MJZ topped the list of honored production companies in the 15th Annual AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the American Commercial, presented by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, tonight (June 8, 2006). Close to 2,000 members of the advertising and production industry gathered to view the show, an hour and 22-minute compendium of the best commercials of the previous year, which premiered at The Museum of Modern Art, and now goes on tour to museums and cultural institutions around the country and abroad.
This was the first year the AICP Show was open to commercials produced for media other than television and cinema. Entry of spots made for non-traditional media was encouraged in all the technical and concept categories, and a new one, Advertising Excellence/Non-Traditional, brought the total to 25 categories of commercial filmmaking.
With a total of nine honors in seven categories, MJZ led production companies with the most representation in the Show. One spot, Hello Tomorrow, directed by Spike Jonze for Adidas, out of TBWAChiatDays San Francisco office, garnered honors four times, for Visual Style, Visual Effects, Original Music, and Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial. Another MJZ commercial, Disturbance for Heineken, was also cited in Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial as well as in Original Music. Other MJZ spots included eBays Anthem, honored for Production Design; Ameriquests Doctors in Humor; and Adidas Gimme the Ball, out of MJZs London office, honored in the Advertising Excellence/International category.
Anonymous Content took home seven honors in six categories in the Show. The company provides U.S. representation for directors attached to Gorgeous Enterprises in London, several of which were honored in the Show: Xbox 360s Jump Rope honored for its Visual Style and in Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial; Water Balloons for the same advertiser, honored in Editorial; and Sun, produced for the Centers for Disease Control, and cited in Production and Cinematography. Anonymous also produced two spots for Nike, FC USA, honored in Editorial, and a Spec Spot, Skate Boys.
Five honors went to harvest, a pair for Ace Hardwares Wife, cited for Talent/Performance and Dialogue or Monologue. Fox Sports Nets The Shave was also honored in the Talent/Performance category and together with Moving and Lets Get Together were the three spots receiving honors in the Advertising Excellence/Campaign category.
Production companies @radical.media, Biscuit Filmworks and RSA Films received four honors each while Hungry Man, Mekanism, Smuggler and Tool of North America received three honors each.
Among agency honorees, TBWAChiatDay received 10 honors, the most of any agency for Hello Tomorrow, the Fox Sports Net campaign, an Embassy Suites spot Question, honored in Copywriting as well as two commercials for Sprint-Nextel, Locker Room, honored in Humor, and The Man, honored in Dialogue or Monologue and Talent/Performance.
Wieden+Kennedy was second among agencies with seven honors, including two Honda spots, Impossible Dream and Choir, both in the Advertising Excellence/International category. Spots shown on this side of the Atlantic, included four for Nike, Warriors, Awake, FC USA and Kid Tiger, respectively, in Production Design, Cinematography, Editorial and Visual Effects. Wieden was also honored in the Animation category for and ESPN Brand spot, Believe.
BBDO NY was given five honors; Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Modernista! garnered four honors each.
Spike Jonze of MJZ and Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks led the directorial honorees with a total of four each: Jonze for the Adidas spot Hello Tomorrow; and Murro for General Motors Hummer spots honored in Production, Agency Art Direction and Advertising Excellence/Campaign as well as a second Agency Art Direction honor for Axe Imprints.
Frank Budgen of Anonymous Content via Gorgeous Enterprises, Tommy Means of Mekanism, and Baker Smith of harvest each received three honors.
Among advertisers, Adidas and Nike scored highest with six honors apiece; General Motors Hummer had four honors; and Sprint/Nextel and Xbox 360 each had three honors. Apparel commercials (Adidas and Nike) were the most honored product category with 12 honors, followed by public service spots, which earned nine honors.
Established in 1992, the AICP Show was known as The Art & Technique of the American Television Commercial until this year when it was re-titled The Art & Technique of the American Commercial to reflect the broadening of the Show to include commercials that appear online and in other digital media, such as cell phones and iPods. Three spots were honored in the new category, Advertising Excellence/Non-Traditional: two for Sega, Swim Meet and Class, produced by Mekanism, and one featuring the Brawny (paper towels) Man, Thinking About You, from Omaha Pictures. The Show becomes part of the permanent collection of the Department of Film and Media at MoMA, which has been AICPs partner since the Shows inception.
Selections of the honored commercials were made by 200 judges across the country, including a blue-ribbon curatorial panel composed of distinguished members of the industry from production companies, advertising agencies, and editorial shops, among others.
From New York, the Show goes on tour across the U.S. and abroad. Screenings scheduled include June 13, at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, in Madrid; July 26, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); Oct. 11, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Oct. 25, at the Dallas Museum of Art; Oct. 27, at the Miami Performing Arts Center; and Nov. 16, at the Chicago History Museum. Dates for showings in Honolulu, Minneapolis, Richmond, Winston-Salem and other overseas venues are to be announced.
Founded in 1972, the AICP (www.aicp.com) represents companies that specialize in producing commercials for advertisers and agencies. The association, with national offices in New York and Los Angeles and regional chapters across the nation, serves as the voice for this $5.5 billion industry, representing the creators of over 80% of all nationally televised commercials.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
