MJZ Receives 12 Honors

MJZ once again topped the list of production companies honored at the 19th annual AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the American Commercial, presented by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers. MJZ received 12 honors. The Show, chaired by T.K. Knowles, Managing Partner/Executive Producer at Bob Industries, debuts tonight at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Nearly 2,000 members of the advertising and production industry will gather to view the Show, a compendium of the best commercials of the year. Following its premiere at MoMA, the Show will tour museums and cultural institutions around the country and abroad. This year’s honorees – along with the entire Show archive – are available for viewing at www.aicpshow.com. Please click here to view an honorees fact sheet.
Each category of the Show may have up to three honorees, with the exception of Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial and Advertising Excellence/Campaign, which may have only one honoree each, making those pieces Best in Show. “The Man Your Man Can Smell Like,” directed by Tom Kuntz of MJZ, was honored for Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial. This year, there was no honoree in the Advertising Excellence/Campaign category.

MJZ topped the list with 12 honors, including Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Can Smell Like,” which was also honored for Humor and Performance/Dialogue. Xbox Halo 3: ODST’s “The Life,” directed by Rupert Sanders, was honored for Production, Cinematography, Editorial and Visual Effects. The Sanders-directed ABSOLUT “Anthem” was singled out for Visual Style. Barclay’s “Fake,” directed by Nicolai Fuglsig was honored for Production Design, while ABSOLUT Vodka’s “I’m Here Trailer,” directed by Spike Jonze, was singled out for Original Music. “Road Trip” for Snickers and “Replacement” for Fruit by the Foot were both honored for Humor; the latter was directed by Kuntz, while the former was directed by Craig Gillespie.

Following MJZ for the most honors are Biscuit Filmworks and @radical.media, with five honors each.

Biscuit was honored for Next Integrated Campaign for HBO’s “Imagine Integrated Campaign,” directed by Noam Murro. HBO’s Cube Film Installation and www.hboimagine.com, also directed by Murro, were honored for, respectively, Next Experiential and Next Website/Microsite. The Murro-directed “Lost Barrel” for Jameson Whiskey was honored for Visual Effects and Cinematography.

The Dos Equis spot “Treasure Chest” from @radical.media’s Steve Miller, was honored in Agency Art Direction and Copywriting. Another Miller-directed Dos Equis ad, “Jai Alai,” was honored for Copywriting. Toohey’s Extra Dry’s “6 Beers of Separation,” directed by Zack Merck was honored for Next Product Integration. The Laura Ashley spot “Sasha,” directed by Brett Froomer was honored for Spec Spot.

Anonymous Content and Smuggler both received four honors each. The Levi’s ad “America,” directed by Cary Fukunaga of Anonymous, was honored for Visual Style, Cinematography, and Editorial. U.S. Cellular’s “Shadow Puppet” directed by Garth Davis was honored for Production.

The Nike ad “Human Chain” out of Smuggler, and directed by Brian Beletic, was singled out for Production, Visual Style, and Editorial. Nike’s “The Light,” directed by Jaron Albertin, was honored in Low Budget.

The Sweet Shop received three honors – Production Design, Agency Art Direction and Music Arrangement – for Toyota Prius’ “Harmony,” directed by Mr. Hide.

O Positive received three honors. Virgin Atlantic’s “Becoming,” directed by Jim Jenkins, was honored for Performance/Dialogue and Copywriting. “Presentation Guy” for FedEx, and directed by Jenkins was singled out for Performance/Dialogue.

Rupert Sanders of MJZ and Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks were the most honored directors in the Show, with five honors each. Sanders’ Xbox Halo 3: ODST “The Life” was honored for Production, Cinematography, Editorial and Visual Effects. His ABSOLUT “Anthem” spot was honored for Visual Style.

Murro’s honors were for Jameson Whiskey’s “Lost Barrel,” which was honored for Cinematography and Visual Effects. His work for HBO’s “Imagine Integrated Campaign” was honored in Next Integrated Campaign; HBO’s “HBO Cube Film Installation” and HBO’s www.imaginehbo.com were honored, respectively, for Next Experiential and Next Website/Microsite.

Director Tom Kuntz of MJZ was honored four times. Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Can Smell Like” was honored in Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial, Humor and Performance/Dialogue. Fruit by the Foot’s “Replacement” was honored in Humor.

