For the sixth consecutive year, Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi has been named Best Agency of the Year at El Diente, the festival organized by the Círculo de Creativos Argentinos.
Lead by Pablo del Campo and General Creative Directors Maxi Itzkoff and Mariano Serkin, the agency won a total of 34 awards, including 2 Grand Prix for “Dads in Briefs” (BGH Air Conditioners) and “Musical Microwaves” (BGH Microwaves). They also walked away with 14 Gold, 8 Silver, and 10 Bronze, with work developed for BGH, Norte Beer, Andes Beer, and Schweppes.

Now in its 22nd year, the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase hits Cannes again, unveiling another presentation of the most exciting new directorial talent. The Showcase promises to be an essential event on the programme of the Cannes Lions 59th International Festival of Creativity. Always a highlight of the Festival, the Showcase never fails to amaze and surprise, with a unique annual theatrical showpiece introducing the reel of carefully selected directors. The Grand Auditorium is once again the venue, with overspill for this popular event into the Debussy.

The Showcase Reel

To find the featured directors, Saatchi & Saatchi invited submissions from directors across the globe, utilising its Network of some 140 offices worldwide, as well as relationships with key online sources. The Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Creative Board chose this year’s final selection of 18 directors. Past Showcases have featured internationally acclaimed directors including Tarsem, Michel Gondry, Mark Romanek, Spike Jonze, Ivan Zacharias, Kinka Usher, Danny Kleinman and Jonathan Glazer.

This year’s eclectic selection includes sophisticated animation, VFX, technical wizardry, films of
cinematic proportions, and use of contemporary filmmaking techniques such as smartphones.

The trends for 2012 are; retro animation (see James Curran’s ‘Tintin’ titles) and 3D motion capture animation (see Stuart Aitken’s ‘Dead Island’ computer game trailer); Beautifully shot cinematic music promos and movie credits (see Tim Miller’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ trailer and Skinny’s ‘Iconic’ promo); and there are some unique, original ideas such as Perkins
and Kulash’s ‘Needing/Getting’, James W. Griffiths’ ‘Splitscreen: A Love Story’ and Andrew Thomas Huang’s stunning ‘Solipsist’, which takes its influences from the natural world and uses CGI fused with an artistic eye to create a cinematic art installation.

A truly international selection, this year’s directors hail from the USA, Brazil, France, Canada, Norway, Australia and the UK. The 18 Directors selected for the New Directors’ Showcase reel 2012 are listed below, with the title of the submitted work.

Andrew Thomas Huang - ‘Solipsist’

Brian L. Perkins & Damian Kulash, Jr. - OK Go ‘Needing/Getting’

Daniel Strange - ‘Dogs – Loyalty’

The Lovemarks Company

Fleur & Manu - Etienne de Crecy ‘No Brain’

Graydon Sheppard - ‘Shit Girls Say’

James Curran - ‘Tintin’ Titles

James W. Griffiths - ‘Splitscreen: A Love Story’

Jones + Tino - Nike ‘Addiction’

Lars Åndheim & Christoffer Lossius - Lasse Passage ‘Say Say Say’

Mickey Smith – ‘Dark Side of the Lens’

Ninian Doff - Fulton Light ‘Staring Out The Window’

Rhys Thomas - ‘British Movie’

Rick Mereki - ‘Move’

Seyi Peter-Thomas - ‘Hard Times’

Skinny - Moonbootica – ‘Iconic’

Stuart Aitken - ‘Dead Island’

Tim Miller - ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ Trailer

William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg - ‘The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore’

Tom Eslinger, Worldwide Creative Director Digital, commented on this year’s reel: "The 2012 Showcase shows how diverse media channels are bringing more and more content to the surface, making this a really exciting collection which reflects how we come in contact with ideas and all things visual. The influence of not only rapid-to-create technology, but also rapid-to-distribute channels, is seen in the quality and content, as well as where the work is connecting with people and communities."

"For me, smart design and razor-sharp composition is flowing through the NDS this year. I've been most excited with the contrast between steely, slick renderings, crunchy computer graphics and even lo-fi colour treatments, to desktop-inspired techniques and oh-so-precise colour design. Layer in great storytelling, a refreshing point-of-view and some subtle twists, and you have a presentation up there as one of our best."

Pablo del Campo. NDS Spokesperson and CEO Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi Argentina said: “People know that the New Directors’ Showcase is one of Cannes most unmissable events. This gives us a great deal of responsibility when it comes to selecting directors. For years this selection process has been even more of a challenge than judging work in advertising festivals, because we're aware of the transformations it creates in our industry year after year.”

