Saatchi & Saatchi has opened entries for this year’s iteration of its New Creators’ Showcase initiative.
Inviting talent from around the world to enter, the 33-year-old scheme intends to acknowledge the fact that many directors and creators also work in advertising.
The agency believes that the advertising industry is one of the main sectors funding grassroots creative culture and recognises the importance of finding and hiring the best new talent.
As well as providing a platform for emerging creators to display their work at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the New Creators’ Showcase provides direct funding and employment opportunities. Through its existing partnership with Channel 4, one of this year’s creators will have a short film commissioned, funded and screened through Random Acts.
Saatchi & Saatchi has also proven its commitment to hiring new talent, with Molly Burdett, one of 2022’s shortlisted directors, booked to direct a UK Christmas TV spot for The British Heart Foundation last year.
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“From Everything Everywhere All at Once to Rye Lane, ‘ad directors’ are having a moment,” Saatchi & Saatchi chief creative officer Franki Goodwin said.
“With so many directors working concurrently in advertising, film and TV, it’s fair to say that our industry doesn’t just shape culture, it funds it. It’s how people get paid to be creative. From musicians to DOP’s their careers are sustained, nourished and honed by the commercial work they do. Ads fund creative careers and our creative culture. Proving how important it is for our industry to find, nurture and hire the next generation of incredible talent.
“Those of us who’ve grown up in the industry have watched Saatchi & Saatchi’s New Creators’ Showcase become one of the flagship events of Cannes. As custodians of the showcase, it’s on us to focus its lens in a way that ensures we find and celebrate the best emerging talent. It’s a global platform that brings brilliant creatives into the industry, fuelling creative careers and – more broadly – culture.”
