25 years of Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase

Reflecting on the wealth of directing talent in an archive that goes back to 1991, it’s impossible to pick my ten favourite directors. So, instead, I have selected the best ten years – the ones that feature some of the most talented directors.

 

Iconic names such as Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Jonathan Glazer, Tom Kuntz, Ivan Zacharias and Daniel Kleinman were all picked out as directors to watch in the New Directors’ Showcase. The showcase was conceived in 1991, when Saatchi & Saatchi was invited by Cannes Lions to host a seminar. The agency took the opportunity to celebrate its reputation for nurturing and developing new directing talent.

 

Paul Arden, the legendary executive creative director, presented the inaugural showcase, which set the bar high for the ensuing years with a roll call that included David Cronenberg, Kleinman and Jake Scott – names that are now synonymous with great film-making. From then on, the showcase earned itself a reputation as a great platform for new talent and, in the hands of the then worldwide creative director Bob Isherwood and creative director for global culture Richard Myers, it continued to grow in popularity and fill the Palais des Festivals at Cannes.

 

The dawn of the 90s brought the end of apartheid in South Africa, the denouement of the Cold War and subsequent break-up of the Soviet Union, the US-led Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

 

Looking at the names on the 1991 showreel, it seems that year was not only full of significant movements in world history but it was also brimming with creativity and directorial ability. The showcase reels were heavy on commercials and pop promos, mainly because it was the decade when MTV ruled and advertisers were playing back commercials that were influenced by the worlds created by music videos. It was clear that talented young directors were cutting their teeth on pop promos before being picked up by advertisers.

 

1991 was in the era before smartphones, social media and YouTube, which have since enabled anyone to set out their stall as a director. The audience for music videos and ads was more focused because viewers did not have a wide choice of screens and devices to choose from. A more focused audience created a more focused demand from advertisers.

 

It is great to be able to use our 25th New Directors’ Showcase to publish the archive and see how the great talent we spotted in 1991 stands alongside the directors we are promoting in 2015. I also wonder if it is easier to be a new director in 2015 with all today’s technology or if it’s harder to be recognised and awarded your first big commercial because the pool of directors is too big and the focus from advertisers isn’t the same.

 

My ten standout years from the showcase archive are: 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2011 and 2014. I’m looking forward to seeing what fresh talent future showcases will discover and to continuing our mission to nurture new directors and give them a global platform. It is the talent of the directors we have celebrated that has made the showcase such a success.

 

Daniel Kleinman started out directing music videos for icons such as Fleetwood Mac and Madonna and later became famous for his James Bond title sequences, most recently for Skyfall in 2012.

 

Class of 1991: Alex Proyas, Alexander Dombrowski, Andre Zaccariello, Antonio Bueno, Atsushi Sakamoto, Bronwen Hughes, Bruno Decharme, Casper-Jan Hogerzeil, Charlie Paul, Christiane Brunner-Schwer, Cosimo Zitani, Daniel Kleinman, David Bishop, David Cronenberg, David Kellogg, David Kung, David Wellington, Eddie Saeta, Ernesto Cinzi, Fumihiko Arai, George Muskens, Giovanni Beeschi, Glenn Ribble, Jake Scott, Jan Sverák, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Jeff Bednarz, Jeff Stark, Jim Blashfield, Jim Edwards, Joe Public, John Claridge, John Lloyd, John Ware, Keir McFarlane, Kenji Yamauchi, Laszlo Kadar, Lesley Robson-Foster, Marc Comes and Jan Houe, Mark Chiat, Martin Asphaug, Matthew Rolston, Michael Rowles, Paul Loosley, Philip Kates, Rodney Butcher, Satoshi Saïkusa, Sebastian Cramer, Susan Brown, Tarsem, Victor Garcia Mohedano, Vivi Friedman, Wang Tsai Hang

 

Star of 1994

 

Jonathan Glazer | Academy

 

 

Ringan Ledwidge started out in the Middle East as a photojournalist and went on to become a leading director of commercials before shooting his first feature, Gone, in 2007. His Sainsbury’s "Christmas is for sharing" ad, which revisited the trenches of the First World War, was a highlight of 2014.

 

Class of 1999: Agustin Marquez, Amy Hill and Chris Riess, Barton Landsman, Chris Milk, David Gaddie, Dawn Shadforth, Eddy Chu, Fredrik Bond, Jeffrey Fleisig, John O’Hagan, Koen Mortier, Kyle Cooper, Lizzie Mes, Marcel Langenegger, Martin Liu, Michael Wong, Nick Livesey, Peter Burger, Peter Cattaneo, Quentin Dupieux, Ringan Ledwidge, Snorri Bros, Steve "Spaz" Williams, Tom Vaughn, Veit Helmer 

 

Star of 2000

 

Antoine Bardou-Jacquet | Partizan

 

 

 

The work of Vania Heymann is so visually arresting that it earned him not one but two spots in the 2014 New Directors’ Showcase. His interactive homage to Bob Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone went viral with close to a million viewers on its first day. 

 

Class of 2014: Tarik Abdel-Gawad, Alvise Avati, Alberto Belli, Simon Bonde and Peder, Ian and Cooper, Josh Cole, Tripp Crosby, Ainslie Henderson, Vania Heymann, Kyra and Constantin, Ed Morris, Tatia Pilieva, Donato Sansone, Emile Sornin, Kibwe Tavares, The Sacred Egg, Truman and Cooper, Us

 

(This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk)