BBDO New York was the big winner Tuesday night (2/25) at the eighth annual One Screen Short Film Festival, The One Club for Creativity’s competition that celebrates the achievements of global filmmakers from both the advertising and film industries.
Three awards were bestowed upon BBDO NY, including the Best-of-Show honor for Sandy Hook Promise’s “Back-to-School Essentials,” which also topped the Best Branded Content category. In addition, the agency won Best Experimental Film for “Monica Lewinsky–The Epidemic.”
“Back-to-School Essentials,” an impactful video that highlights the anxiety and fear students face in the reality of school shootings, was directed by Henry-Alex Rubin of production house SMUGGLER. The public service piece starts off as a familiar back-to-school ad but slowly unfolds to highlight students using everyday back-to-school items to survive a shooting, shedding light on the gruesome violent reality that students face.
Meanwhile BBDO NY’s “The Epidemic” follows Hailey, an average American teenager, as she shows symptoms of a mysterious illness. But there’s more than meets the eye. After watching the film, viewers are prompted to enter their phone number. They will then watch the film again, but this time they’ll receive the same bullying text messages as Hailey receives them throughout the story. Mixing the mediums of video and text, the spot illuminates how digital transgressions like cyberbullying can have very dire, real life consequences.
Cole Webley of production house Sanctuary directed “The Epidemic,” the latest entry in social activist Monica Lewinsky’s anti-bullying campaign–the previous pieces of work being “#DefyTheName” and the Emmy-nominated “In Real Life.”
Other winners
Short film work from nine countries picked up One Screen Short Film Fest awards.
The jury of leading film directors, producers, ad agency creatives and heads of production companies from around the world also gave two awards each to Friends & Fellows Media, Munich, Observatory, Los Angeles with AB InBev México, Reverse, New York, The New York Times, and Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto.
One Screen 2020 winners by category are as follows.
- Best-of-Show: “Back-to-School Essentials” by BBDO New York, New York
- Best Animation: “Conception: When Your Child’s Bogeyman is Real” by The New York Times, New York
- Best Art Direction, Production Design: “Behind the History of La Cerveza Mas Fina” by AB InBev México and Observatory, Los Angeles
- Best Branded Content: “Back-to-School Essentials” by BBDO New York, New York
- Best Comedy: “Billy’s Lemonade” by Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto
- Best Direction: “Monday” by Art and State, Los Angeles
- Best Editor: “Koffee” by Mah Ferraz, Brooklyn
- Best Cinematography: “Be Unboardered” by Cossette, Toronto
- Best Documentary: “Please Arrest Me” by Ogilvy Singapore
- Best Experimental Film: “Monica Lewinsky — The Epidemic” by BBDO New York, New York
- Best Fiction: “Locals Only” by Skunk, Los Angeles and “Play: The Power of Ideas” by Reverse, New York
- Best Foreign Film: “Dear Enemy – The Journey of Bashir” by Friends & Fellows Media, Munich
- Best Emerging – Directors: Arne Totz, Friends & Fellows Media, Munich for “Dear Enemy – The Journey of Bashir” and Bradley Tangonan, Reverse, New York for “Rose de Mai”
- Best Emerging – Cinematographer: Jeff Kim, VaynerProductions, New York for “Dwyane Wade’s Last Swap”
- Best Mobile Film: “The Reef” by Sven, New York and “Share Your Crazy” by Film Pills, New York
- Best Music Video: “Damn I Love This Friday Night” for Quarter Life Poetry by Anonymous Content, Culver City
- Best Sound Design, Original Score: “Kim Jung Gi” by Gallegos United, Huntington Beach and “Grow Beyond Your Goals: Meet Brianne West, founder of Ethique” by Google, Shibuya
- Best Student Film: “The Beauty” by Pascal Schelbli, Zürich
- Best Title and End Credit Sequences: “TEDx Sydney: Legacy” by Substance, Sydney
- Best Under $10,000 Budget: “Boys Don’t Cry” by Bensimon Byrne, Toronto and “#UnravelHate” by Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto
Along with awarding work in specific genre categories, One Screen expanded this year to also present best-of awards for creative excellence by region. This year’s regional winners are:
- Regional – Asia Pacific: “Times Out and Proud” by FCB India, New Delhi
- Regional – Europe: “Boucan La Cible” by Quad Productions, Clichy
- Regional – Latin America: “The History of La Cerveza Mas Fina” by AB InBev México and Observatory, Los Angeles
- Regional – North America: “Conception: When Your Child’s Bogeyman is Real” by The New York Times, New York
“It’s fitting to present Regional awards for the first time because we received so much amazing work from around the world,” said Jonathan Jirjis, executive producer at The One Club and head of the One Screen program. “Global interest and participation in One Screen has grown sharply over the years, promoting us to recognize the best of the best by region.”
He added the body of work submitted illustrates the current mindset and voice of the greater global creative community. “This year’s entries include provocative subject matter that prompts us to think about how we’re progressing as a people, and sparks conversation on how to keep us moving forward in the right direction,” said Jirjis.