This year the directors selected for the reel will be invited to help judge the winner of the James Brown Music Video Challenge. See separate press release for further information.

The Showcase theatrical piece

The 2012 theatrical production introducing the directors’ reel has been conceived for the second time by Saatchi & Saatchi’s award-winning senior creatives Jonathan Santana & Xander
Smith with the theme ‘Meet Your Creator’. The piece involves an army of tiny flying machines
performing synchronised flight patterns, and composing music through ‘live’ light manipulation. The audience enter a brave new world of visual territory, with hovering Quadrotors buzzing around the stage in unison, and an angelic soundscape giving a feeling of otherworldliness. A single ray of light hits a glass pyramid, whilst a disembodied voice precludes a mesmerising performance by the Quadrotors, which move effortlessly around the stage as if by magic. ‘Meet Your Creator’ presents an all-encompassing environment with the ambience of a Church of Creativity.

Saatchi & Saatchi Senior Creatives Jonathan Santana and Xander Smith commented on the event: "The New Directors’ Showcase is revered ground. A lot of big names have been launched in the past by the Showcase. It’s for this very reason that we’ve chosen to venture down the ‘sacred’ path. A path of bright lights, flying beings and the miracles performed by Creators."

Marshmallow Laser Feast, a collective working at the intersection of art, design and technology, are the creative and technical directors of the theatrical production for the second consecutive year. Marshmallow Laser Feast are Robin McNicholas, Memo Akten and Barnaby Steel and crew. MLF collaborated with KMel Robotics and their incredible Quadrotors on this year’s Showcase with MLF developing the choreographic and lighting technology, and KMel designing and building bespoke Quadrotors. Filmmaker and Producer Juliette Larthe, who pulled together the team behind last year’s ‘Hello, Future’ themed Showcase, is the Producer of the theatrical piece once again this year.

The bank of sounds created by underground electronic artist Oneohtrix Point Never, AKA Daniel Lopatin, are manipulated by Quadrotors, which in turn affect beams of light. New Yorkbased Lopatin’s samples are triggered by the movement of the Quadrotors and beams of light on the stage, creating a tightly integrated visual and sensory extravaganza. Lopatin’s introduction and minimalist compositions create a fluid environment, when combined with the rays of light and Quadrotors.

The Quadrotors are the brainchild of Alex Kushleyev and Daniel Mellinger of KMel Robotics. University of Pennsylvania graduates Alex and Daniel are experts in hardware design and highperformance control. Their Quadrotors truly push the limits of experimental robotics, and the Quadrotors performing at the NDS have been built and programmed specifically for the Showcase. The pyramid was designed by Sam & Arthur.

Juliette Larthe has produced for the likes of Jake & Dinos Chapman, WARP films and Jonathan Glazer, has recently finished a series of twenty short films for Channel 4, is creative consultant for fashion house PREEN, and presently spearheads PRETTYBIRD’s UK division.

Marshmallow Laser Feast commented: “With this project, our aim was to create ethereal sculptures of light and sound. We're always excited by the prospect of appropriating new technologies and further developing them for artistic purposes. By customizing Quadrotors with LEDs and mirrors, and combining them with lights and other custom technology, we were able to choreograph the performance, pushing the experience to that of watching an abstract virtuoso-being made of light, playing an imaginary musical instrument.”

Daniel Mellinger of KMel Robotics said: "KMel Robotics focuses on hardware design and highperformance control for custom aerial vehicles which push the limits of experimental robotics. Our vehicles can be used in a wide range of applications including search and rescue, environmental monitoring, education, and entertainment. Our experiments illustrate that large numbers of autonomously functioning vehicles can be reliably deployed in the form of a ‘swarm’ to carry out tasks and to respond as a group to high-level commands, without a designated leader."

The Showcase will be webcast on the Cannes Lions website and on the NDS Channel on YouTube.

www.canneslions.com
www.youtube.com/nds

In an unprecedented collaboration between Saatchi & Saatchi, Genero.tv, BUG Music Videos and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), the music of James Brown will be brought to the attention of a whole new generation through the art of filmmaking.

Saatchi & Saatchi is throwing down the gauntlet to the international filmmaking community by creating a challenge to bring to life some of the most significant tracks of the ‘Godfather of Soul’ in the form of a music video: Sex Machine, Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World, and Try Me. Following the success of last year’s Moby competition, Saatchi & Saatchi wanted to bring a new twist to this year’s competition by working with a legendary artist who has influenced and crossed many generations.

