A moody and evocative four-minute film for Volvo from the Swedish ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors, edited by Sam Ostrove of Cut + Run, was named Best in Show at the 2015 AICE Awards, which were held this evening at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.
Titled Vintersaga, the short features a range of Volvo models and shows sweeping scenes of uniquely Swedish life, much of it revolving around the harsh and forbidding landscapes associated with the Nordic country, all edited in perfect syncopation to the song “Vintersaga” from Swedish singer/songwriter Amanda Bergman. The film also won the AICE Award in the Automotive category for Ostrove.
Editors Graham Chisholm of Married to Giants, Chris Franklin of Big Sky Editorial, Joe Guest of Final Cut, Nadav Kurtz of Cutters and Adam Pertofsky of Rock Paper Scissors each won two AICE Awards. Chisholm won in the Public Service category for work for Cundari and in Best of Toronto for the Toronto Raptors. Franklin won in the Dialogue/Monologue/Spoken Word category for American Express and in National Campaign for E*Trade. Guest won in the Montage category for Lurpak and in Storytelling for John Lewis. Kurtz won in the Online Campaign category (which he shared with Cutters editor Cameron Yergler) for CVS and in Under 50K for Wingmate. Pertofsky won in the Fashion/Beauty and Best of Los Angeles categories for his work for Levi’s.
Among companies, entries from the editors at Rock Paper Scissors won four awards, the highest tally at this year’s AICE competition. In addition to Pertofsky’s two winners, RPS editor Damion Clayton won for a Beats by Dr. Dre spot in the Alternative Media–Over :90 category while editor Biff Butler won in the Best of New York category for work for Adidas.
Beast, Cutters and The Mill garnered three wins each. Beasts trio of honors saw editors Blake Bogosian top the Alternative Media-:90 and Under category for JohnnyRandom, Karen Kourtessis score in Comedy for Hayden 5, and Jai Shukla earn best Spec Spot distinction for New Balance.
Cutters’ three AICE Awards were for editor Louis Lyne whose Ford work won in the Best of Detroit category, and the aforementioned wins for editors Kurtz and Yergler.
Artists from The Mill also collectively accounted for three AICE Award wins. For the second year in a row, Adam Scott topped the Color Grading category, this time for Axe White Label, while Lisha Dan and Andrew Proctor won in the Design category for work for the Texas Lottery. Winning the Visual Effects award were Phil Crowe, Chris Bayol, Robert Sethi, Becky Porter and Jacob Bergman for their work for DirecTV.
Curatorial Committee feedback
Craig Lewandowski, editor and partner at Utopic in Chicago, serves on both the AICE Awards committee as well as on the Curatorial Committee for this year’s awards competition. The Curatorial Committee is a group of editors, colorists, effects artists and audio mixers who review the work of the online and live judging panels to ensure that finalists and category winners as selected by the judges are appropriate for and meet the criteria of each category.
“The main comment that kept coming up in the discussions about Best in Show was how, even though this film is four minutes long, there isn’t a wasted frame in it,” Lewandowski said. Overall, he noted, “There were a lot of good conversations among the committee about the category winners,” and he described the support for Ostrove’s entry as “overwhelming.”
The committee also paid close attention to the various craft categories, such as Color Grading, Audio Mix and Sound Design, to make sure the winners in each were outstanding examples of their respective crafts. “Having a great representation from the different crafts on the committee helped insure that those categories were judged appropriately,” Lewandowski noted.
The Awards Committee – which also includes Editors Chris Franklin of Big Sky and Bob Spector of Beast – was also pleased by the number of entries for the debut Original Music category. The winner was Scot Stafford of Pollen Music Group for his work on Google titled “Duet.”
In terms of overall trends, Spector said the presence of traditional thirty-second broadcast TV commercials continued to decline. “We’ve been noticing this year after year, and it’s a sign of where the industry is headed,” he observed. “More and more of the work we’ve seen in the show reflected extended lengths and different kinds of content that’s never going to be seen on a broadcast network. That’s why it’s so important that we continue to monitor our categories and make sure they reflect the work our members are being asked to deliver. So far, we’ve been on target.”
