Talent from across the creative spectrum join Cannes Lions 2016 content programme
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has today released the full content programme which will run from 18-25 June, 2016. Talent from all walks of creativity will take to the stages at the Festival, which includes the specialist events Lions Health, Lions Innovation and Lions Entertainment.
In Cannes Lions’ most diverse programme to date, multi-Oscar winning director, screenwriter and producer, Oliver Stone, will bring his views on filmmaking, politics and culture to the stage. Illusionist David Copperfield will help explore the tension between authenticity, sincerity, honesty and brand messaging. Actress, singer and food writer, Gwyneth Paltrow, will answer probing questions from BBC HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur, while documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom will talk about the dramatically changing definition of masculinity. CNN host, Anthony Bourdain, will discuss what it takes to create stories across the spectrum of human emotion, while co-president of VICELAND, Spike Jonze, will talk about creating content that matters to young audiences.
Says Phillip Thomas, CEO, Lions Festivals: “When we put together our content programme we look to give people inspirational learning that you can’t find anywhere else. Importantly, we keep creativity at the heart, designing it to cross all touchpoints of creativity while offering insights into some of the most creative minds in the world. With specialist events in Health, Innovation and Entertainment, we can offer a programme of speakers that brings the ever-growing ecosystem of creative communications together, allowing delegates to pick and choose content to create their own tailored programme.”
At Lions Entertainment, which launches this year and is dedicated to unskippable creativity, Martin Campbell, best known for directing Bond movies Golden Eye and Casino Royale, will talk about his experience of telling stories, working with big entertainment franchises, and integrating brands into his work. Actor, producer and businessman, Channing Tatum will join the line-up, while Mindy Kaling will bring insight and inspiration from the acting world. Professional wrestling company, WWE, will be represented by WWE star and actor John Cena, along with WWE chief strategy officer and TV personality, Stephanie McMahon. Names from the music industry, including artists, labels and studios will also be represented across Lions Entertainment.
Lions Health, which focuses on life-changing creativity, will bring creativity in science to the fore with Cory Doctorow, Science fiction author, blogger and technology activist, and Dr. Gokul Krishnan, Ph.D. Learning Scientist, engineer and the founder of ‘Maker Therapy.’ Revered for her courage in sharing her candid battle with myelodysplastic syndrome, Robin Roberts, Co-anchor, Good Morning America, ABC, is an Emmy-winning news anchor who will be on stage to share her tips on building trust with your audience. From the world of film, director of 10 Cloverfield Lane, Dan Trachtenberg, has just been confirmed. While from the Pharma industry, Atilla Cansun, chief marketing officer, consumer health, Merck, will join the line-up.
With a focus on Data x Tech x Ideas, Lions Innovation will spotlight upcoming start-ups with Rodney Williams, CEO and co-founder, LISNR and André Ferraz, CEO, In Loco Media, as well as Tech heroes like Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, founder and CEO, Drawbridge. Other talent will include Martin Ford, author of The Rise of the Robots, who will give his radical prediction of an automated world, as well as cyborg anthropologist, Amber Case, and Matthew Luhn, story supervisor and story Instructor at Pixar Animation Studios.
The full programme is now available at www.canneslions.com. Details of how to attend the Festival and packages available can also be found on the website.
8 Comments
We’ve now, officially, jumped the shark.
It seems we’ve latched onto this idea that collaboration of diversified talents is the key to creative success.
Nice thought, but unfortunately it’s a lie.
The best work, by a country mile, that I’ve seen in my life has come from one or two smart, dedicated people locking themselves in a room with a brief and going through the pain of cracking something fresh. That’s where genius lies. Pushing yourself way past where you’re comfortable – hopefully with the support of an agency which understands that a week or two of coming up with bugger all is part of the process of coming up with gold.
Think of all the collaboration, the money going into startups, the TED talks, the mashups, the free access to information and ideas that has happened over the past decade. Then look at the work. It has largely become irrelevant dog shit.
The missing ingredient isn’t more collaboration, or a better algorithm, or deeper deep dives. It’s time. Give a great team a good brief and enough clear air to crack it, and be amazed at what comes out the other side.
Nothing against these Cannes seminars however. They seem like a nice little diversion.
Cannes jumped the shark a decade ago.
That’s why the Kinsale Sharks have jumped Cannes in terms of quality and goodness.
Haha… oh wait… you’re serious.
Your opinion is isolated to the agency bubble. No one on the street cares about our “ideas” — they don’t care about ads at all. Ads are an intrusion, they make the world a worse place. There’s nothing noble about nailing a brief, and there’s nothing noble about “big ideas” (*eye roll*).
Some of us in the ad industry are aware of our position in the world (somewhere above dirt but below worms). Others convince ourselves that our “ideas” and gold statues mean something.
At least recognizable personalities — like John Cena and Gwenyth Paltrow — bring pleasure and joy to people. People like us in the ad industry don’t bring anything to the world. We only take.
Ah, but I disagree.
People actually like good ads. Or work, let’s not limit it to ads.
What they hate is the awful drivel that we’re actually serving up. The industry has become self-obsessed, inwards looking and not very good at what it does.
And I don’t think gold statues mean anything. I think, to a large degree, they’re the cause of the industry going the way it did – focussing too much of our energy on the 0.00001% of work that gets awarded, and not putting enough into the work that people actually see.
And there is something noble about nailing a brief, and creating a big idea. It’s just as noble as taking pride in what you do in any other career. Why bother if you’re not going to even try?
No, people find ads insulting and intrusive. Let’s not convince ourselves otherwise.
And let’s also not pretend that we’re anything more than servants to rich clients — we have less impact on the things we make than a bricklayer does on the house they build.
If we say something is a bad idea, most clients will say “do it anyway”. If a bricklayer says it’s a bad idea, people listen because they don’t want their house to fall down.
We create nothing. We only take. We demand people’s time and then insult them — “ANZ knows more about women’s rights than you!”
There’s a nobility in loving and taking pride in what you do. But advertising is the least noble profession there is.
Maybe you’re right.
Maybe I’m right.
But as two people spending long days working in this industry, I’d much rather be me than you.
What, you’d rather be in painful denial than at peace with reality?