James Brown changed the course of popular music, and UMe and the James Brown Estate are making some of his finest work available for the first time for interpretation by a new generation of film directors. Other than live footage, none of the songs featured in the Music Video Challenge has a music video, so this is a great opportunity for young filmmakers to become the director of the official promo for one of these tracks. On June 1st, UMe will release 20 James Brown albums digitally for the first time. These classic releases are from his back catalogue from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, many of which have been long out of print.

The Grand Prize offered to the winning film director is to work on a project in a key office in the Saatchi & Saatchi global network. Entrants will be given the chance to revisit James Brown’s archive, and interpret it with fresh eyes. Deadline for entries is June 25th, 2012, 23:59 GMT. In addition, UMe is looking for official videos for each of the songs.

The judging panel responsible for selecting the finalists and overall winner will consist of members of the Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Creative Board, Genero.tv, BUG and UMe. Also, directors selected for this year’s Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase will be invited on to the judging panel to help select the winner. The 12 finalists will be revealed mid-July and the winner announced on the Genero.tv competition page on July 30th, 2012.

Alongside the digital re-release, the record label will also be re-releasing the classic James Brown Live at the Apollo album this year. Significantly, the album was recorded half a century ago, on October 24th, 1962, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it as number 24 on their list of the Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In celebration of the album, one of the four tracks available for interpretation by entrants to the Music Video Challenge will be Try Me, one of its featured tracks.

Bruce Resnikoff, President/CEO of UMe said: “This competition will introduce a new generation of fans to the groundbreaking music of James Brown’s catalogue, and landmark 1962 album Live at the Apollo, and what better way to do this than by working with Saatchi & Saatchi’s global network, utilizing BUG’s expertise in the art of the music video, and accessing the filmmaking community through Genero.tv.”

For the first time Saatchi & Saatchi will work with Genero.tv, who are based in Melbourne, Australia, and have more than 65,000 members spanning over 180 countries. Andrew Lane, Co-founder, Genero.tv commented: "We are very excited to offer our community such an incredible opportunity. Being able to work with iconic songs from the legendary James Brown, and to be offering an amazing prize from Saatchi & Saatchi makes this a not-to-be-missed challenge for our filmmaking community."

The winner of last year’s Music Video Challenge was Mexican Vancouver Film School graduate Alberto Gomez, whose prize was to travel to Los Angeles and direct a spot for Conill’s Miami Short Film Festival campaign. In addition, each finalist’s video was featured on Moby’s Destroyed Deluxe DVD. Saatchi & Saatchi’s aim again this year is to provide a platform for the most talented young directors to interpret the work of an iconic musician, and provide them with a global stage for their filmmaking talents.

This year the Music Video Challenge will have an even more international flavour, with the production team hailing from all over the world; UMe in LA; Saatchi & Saatchi in London and NYC; Genero.tv in Australia; and BUG in London. Add to this the phenomenal reach and influence of James Brown, with his international fan base and rich contribution to the tapestry of musical history, and you have a dream brief.

Tom Eslinger, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Digital Creative Director, commented: "This is the third year that we’ve held a competition to find a truly new director. Having access to music from James Brown, one of the most influential performers of the 20th century, is inspiring for us and anyone who enters. Being part of creating the first music videos through a socially-powered platform like Genero is an honour.”

David Knight, BUG Creative Director added: “BUG is all about giving exposure to the most innovative and awe-inspiring new work in music videos. Our subheading is The Evolution of Music Video – and aspiring filmmakers are no longer limited to making new videos just for new music. They can be inspired by classic tracks too, and this Music Video Challenge is giving them the chance to prove it.”

For more information on the Music Video Challenge, including eligibility and how to enter go to: http://genero.tv/jamesbrown

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For further details please contact:

Lee Sharrock
Global Creative PR Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide
M: +44 7814 862 834
E: [email protected]

Moby is set to release Destroyed Deluxe on October 31st - a deluxe version of his latest album Destroyed. Since its release earlier this year, Destroyed has received four-star reviews in MOJO, Uncut and Record Collector. The new deluxe edition of Destroyed consists of a 3-disc set that includes unreleased tracks, live footage and videos.

The supporting music videos for both ‘After’ and ‘The Right Thing’ are from new directors who entered the Saatchi & Saatchi ‘Hello, Future’ Music Video Challenge this summer. As part of the 21st New Directors’ Showcase, Saatchi & Saatchi partnered with Moby, Vimeo and BUG to discover fresh filmmaking talent with the Music Video Challenge. The brief was to visualise the concept of ’Hello, Future’ in the form of a standout music video inspired by one of three tracks selected from Destroyed.

