When I first began judging ‘The New’ medium, I approached it like the many juries I’ve been on and tried to seek out the “best” work. But the simplicity of that approach was quickly challenged. Sure the best work rose to the top. There was the Blackbird from The Mill that is redefining car shoot and production. There was the brilliance of the Field Trip To Mars that redefined VR BEFORE it was even established. There was a country that opened its phone lines to the world so we could all discover the beauty of their country, first hand. And, there was Pepito that used a well-established and very simple piece of media, a comic strip, to change government policy. While it’s easy to say that these are great pieces of work, they sparked many debates around what was the definition of content. These debates led to discussions around the categories and how they were defined. And, The New medium will be New next year. While some award shows might not be accepting of change, the LIA team is the exact opposite. The team’s openness to the evolution of categories and the structure of judging is not only refreshing, but also essential. It will help keep LIA relevant as well as an important award show in the industry.
Overall, the experience reinforced my thinking that this is truly the best time to be in this industry. It’s the best time to be creating New work. But it’s also the most complex time to be creating work. As creatives, we must look for new ideas in unexpected places. But, more importantly, as Creative Directors we must look at New combinations of talent that will get us there. Because, to win a LIA in ‘The New’ will truly take a New approach.
When I first began judging ‘The New’ medium, I approached it like the many juries I’ve been on and tried to seek out the “best” work. But the simplicity of that approach was quickly challenged. Sure the best work rose to the top. There was the Blackbird from The Mill that is redefining car shoot and production. There was the brilliance of the Field Trip To Mars that redefined VR BEFORE it was even established. There was a country that opened its phone lines to the world so we could all discover the beauty of their country, first hand. And, there was Pepito that used a well-established and very simple piece of media, a comic strip, to change government policy. While it’s easy to say that these are great pieces of work, they sparked many debates around what was the definition of content. These debates led to discussions around the categories and how they were defined. And, The New medium will be New next year. While some award shows might not be accepting of change, the LIA team is the exact opposite. The team’s openness to the evolution of categories and the structure of judging is not only refreshing, but also essential. It will help keep LIA relevant as well as an important award show in the industry.
Overall, the experience reinforced my thinking that this is truly the best time to be in this industry. It’s the best time to be creating New work. But it’s also the most complex time to be creating work. As creatives, we must look for new ideas in unexpected places. But, more importantly, as Creative Directors we must look at New combinations of talent that will get us there. Because, to win a LIA in ‘The New’ will truly take a New approach.