Ali Brown, partner/executive producer at PRETTYBIRD, will serve as the chairperson of the 2020 AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the Commercial. Additionally, the AICP Show will now accept entries from agencies, marketers, production companies and postproduction companies from outside the U.S. in all categories for the first time. This expansion allows it to become a truly global competition for excellence in brand communication for the moving image.

“It is such an honor to chair this year’s AICP Show, and having recently served as president of juries around the world from Thailand to Brazil, I’m particularly looking forward to the inclusion of international entries,” said Brown. “As this industry becomes truly global in its makeup and its reach, it’s only fitting that the Show expands to recognize the best work around the world. I’m excited to work with the very best creators in our business to select those to be honored.” 

Matt Miller, AICP president and CEO, said, “Ali brings so much insight and experience to the Show. Her enthusiasm, knowledge and global stature will ensure that the judges and curators of the 2020 AICP Show will again assemble an unequaled compendium of work for this seminal year. ” 

Beginning in 2009--just after PRETTYBIRD’s doors opened--Brown was instrumental in building the company’s roster and reputation to be best in class. With a prior background in feature film development, Brown expanded the company’s reach in commercials and music videos while simultaneously spearheading the company’s expansion into other genres such as branded content, shorts, feature films and series. With offices in London and L. A., PRETTYBIRD has remained one of the most award-winning production companies in the world, known for its development of young talent, world-class production craft, cultivation of diverse voices and fearlessness when it comes to taking on untraditional projects.

International entries 
Originally known as the AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Television Commercial, the competition is the association’s original awards program, recognizing outstanding achievement in a wide range of crafts from concept to execution. In 2006 the show dropped the word “Television” from its title and eligibility requirements, reflecting the diversification of marketing and media platforms.

“From its first year, this show has continually refined its categories and qualifications to allow the showcase to reflect what’s most important in the industry and the culture,” said Miller. “The creation of content is increasingly global, with work being produced collaboratively around the world for media markets that have no boundaries. Accepting entries from beyond the U.S. was a natural progression for the AICP Show, which will now be known as The Art and Technique of the Commercial.” 

As the cornerstone of the three awards shows that make up the suite of AICP Awards, the AICP Show now has limitless reach in seeking to honor, archive and study the best of the best, globally. Flanking The AICP Show are The AICP Next Awards, which recognizes work in emerging media platforms, and the AICP Post Awards, which honors excellence in specific crafts in the postproduction arts. (The latter competition came to AICP after the 2018 merger with AICE). 

Beginning in 2020, all three shows will have the same eligibility requirements, and entrants will easily be able to enter all at the same time. The official call for entries kicks off December 9, and the entry site can be accessed here.

The AICP Show is one of the industry’s leading creative and executional benchmarks and serves as more than a mere awards show. Each year, work honored in The AICP Show and The AICP Next Awards are preserved in The Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Film’s state of the art archives for future generations to study and are available for use or exhibition by the museum’s curators.

The winning work at both the AICP Show and the AICP Next Awards will be presented at gala celebrations scheduled for AICP Week in New York in June of 2020, while the winners of the AICP Post Awards will be presented in May of 2020, also in New York.