The videos featured on Destroyed Deluxe for ‘After’ are provided by Alberto Gomez from Mexico, the winner of the Music Video Challenge, and by one of the 10 finalists - Antonin Pevny from Austria. For new single – a double a-side of ‘After’ and ‘The Right Thing’ - Moby commissioned another finalist, The Manship Society, to create a brand new video, set in New York and featuring vocalist Inyang Bassey.

Jeremy Boxer, Creative Director – Vimeo added: "We were delighted to hear that Moby has chosen to include the top ten finalists from the ‘Hello, Future’ Music Video Challenge. It is a true testament to the quality of the work that was entered from the Vimeo community. We look forward to seeing more amazing work from each of these talented filmmakers in the future. Congratulations all round and thanks to Moby.”
Videos by all 10 finalists in the Music Video Challenge are featured on Disc 3 of ‘Destroyed Deluxe’. The finalists were; Frank Beltrán, David Evan Bowers, Alberto Gomez, Brian McCann, Lindsay MacKay, Antonin Pevny, Oden, Martin Rodahl, Alexey Terehoff, and Roland Wittl. Each of the 10 finalists’ videos were featured in the New Directors’ Showcase at the 59th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this June.

Tom Eslinger, Creative Director - Digital, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide said: "Two years ago we started running a competition alongside the New Directors’ Showcase. Our incentive was simple: the winner would make a film for one of our clients somewhere in the world. We started the competitions to dig deeper into the new talent who actively participate and create via creative portals like Aniboom and Vimeo. Alberto's film, and the success of our other finalists, shows that not only are we on the right track but the industry that commissions their work thinks so as well"

David Knight, Creative Director, BUG Music Videos commented: “BUG was delighted to be involved in the search for new directing talent that the ‘Hello, Future’ Music Video Challenge represented. We wanted to give aspiring filmmakers the chance to express themselves via Moby’s music, and to reward the winner with an outstanding career opportunity. Having the finalists involved in Destroyed Deluxe is further proof of the competition’s remarkable success – and it means we’ve exceeded all our expectations. Congratulations to Alberto and the other finalists; big thanks to Moby.”

http://promo.moby.com/destroyed-deluxe/
http://www.bugmusicvideos.com
http://vimeo.com/saatchiandsaatchi

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"Firework", the collaboration between Katy Perry, EMI, Deutsche Telekom and Saatchi & Saatchi was named Video of the Year at the MTV Music Video Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday evening, the top honour of the international awards. Saatchi & Saatchi and Deutsche Telekom worked with Katy Perry to create “Katy’s Project” – a casting call for Deutsche Telekom customers to audition for appearances in the “Firework” video. Of the 38,000 applicants, 250 were invited to participate in the four-day shoot in Budapest as well as have their experience documented on film. The final four minute film has had over 220 million hits.

European Creative Director for Deutsche Telekom, Jason Romeyko said: “Deutsche Telekom believe that life is better when shared. It is a sentiment particularly apparent in great partnerships. Firework is a collaboration between an artist, record company, client, agency and Katy’s fans- that has created a spectacular moment. “For my team and I, it has been a privilege to be in the middle of all of this. To experience the combined creativity and dreams of each participant, including Katy, has been remarkably energising and mind-opening. Pure positivity from every side has taken this idea from advertising into pop culture? My congratulations to Katy and her team for this incredible achievement and thank you for letting us be a part of it.”

The “Firework” video was nominated for three awards, including Best Female Video and Best Video with a message in addition to the Video of the Year category.

Saatchi & Saatchi are the international agency for Deutsche Telecom in Europe. The 'Life is for Sharing' platform has run across 10 markets since 2008. Katy’s Project is one of a series of innovative events including; “Angry Birds”, a live re-enactment of the cult Rovio game, a Royal Wedding spoof which has over 20 million hits online and counting; "Sing-a-long" in Trafalgar Square, where 15,000 people took part in a mass Karaoke; 'Dance' which featured a flash mob in Liverpool Street Station; and the heart-warming 'Welcome Back' filmed at Heathrow T5 which has attracted more than 8.5 million views on YouTube.

Katy Perry is the first female and second artist overall after Michael Jackson to have five number one singles from one album on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Forbes 100 star was nominated for 10 MTV awards and took home Best Collaboration and Best Special Effects for E.T. featuring Kanye West.

The MTV Music Video Awards are an annual celebration of the most popular artists as voted for by the general public and a panel of professional jurors. Since its birth in 1984, the awards have established a cult following. The 2011 ceremony attracted the biggest audience in the network’s history with a record-breaking 12.4 million total viewers.