Matt Miller, President and CEO of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), today announced that Gerry Graf, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Barton F. Graf 9000, will serve as the 2014 AICP Next Awards Judging Chair, and Master of Ceremonies at the AICP Next Awards presentation. The AICP Next Awards will be held at the NYU Kimmel Center on Tuesday, June 10th. It is the kickoff event for AICP Week, which also includes the AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Commercial, and the Directors Lecture Series, both at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (AICP Week runs June 10-12). The Call for Entries for the AICP Next Awards and the AICP Show are now open at: http://www.awardcore.com/aicp/login.php.
“The AICP Next Awards represent the best collection of forward-thinking work in the marketing and communications industry,” said Graf. “They recognize ideas that are shaping the future of advertising. It is truly an honor to be a part of something so innovative and to celebrate the people behind the work.”
The AICP Next Awards honor advertising across eight categories: Integrated Campaign, Viral/Web Film, Website/Microsite, Product Integration, Experiential, Mobile, Social and Cause Marketing. One of Graf’s duties as the AICP Next Awards Judging Chair is to select a Jury President for each category, who will in turn select the judges for that discipline.
Serving as AICP Next Awards Jury Presidents for 2014 are:
Integrated Campaign – Rob Reilly, Global Creative Chairman, McCann
Cause Marketing – Tiffany Rolfe, Partner/Chief Content Officer Co:Collective
Experiential – Mark Waites, Co-Founder, Mother
Mobile – Jeff Benjamin, Chief Creative Officer, JWT
Product Integration – Jaime Robinson, Executive Creative Director, Pereira & O’Dell
Social – Colleen DeCourcy, Executive Creative Director, Wieden & Kennedy
Viral/Web Film – Jeff Kling, Chief Creative Officer, Fallon
Website/Microsite – Chloe Gottlieb, Executive Creative Director, R/GA
“Gerry’s enthusiasm, humor and forward-thinking mentality shine through in his work. He has shown a tremendous inventive spirit, which I think makes him the perfect fit for the Next Awards,” added Miller. “As a past Next Awards judge and Jury President, he brings a very strong awareness and understanding to this role. His contributions and ability to recognize outstanding work is a huge asset.”
Graf launched Barton F. Graf 9000 in 2010, and it is now one of the hottest agencies in the country, creating work for clients such as Dish Network, Kayak, Finlandia, and Little Caesars. Graf began his career BBDO, and after a stint at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, returned to BBDO as Executive Creative Director. He later became Chief Creative Officer of TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York, followed by a two-year tenure at Saatchi & Saatchi New York as Chief Creative Officer. Graf has won numerous advertising accolades, and Barton F. Graf 9000 is consistently named as one of the top creative agencies in the industry.
At the AICP Next Awards presentation, winners of the Integrated Campaign category present cases studies exploring the creative and strategic thinking behind each winning piece. The work of the AICP Next Awards winners, along with that of the honorees of the AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the American Commercial, becomes a part of the archives of The Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
About AICP WEEK
AICP Week is a celebration of creativity and thought leadership. The Week is anchored by the Premieres of The AICP Next Awards and the AICP Show: The Art and Technique of the American Commercial, the latter culminating with the most anticipated celebration in the industry: The gala at the Museum of Modern Art. Additionally, in each year, various educational seminars and events highlighting the state of marketing in the motion image are staged.
About AICP
Founded in 1972, AICP represents, exclusively, the interests of United States companies that specialize in producing 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 by: disseminating information; representing the production industry within the advertising community in business circles, in labor negotiations and before governmental officials; developing industry standards and tools; providing professional development; and marketing American production. www.aicp.com
