Cannes Lions has announced jury presidents for the two categories at the center of the new Lions Innovation festival (June 25-26 during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity). Y&R’s global CEO David Sable will take the reins of the first ever Creative Data Lions while R/GA global chief creative officer Nick Law will be at the helm of the expanded Innovation Lions.
Speaking about the appointments, Cannes Lions Chairman Terry Savage said that both categories would be in the spotlight next year, and selecting the right presidents plays a key role in their success. “The significant planning and consultation which has gone into category development for Lions Innovation demanded equally careful consideration of who would lead judging. In David and Nick we have the epitome of acknowledged, awarded industry innovators and our juries could be in no better hands.”
Sable, inaugural Creative Data Lions Jury President, whose career with Y&R spans almost 40 years, is recognized as an early digital entrepreneur and passionate advocate for storytelling. He views data as instrumental in striking a balance between creativity and innovation to drive stories through the right channels.
“The smart use of data illuminates, enlightens and informs. It helps create. It is not about aggregating numbers–it’s about understanding people. So, when we judge (Creative Data Lions) entries, we will look for a meaningful correlation between the data and its ultimate creative expression. This is going to be an exciting expedition to uncharted ground.”
For over a decade, Innovation Lions jury president Nick Law has led development of many of R/GA’s most innovative and Lion-winning projects; including Nike+ running, Nike+ FuelBand and Beats Music for Beats by Dre. Asked for his view on the role of technology to the industry he said, historically, it had always been used to deliver creativity, but that the Innovation Lions demonstrated that this was shifting.
“Today, thanks to the power and pace of change, we can apply creativity to the technology itself. The Innovation Lions will recognize people at the vanguard of this golden age of possibilities; people whose inventive spirit is changing the world and redefining what it means to have a game-changing idea.”
Together, the awards will showcase the relationship between technology, data and ideas which, said Savage, has driven the industry forward and will continue to be instrumental in its evolution.
“As the home of creativity, we need to explore what the future of that creativity will look like through a dedicated festival like Lions Innovation. But with the Creative Data Lions and Innovation Lions we are celebrating the ground-breaking work which is already leading the charge.”
Entries to the Creative Data and Innovation Lions will open January 22, 2015.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More