Creating Creative Catalyst through Cannes Do

Raising the standard of South African creativity through a competition called Cannes Do SA, as a branch of Cannes Do International (formed in October 2003 in London by Robert Campbell, Managing Director of Outsider; James Studholme, Managing Director of Blink; Robert Campbell, UK Executive Creative Director at Mc Cann Erickson; Maria Carbonara, former producer at Leo Burnett Milan, joined the team as project coordinator).

The challenge, put together by Velocity Films Group and the Creative Circle, is this: “give us a simple, single-minded script that has the potential to win at Cannes, and we’ll produce it, for free and for gratis”.

Velocity is also throwing in a free trip to Cannes 2006 for the scriptwriter, if the end product actually does bag us a Lion. But, says Velocity’s executive producer Peter Carr, it’s not really about the Lion.

“Sure, if we actually won a Lion with this competition, that would be the cherry on top, but we’re not after an award. What we really want to achieve with Cannes Do is to raise the standard of creative thought in South Africa generally, and through that, raise the country’s creative profile. When we’re up there, when our profile is high, then the advertising industry thinks about coming here to shoot commercials. It creates employment, it’s good for the economy, and that benefits everyone.”

The competition is open to all South African copywriters, art directors and creative directors. All simple, single-minded script concepts qualify, but entrants should bear in mind that the production budget is set at R350 000. They also need to bear in mind, stresses Carr, that client involvement is paramount – “We don’t want a scam ad, we’re not interested in creativity for the sake of creativity. It must be an ad that flights, that the client is proud of, and that works."

Deadline for entering scripts is Nov. 15. There's more information here.