarded to Bob Carr, award-winning commercial film editor with Red Car. Larry Bridges, founder of Red Car Inc., presented the award to Carr.
The United States received a total of nine Gold World Medals. This was followed by Australia with seven six for Germany, three each for Argentina, France and Sweden, two for Japan, and one apiece for England, Finland, Singapore and The Netherlands.
Each year New York Festivals, in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Public Information, appoints a panel to select work that exemplifies the aims and ideals of the United Nations. The 2011 UNDPI Jury honored the following entries: the Gold Award went to Lowe Brindfors of Stockholm, Sweden, for “The Lottery of Life,” the integrated media campaign produced for Save the Children Sweden. DDB Budapest, Hungary received the Silver Award for “Slow Download” for Amnesty International Magyarorszag. The digital and interactive campaign calls for pressure on world leaders to deliver on the promises of the Millennium Development Goals. DDB Shanghai China was awarded the Bronze Award for “Green Pedestrian Crossing,” for the China Environmental Protection Foundation. The outdoor campaign was produced to encourage a reduction in automotive traffic.
Winning entries of the 2011 New York Festivals International Advertising Awards were selected by NYF’s Executive Jury. Award winners were selected from a short list of finalists chosen by the Grand Jury, comprised of 320 senior creative directors from 56 countries around the world, representing the largest and most diverse jury of any advertising competition in the world.
For a full rundown of winners, click here.
“Flight Risk” Ascends To No. 1 At Box Office
Critics lambasted it and audiences didn't grade it much better. But despite the turbulence, Mel Gibson's "Flight Risk" managed to open No. 1 at the box office with a modest $12 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
On a quiet weekend, even for the typically frigid movie-going month of January, the top spot went to the Lionsgate thriller starring Mark Wahlberg as a pilot flying an Air Marshal (Michelle Dockery) and fugitive (Topher Grace) across Alaska. But it wasn't a particularly triumphant result for Gibson's directorial follow-up to 2016's "Hacksaw Ridge." Reviews (21% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores (a "C" CinemaScore) were terrible.
President Donald Trump recently named Gibson a "special ambassador" to Hollywood, along with Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone.
Going into the weekend, Hollywood's attention was more focused on the Sundance Film Festival and on Thursday's Oscar nominations, which were twice postponed by the wildfires in the Los Angeles region.
The weekend was also a small test as to whether the once more common Oscar "bump" that can sometimes follow nominations still exists. Most contenders have by now completed the bulk of their theatrical runs and are more likely to see an uptick on VOD or streaming.
But the weekend's most daring gambit was A24 pushing Brady Corbet's "The Brutalist" a three–and-a-half-hour epic nominated for 10 Academy Awards, into wide release. Though some executives initially greeted "The Brutalist," which is running with an intermission, as "un-distributable," Corbet has said, A24 acquired the film out of the Venice Film Festival and it's managed solid business, collecting $6 million in limited release.
In wide release, it earned $2.9 million — a far from... Read More