Inaugural Brand Film Festival honorees unveiled
NEW YORK, May 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PRWeek and Campaign honored the best examples of cinematic storytelling for brands at the inaugural Brand Film Festival gala screening in New York City on Wednesday, May 4.
The festival showcased the marketing industry's most artistic, creative, and effective branded content films, selected by a high-profile jury comprising top creatives from advertising, PR, digital, production, film, and media.
The brand films designated the Best of the Best for 2016 were The Audition by Melco Crown Entertainment; Malak and the Boat by UNICEF; The Longest Night and Breathless Choir, both by Philips; and Intel and The Grammys present 'The Lady Gaga Experience.'
Full details of the best films can be found here. The chair of judges for the inaugural Brand Film Festival was PJ Pereira, award-winning chief creative officer at San Francisco-based hotshop Pereira & O'Dell.
"A group of pioneers realized consumers have way too much control to be interrupted and want to find the right balance between brand and fun," said Pereira. "Branded content and its 'unbranded' siblings are competing for the same time from regular people. If after the audience watches this [branded] content they are still glad of the time they spent on it, we have a massive victory already."
The jury reviewed the most creative activations across sectors including CPG, sports, healthcare, and sustainability; branded entertainment such as documentaries, animals, heartstrings, and LOL moments; engagement metrics such as viral and user generated; craft criteria including editing, direction, and screenplay; and the Best of the Best.
Jury members included NBC Today presenter Al Roker; Ashley Callahan, content strategy and PR manager, Chick-fil-A; Quinn Kilbury, senior brand director at Heineken; Lori Beecher, EVP, media and content strategy, Ketchum; John Dahl, EVP and executive producer, ESPN Films and Original Content; Greg Hahn, chief creative officer at BBDO; Tiffany Rolfe, CCO at Co:Collective; and Mike Byrne, chief creative officer at Anomaly.
"Brands have become content owners and the Brand Film Festival celebrates the most creative films in that context," said PRWeek Global editorial director Steve Barrett. "Video now sits firmly at the heart of communications and marketing, and agencies and brands are staffing up to reflect this - cinematic storytelling is fundamental to the brand narrative."
The Brand Film Festival profiles the work of this new generation of marketers, recognizing the evolution from distraction to entertainment, while rewarding the brands, agencies, and craftspeople leading the way in their fields.
"Smart advertisers long ago realized their content needed to be a destination rather than a distraction," said Douglas Quenqua, editor-in-chief of Campaign US. "The Brand Film Festival is a fantastic opportunity to appreciate the work the best of our industry has done in making that transition."
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