The honorees of the AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Commercial and the AICP Next Awards will be showcased in Minneapolis this year at a re-vamped screening and reception designed to provide a look at the future of advertising while giving attendees a great opportunity to network and reconnect with their peers and colleagues. The event is set for Thursday, September 27, at the Cowles Center, located at 528 Hennepin Ave.

New this year will be a format that opens with a ‘happy hour’ for drinks and socializing, followed by a screening of the Next Awards. Bob George of Drive Thru, and President of the Minnesota Chapter of AICP, notes that the screening will feature the winners as well as a series of short films showcasing insights from the AICP Next Awards Curators, which include the Jury Presidents and several At Large luminaries. Following the Next screening is a full dinner buffet and open bar. The AICP Show winners will also be screened. Tickets for the event are priced at $125 and available here.

George and Ace Allgood of Channel Z, who are spearheading the event, note that the new format of the Minneapolis stop on the AICP Awards tour reflects what the local advertising and production community are looking for. “A screening of the Next Awards winners, along with the insights shared by the curators, will give our community a chance to see all the new cutting-edge ideas that are going to change how we do what we do,” says Allgood. “It’s an opportunity for all of us, not just in Minneapolis but around the world, to learn from their success.”

Local recognition will go to the shortlisted entries at the AICP Show and Next Awards created and produced by companies based in Minneapolis, George adds. These entries will also be screened during the video portion of the evening.

The AICP NEXT Awards
Susan Credle, Global Chief Creative Officer of FCB, was the Judging Panel Chair for The 2018 Next Awards and conducted the filmed interviews. Featured are comments from: Winston Binch, Chief Digital Officer, Deutsch North America; Danielle Lee, Global Head of Partner Solutions, Spotify; Jimmy Smith, Chairman/CEO/CCO; Amusement Park Entertainment; Tereasa Surratt, Group Creative Director/Executive Director of Experiential, Ogilvy Global; Jeff Kling, Curator at Large and 2016 AICP Next Awards Judging Chair and former Chief Creative Officer at Fallon; and Fernando Machado, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Burger King.

The AICP Show premiered in June at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, as a tentpole event of AICP Week (along with the AICP Next Awards), and is now on tour at museums and cultural institutions around the country and abroad. This year’s honorees – along with the entire AICP Awards archive – is available at www.aicpawards.com. Each year, the honored work from both awards presentations becomes a part of the archives of the Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art. The collection now numbers over 1,975 pieces of advertising in the motion image.  

At the AICP Next Awards, the Most Next honor (Best in Show) went to State Street Advisors “Fearless Girl,” from McCann New York.  The statue, which promotes the company’s She Fund, was placed on Wall Street opposite The Charging Bull, and helped spark a social movement. The winner of the Most Next honor directs a $5,000 grant from the AICP Foundation to an educational institution of their choosing. McCann directed the grant to Girls Who Invest (GWI).  

The Mill created the opening sequence and graphic navigation for the AICP Next Awards premiere, as well the The AICP Show Reel. Music for both was created by Antfood. The Show Sponsor reel and loop was created by Gentleman Scholar with music by Antfood.

Sponsors help make the AICP Awards possible. AICP Partners and Supporting Partners, who support all AICP events throughout the year, are:  CAPS – A Cast & Crew Entertainment Company and Universal Studios (Partners); and Film Offices of The Hawaiian Island; NEED Financial; Sony Pictures Studios; and The TEAM Companies (Supporting Partners).  

The AICP Show Corporate Benefactors are: Ad Age; Aspen Travel; AwardCore; Directors Guild of America; Gentleman Scholar; Google Cloud Platform; Hello World Communications; International Digital Centre, Inc.; Istros Media Corporation; The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills; McCann Systems; The Mill; Nice Shoes; SHOOT Magazine / SHOOTonline; Source+Slate; S’well; and VER. The Corporate Patrons are: ABK+Boagart: Spirits; Adspur; AmericaCine; Antfood; Film Brazil+Apex; Filmsupply; FilmUS Virgin Islands; Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz; Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB; Heard City; Island Film Group; Little Black Book; Lumberyard Studios; Media Services; Musicbed; and SAG-AFTRA.  

The AICP Next Awards Corporate Benefactors are: Google Cloud Platform; McCann Systems; The Mill; and S’well. The Corporate Patrons are: ABK + Bogart Spirits; Antfood; Arcade Edit; and Heard City.

About AICP
AICP represents, exclusively, the interests of independent companies that specialize in the production and post production of commercials in various media—film, video, digital—for advertisers and agencies. The association, with national offices in New York and Los Angeles as well as regional chapters across the country, serves as a strong collective voice for this $5 billion-plus industry. Founded in 1972, AICP assists its members by: disseminating information; representing production and post production companies within the advertising community in business circles, in labor negotiations and dealing with employment issues; and before governmental officials; developing industry standards and tools; providing professional development; and marketing American production and post production via events and awards shows.