Darkness and Light: Views From the One Show Film Jury

By Brett McKenzie on Mar 20, 2018

Heavy is the mood in the One Show 2018 Film Jury room


Final judging for both The One Show 2018 and the ADC 97th Annual Awards is officially underway! Over the next three weeks, more than 200 esteemed creatives from all corners of the globe and across a multitude of disciplines will be selecting who will take home a coveted Pencil or Cube this May at Creative Week.

The One Show's Film category has long been a virtual mirror held up to the global zeitgeist; the work reflects the society, art imitates life. And if the thoughts from some of this year's esteemed Film Jury are any indication, the mirror may have been very, very dark this past year..


Marty Senn
Chief Creative Officer
Carmichael Lynch
Minneapolis

"Earnestness is the word I'd use to the describe the work this year. There are a lot of heartfelt entries, and a lot of long films — not always to great effect. I would've liked to see a little more humor and fun. I guess it's a reflection of the times; people are leaning more into their earnestness to deal with things, and I would've liked to see more work that counteracted the darkness with more levity."

Linda Knight
Executive Creative Director
TBWAChiatDay
Los Angeles

"Obviously the world is pretty messed up right now, and I feel that that is reflected in the work we've seen. These are heavy times, and I think there's a lot of heavy, heavy work. The messages they are saying are things that need to be said, but the heaviness can be overwhelming. Despite the political climate, it's refreshing to see comedy still being attempted, in some cases brilliantly. In a sea of heartache and misery, it's a wonderful break."

John Matejczyk
Co-Founder/CCO/CEO
MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER
San Francisco

"I'm seeing too much mauldin melodrama. It feels like everyone bought the same minor chord piano track, doing the "we're gonna struggle against the world" thing, with hopeful strings coming in on the end. Some of them are better than others, and indeed some of them are deserving of a Pencil, but there's just an enormous number of entries who are sadly hitting the same note."

"That said, work that stays close to brand is still shining in the jury room. There's some outstanding work for Old Spice, Apple and Kentucky Fried Chicken. These were decidedly not maudlin melodramas, and they stayed true to their respective brands, and showed that you can still present these brands in really compelling ways."

   

Judging for both the ADC 97th Annual Awards and The One Show 2018 continue through to April. All winners will be unveiled during Creative Week, May 7–11

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