Young Directors Award partners with The Sweetshop to launch new Mentorship Prize

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b35afcd8-ac71-44f4-8620-04c1aa4d6aa8.jpgThe YDA has joined forces with The Sweetshop to create a Mentorship Prize which will allow one lucky director access to the skill, expertise and encouragement of the global production house.

The prize is directly linked to the Changing the World Frame by Frame category of the YDA and the winner of that category will receive a 12-month mentorship on their next project for social change from Sweetshop.

Mentoring will come in the form of guidance, access to contacts, script development, how to make the content and what to do with it afterwards, and Sweetshop will pair the winner up with one of their established directors and give them access to the MD/EP of the closest market to them, plus one Skype call or one face-to-face meeting (at one of Sweetshop’s seven offices LA, London, Shanghai, Bangkok, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland) once a month for 12 months.

Says Wilf Sweetland, CEO, The Sweetshop: “The winner of the Mentorship will have the ability to develop relationships with our directors, management and EPs globally through regular contact.”

In this interview Sweetshop CEO, Wilf Sweetland, explains the thinking behind the Mentorship Prize and why embracing social responsibility is so important for the advertising industry.

There’s still time to enter the YDA and this year’s Changing the World Frame by Frame competition to be in with a chance of winning this incredible Mentorship Prize.

 

YDA: What convinced you to be part of this year’s YDA via the mentorship prize The Sweetshop is offering?

WS: By creating the Mentorship Prize we are directly supporting upcoming talent, creating pathways and, through the generosity our directors, regional management and executive producers, passing on expertise, experience and guidance to someone starting out in their career.

Over the years, developing emerging talent has been a big focus for us and we’re delighted to be doing this in the Cannes arena in partnership with the YDA. It’s also very important to us that when we’re supporting an initiative or organisation through sponsorship, there’s a tangible benefit to both sides – rather than just a logo at the bottom of a mailer.

YDA: What can the person who wins this category in 2018 expect from directors and staff at Sweetshop?

WS: The winner of the Mentorship will have the ability to develop relationships with our directors, management and EPs globally through regular contact (in person if they are in one of the seven cities in which we have an office). Through this contact, we can offer support and thinking on a current project they are working on from beginning to end, advice on skillset development, creative thinking, script analysis, industry guidance and background. It will be a very personal mentorship dependent upon the winner and what their needs are at this stage of their career.

YDA: Why do you think the Changing the World Frame By Frame category is so important?

WS: Telling a narrative, no matter how small, can have a mass effect via today’s modern communication. We believe that through the power of storytelling and creativity, social or environmental change can happen. As a population, we respond to emotion, and as filmmakers we can influence and drive that response. We want to inspire emerging directors to understand that now, more than ever, they can change the world.

This category also relies not only on craft and ideas, but also on collective behaviour, a social movement and a social change to make the world a better place. These initiatives need as much collective help as they can get. This is why we are offering a special prize to the winner to help facilitate future initiatives for global social responsibility ideas and content.