MCLEAN, Va. and NEW YORK, April 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — USA TODAY, official U.S. representative to the International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, and co-sponsors Digitas, Pereira & O'Dell, and Starcom Mediavest Group announce the winners of the 2011 Young Lions "Team USA" competitions.  

2011 Young Lions categories and "Team USA" winners are:

• Cyber:   Lindsey Butterwick and Ben Sweitzer, AKQA SF
• Film:    Ben Clare and Alex Romans, Johannes Leonardo NY
• Media:  Lauren Katz and Jamie Kozma, J3 (Division of UM)
• Print:   Andrea Stadelman and Phillip Vo, Goodby Silverstein & Partners

The 2011 "Team USA" competition included teams from agencies across the U.S. with more than 300 teams registering and 265 total entries. All competitors worked from the same brief and were asked to build awareness and increase participation on college campuses for SIFE, an organization which works with business leaders and higher education to mobilize students to make a difference in their communities.

The four teams have been chosen to represent the U.S. and compete in the Young Lions competitions during the International Festival of Creativity in Cannes with all expenses paid. Twenty international teams will compete in the Film and Media competition. Thirty teams will compete in Cyber and Print. Teams for the three creative competitions (Cyber, Film and Print) consist of an art director and a copywriter. The team for the Media competition consists of two media planning executives.

"As the official U.S. representative to the International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, we are always excited to see the results of the Young Lions competitions," said David L. Hunke, president and publisher of USA TODAY. "We are proud to be the print sponsor and it's quite rewarding to see such excellent creative work in this medium. We salute the U.S. team and look forward to watching them compete against their international peers."

The 2011 print winners were chosen by: Jeff Blouin, Y&R New York; Darren Moran, Draftfcb New York; John Parker, W+K New York; and Adam Reeves, BBDO New York.

The 2011 Media competition consisted of two rounds of judging the media strategy plans each team was asked to submit.  The top five teams from the first round of online judging were invited to New York to present their plan to the judges for the final selection of first place and Media "Team USA".  This year's media judges were:  Andrew Altersohn, Havas Digital; Shane Ankeney, Initiative U.S.; Alan Cohen, OMD; Lee Doyle, MEC; Brian Elwarner, Starcom Detroit; Maria Luisa Francoli, MPG; Matt Kasindorf, UM Worldwide; Kathy Kline, Starcom Worldwide; Sarah Kramer, Mediavest Worldwide; John Lisko, Saatchi & Saatchi L.A.; Lynn Pinkus-Lewis, UMJ3;  Jim Poh, PohMedia; and Audrey Siegel, TargetCast.

"This year's Young Media Lions contestants and winners are truly inspiring. They represent the next generation of media, digital and communications leaders who are poised, creative and assertive," said Laura Desmond, Global CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group. "Investing in the future of our industry means to invest in our future leaders. SMG is proud to be a part of the Young Lions program because it encourages healthy competition, rewards outstanding ideas and performance and provides an opportunity for our young stars to shine on a global stage. Congratulations Lauren and Jamie and all the Young Lions winners."

"The Young Lions is one of my favorite parts of the Festival.  It's a crazy, adrenaline packed competition where we have a chance to see who are the people who will come steal our Lions and our jobs in a few years," said PJ Pereira, chief creative officer of Pereira & O'Dell.

The Film competition was judged online by: Robert Lambrechts, Pereira & O'Dell; Chris Adams, Saatchi & Saatchi L.A.; Dave Arnold, EuroRSCG; and Jayanta Jenkins, TBWA\Chiat\Day.

"This year's submissions reflect a harmony of design, strategy, creativity and social media innovation," said Laura Lang, global CEO, Digitas. "I especially applaud the courage and risk-taking from our young talent and hope that these characteristics continue to be encouraged and rewarded, from the office to the global Cannes stage."

Cyber entries were judged online by: Robert Rizzo, Digitas; Liz Boone, GM; Ginny Golden, AKQA; Tiffany Rolfe, CP+B; Daniel Kim,  McCann New York;  and Kunur Patel, Advertising Age.

USA TODAY is a multi-platform news and information media company. Founded in 1982, USA TODAY's mission is to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Today, through its newspaper, website and mobile platforms, USA TODAY connects readers and engages the national conversation. USA TODAY, the nation's number one newspaper in print circulation with an average of more than 1.8 million daily, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper website  launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.9 million readers daily. USA TODAY is a leader in mobile applications with more than eight million downloads on mobile devices.  The USA TODAY brand also includes USA TODAY Education and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

SOURCE USA TODAY