Brian Beletic of Smuggler, Cary Fukunaga of Anonymous Content, Jim Jenkins of O Positive, Mr. Hide of The Sweet Shop, and Steve Miller of @radical.media were all honored three times.

Beletic was singled out for Nike’s “Human Chain” in Visual Style, Production, and Editorial. Fukunaga was honored for Levi’s “America” which appeared in Visual Style, Cinematography, and Editorial.

Jenkins was honored in Performance/Dialogue for FedEx’s “Presentation,” and Virgin Atlantic’s “Becoming.” The latter was also honored for Copywriting.

Mr. Hide was honored for the Toyota Prius ad “Harmony,” which was honored for Production Design, Agency Art Direction, and Musical Arrangement.

Miller was honored for Dos Equis’ “Treasure Chest,” which was singled out for Copywriting and Agency Art Direction. Dos Equis’ “Jai Alai” was additionally honored for Copywriting.

On the agency front, Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, led the pack with 14 honors. “The Man Your Man Can Smell Like” for Old Spice was honored for Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial, Humor, and Performance/Dialogue. Levi’s “America” was singled out for Cinematography, Visual Style and Editorial. Nike’s “Human Chain” received honors for Production, Visual Style and Editorial. Nike Livestrong Foundation’s “Livestrong Integrated Campaign” was honored for Next Integrated Campaign, while Nike Livestrong Foundation’s “Chalkbot” was honored for Next Experiential and Next Product Integration. Nike’s “The Light” received an honor for Low Budget, while Nike’s “Dunkin’ On Reindeer” was honored in Musical Arrangement.

BBDO New York was singled out for six honors. Snickers’ “Road Trip” was honored in Humor. FedEx’s “Presentation Guy” was singled out for Performance/Dialogue, while AMP’s “Tune Out” was honored for Sound Design. HBO’s “Imagine Integrated Campaign” was honored for Next Integrated Campaign; HBO’s www.hboimagine.com was honored in Next Microsite/Website; and HBO’s Film Cube Installation received an honor for Next Experiential.

EURO RSCG, New York, TBWA/Chiat/Day New York, and TAG San Francisco were each honored four times. EURO RSCG was honored for Dos Equis’ “Treasure Chest” in Copywriting and Agency Art Direction; Dos Equis’ “Jai Alai” was singled out for Copywriting. Clearasil’s “Slap” was honored for Spec Spot.

TBWA/Chiat/Day was honored for Jameson Whiskey’s “Lost Barrel” in Cinematography and Visual Effects. ABSOLUT’s “Anthem” was honored for Visual Style and ABSOLUT Vodka’s “I’m Here Trailer” for Original Music.

TAG San Francisco was singled out for Xbox Halo 3 ODST’s “The Life,” which was honored for Production, Visual Effects, Cinematography and Editorial.

Saatchi & Saatchi LA and Y&R New York were each honored three times. The former was singled out for “Harmony” for Toyota Prius in Production Design, Agency Art Direction and Musical Arrangement.

Y&R was recognized for Virgin Atlantic’s “Becoming” in Copywriting and Performance/Dialogue, while Give it a Ponder’s “Unicorn” was honored for Next Viral/Web Film.

The AICP Show reel features custom-designed graphics by Trollbäck + Company, and an original score by Sacred Noise. The Show Sponsor piece was created by Brand New School, with music by Stimmüng.

Over 300 judges from across the country, and a Curatorial Committee comprised of distinguished members of the industry from advertising agencies, production companies, editorial companies, and many others, selected the honored work. A separate panel of leading-edge creative practitioners, chaired by Kevin Roddy, Chief Creative Officer at BBH, New York judged the Next categories. New this year to the Show premiere is an installation showcasing the Next winners. It was designed by McCann Systems, with graphics by Brand New School and utilized the Christie Microtile technology.

After its debut at MoMA, the Show goes on tour across the United States and abroad. The Show will screen in Los Angeles on July 28th; in San Francisco on September 14th; in Dallas on October 20th; and in Chicago on November 18th. The dates for Richmond, Atlanta, Miami and Boston will be posted on aicp.com as they become available.

For more information: aicp.com.