[Cannes Lions 2014] SA's Kirk Gainsford on Film category entries

24 Jun 2014

Of the 2838 entries in the Film category, the jury, led by Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide, shortlisted 280 entries of which 13 were awarded Gold, 29 Silver and 61 Bronze Lions. The jury awarded two Film Grand Prix awards. In the TV/Cinema category, Adam&EveDDB London, UK, took the Grand Prix for the Harvey Nichols ad 'Sorry I Spent it on Myself'. (video)

In the Internet Film or Other Screens category Forsman & Bodenfors Gothenburg, Sweden, were awarded the Grand Prix for its campaign 'The Epic Split' for Volvo Trucks.

South African Kirk Gainsford, Executive Creative Director of Lowe Cape Town, was a Film jury member at Cannes Lions 2014. We asked him couple of questions about this category.

Did you spot any trends in TV advertising this year?

Kirk Gainsford: I didn't really see any trends amongst the winners. To me, there were too many entries in that category. I saw quite a lot of long emotional pieces with a charity/non-profit agenda. We all felt there was too much of that!

Which work was your personal favourite?

Gainsford: I actually had a couple of favourites. Firstly, the Honda piece was amazing.

I really liked Southern Comfort's 'Whatever's Comfortable' campaign.

Volvo Trucks as a Grand Prix winner is already a legend for me. Every time I see it, it brings a smile to my face.

A campaign from South Africa managed to grab a Bronze award. How was it discussed at the judging panel?

Gainsford: TV advertising had 3,500 entries. There wasn't a lot of South African work in the mix. I'm a little disappointed in that. I think we should take a step backwards and re-look some of our work. The discussion around Topsy Foundation's 'Kevin' was very vigorous. The insight was beautiful so we decided that Bronze is a good place for 'Kevin'.

Do you have any recommendations for South African agencies for the future?

Gainsford: I think we should stick to what we do, but we also have quite a bit of big emotional pieces and we should try to simplify our work. The good stuff always rises to the top. We need to look at the winning work and analyse it throughout. Getting to the shortlist is much more significant than it used to be (3,500 entries). The judging system has also changed. There is no longer a single judging panel, which shortlists everything. You need to stand out from day one!

There's always the question of budget and bigger markets having an advantage. Did you see any great low-budget pieces?

Gainsford: A Spanish piece for Visionlab had a small budget, but ended up being very sweet and fun. We did see a couple of good low-budget campaigns. The budget can't be an excuse here. Sometimes an overly good production can almost seem as a negative aspect. It's almost too much for the eye!