Ash Chagla, the Executive Creative Director of Science & Sunshine, is a Juror in Film Lions.
Being A Juror
The thing I love most about Cannes Lions is that every year, it reminds me why I got into this business to begin with. Being there is like getting slapped in the face with fresh ideas, brilliant thinking and a giant dose of inspiration. And you always come home fired up and excited to make awesome work. I’m sure this year will be no different, except I get to sit in a room with some incredibly talented people, the very same ones who have been inspiring me for years, and work alongside them to identify the best work in the world for 2016. I’m sure it will be an unforgettable experience and we will get to celebrate some truly courageous work.
MENA @Cannes Lions
I’m always excited to see the work from MENA and how it measures up to the rest of the world. There was a time when the ‘I wish I had done that’ feeling only swept over you when you saw work from Europe or the US. It’s not like that anymore. There are many great ideas coming out of our region. I’m hoping to see inspiring work that we can all be incredibly proud of.
Winning a Lion is not easy. Just 3 percent of the work that is judged goes on to win something. When you look at it like that, five Golds and a handful of Silver and Bronze last year is pretty amazing. To me, being consistent is more important, and I’m happy that our region is doing that. We have been winning at Cannes for the last six years. We have also been winning in different categories. It’s a collective effort which is even better. It shows that our regional industry is maturing, growing and producing work of a very high standard. Our next big goal is to bring home a Grand Prix and I’m sure everyone is working towards that.
Expectations
I’m judging Film Lions this year. I’d love to see some regional films getting recognized in my category. The new du Tuesdays campaign is a great piece of work and has a lot of potential to do well. The campaign has won two years in a row so it would be awesome to see them get their hat trick. Every year there are markets that do really well in different categories. Latin America always does well in Print and Outdoor, North America dominates in Cyber and Film. In terms of the region, I’m sure the UAE, Egypt and Lebanon will bring back some metals, but it would be tremendous if every country that has entered from MENA came home with a Lion or two.
