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.
“Saturday Night Live,” “Jim Henson Idea Man” Among Big Winners On 1st Night of Creative Arts Emmys
It seemed apropos that Saturday evening (9/7) was big for Saturday Night Live as the stalwart NBC show topped the awards tally on the first night of two Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies this weekend. Saturday Night Live took six Emmy Awards spanning such categories as directing, technical direction, production design, lighting design, makeup and hairstyling. Next with four wins apiece were Blue Eye Samurai (Netflix), The Oscars telecast (ABC), and Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+). The latter too felt appropriate as the documentary celebrated Henson of Muppets fame for his creativity and impactful contributions to the arts--which dovetailed nicely with a Creative Arts competition. Jim Henson Idea Man, directed by Ron Howard, topped the Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special category while also gaining recognition for its picture editing, music composition and sound editing. Blue Eye Samurai was named Outstanding Animated Program while also picking up three juried awards for its lead character designer, production designer and storyboard artist. Saturday Night Live’s Emmy haul spanned production design, hairstyling, makeup and lighting design. Meanwhile, the first night of the Creative Arts Emmys had some emotional highlights, including Angela Bassett winning her first career Emmy Award--for her narration of the National Geographic show Queens. “Oh my god, wow, my first Emmy,” an emotional Bassett said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled and more grateful.” Bassett was attracted to the documentary project for its subject matter--matriarchs in wildlife--and a women-led production team assembled to do justice to the project. Having a female-dominant crew, she said... Read More