WINNERS LIST
Best in Show
Sam Ostrove, Cut & Run
Volvo V70, XC70, and XC60
“Vintersaga” 4:00
Forsman & Bodenfors
Alternative Media :90 and Under
Blake Bogosian, Beast
JohnnyRandom
“Bespoken” 1:07
Alternative Media – Over :90
Damion Clayton, Rock Paper Scissors
Beats by Dre
“The Game Before the Game” 5:03
RGA
Audio Mix
Steve Rosen, Sonic Union
Adidas
“Superstar” :90
Johannes Leonardo
Automotive
Sam Ostrove, Cut & Run
Volvo V70, XC70, and XC60
“Vintersaga” 4:00
Forsman & Bodenfors
Broadcast Promotion
Mark Tyler, Northern Lights Post
Bloomberg TV
“With All Due Respect” :60
Bloomberg TV
Color Grading
Adam Scott, The Mill
Axe White Label
“Hotel” 1:26
BBH
Comedy
Karen Kourtessis, Beast
Hello Flo
“Faked It” 2:20
Hayden 5
Design
Lisha Tan & Andrew Proctor, The Mill
Texas Lottery
“A Million Stories” :32
LatinWorks
Dialogue/Monologue/Spoken Word
Chris Franklin, Big Sky Editorial
American Express
“What’s Your 20?” :60
Ogilvy
Fashion/Beauty
Adam Pertofsky, Rock Paper Scissors
Levi’s
“Just Don’t Bore Them” :60
FCB West
Montage
Joe Guest, Final Cut
Lurpak Cooks Range
“Adventure Awaits” :60
Wieden + Kennedy
Music Video
Luis Moreno, jumP
Coldplay
“Magic Music Video (Official Video)” 5:16
National Campaign
Chris Franklin, Big Sky Editorial
E*Trade
Are You Type E?
“Buffet” :30
“Rock Climbing” :30
“Dance Lessons” :30
Ogilvy
Online Campaign
Nadav Kurtz, Cameron Yergler, Cutters
CVS No More Tobacco Sales
One Good Reason
Nadav Kurtz “Russell” 2:15
Nadav Kurtz “Tammy” 2:30
Cameron Yergler “Lisa” 2:28
BBDO
Original Music
Scot Stafford, Pollen Music Group
Google Mobile Interactive App
“Duet” 3:45
Google ATAP
Public Service
Graham Chisholm, Married to Giants
CIBC Run For the Cure
“In Her Shoes” 2:15
Cundari
Regional Campaign
Kelly Vander Linda, KVL Editorial
Group Health
“Bull Rider” :30
“The Wait” :30
“Questionable” :30
DNA
Sound Design
Evan Mangiamele, Heard City
Gillette
“Conditions Box LATAM Binaural” 2:53
Grey
Spec Spot
Jai Shukla, Beast
New Balance
“Move Forward” 1:02
Storytelling
Joe Guest, Final Cut
John Lewis
“Monty The Penguin” 2:00
adam&eveDDB
Under 50K
Nadav Kurtz, Cutters
Wingmate Disposable Collar Stays
“Wingmate NY” 1:50
Wingmate
Visual Effects
Phil Crowe, Chris Bayol, Robert Sethi, Becky Porter, Jacob Bergman, The Mill
DirecTV
“Lemonade” 0:32
Grey
Best of Boston
Peter Barstis, EditBar
Liberty Mutual
“James Trussart” 1:24
Hill Holliday
Best of Chicago
Randy Palmer, Optimus
Chicago Blackhawks
“Christina’s Goal” :60
Ogilvy & Mather
Best of Dallas
Marc Stone, 3008
Dodge
“Wisdom” :90
The Richards Group
Best of Detroit
Louis Lyne, Cutters
Ford Electric Focus
“Solstice” 1:20
Team Detroit
Best of Los Angeles
Adam Pertofsky, Rock Paper Scissors
Levi’s
“Just Don’t Bore Them” :60
FCB West
Best of Minneapolis
Jim Stanger, Channel Z
Kohl’s
“Holiday Magic” :60
PMH
Best of New York
Biff Butler, Rock Paper Scissors
Adidas
“Superstar” :90
Johannes Leonardo
Best of San Francisco
Doug Cox, Misfit
Google You Tube
“LSTN Watch It Work” :90
Camp + King
Best of Toronto
Graham Chisholm, Married to Giants
Toronto Raptors
“We The North” :60
Sid Lee
