How the New Creators’ Showcase Is Inspiring the Industry to Hire Emerging Talent
Offering emerging motion creators anywhere in the world the opportunity to have their work broadcast on a global stage at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the 2024 iteration of Saatchi & Saatchi’s legendary New Creators’ Showcase continues Saatchi & Saatchi’s 34-year commitment to platforming, championing and hiring emerging talent.
But what sort of creators is the showcase looking for, and how does Saatchi & Saatchi hope to ensure the shortlisted talent gets opportunities to find more projects to realise their potential on?
To answer these and more questions, LBB’s Alex Reeves speaks to UK chief creative officer Franki Goodwin and director Eugen Merher, one of last year’s shortlisted creators who has since gone on to work with Saatchi & Saatchi.
LBB> What principles of the NCS are key to this year's being a good vintage?
Franki> NCS is a huge moment for us at Saatchis, and it’s honestly just as important, relevant and influential as it was when it debuted 34 years ago.
Fundamentally, NCS is all about celebrating amazing talent, and we continue the showcase because its influence – in spotlighting new creators, in starting thought provoking conversations, and in helping them get hired – is as strong as it was in 1991.
A lot goes into getting it right each year to ensure it’s the best it can be and that we’re doing justice to the creators we feature. For me, success is a showcase that’s truly representative of modern creativity – reaching the furthest corners of excellence across the globe, beyond the traditional and expected creative mediums.
LBB> What's new for 2024? How is it evolving?
Franki> The showcase may be 34 years old but it evolves every year, and with each iteration we uncover new mediums, styles and trends to feature in our final reel. Each showcase is so different to the last, reflecting the issues shaping culture and our news agendas, and new ways to craft and communicate narratively.
Many in the industry remember its old name – the New Directors’ Showcase – which we changed to reflect the widened pool of talent it now features, just as the way we communicate and create has broadened. It’s so important as we want the showcase to be truly representative – reaching the furthest corners of excellence across the globe, beyond the traditional and expected creative mediums. Recent years have seen new forms of animation and AI-driven work included – and we’re always excited to see what’s next.
LBB> Who should enter? What sort of talent would make you happiest to see in the mix?
Franki> A lot goes into the curation of the showcase, but its curation is such a positive process that Kate [Stanners, global CCO], Jess [Ringshall, CPO, Saatchi & Saatchi UK] and I really look forward to each year.
Last year we had short films, yes, but also music videos, animation and comedy, from creators hailing from the UK to the US, Iran and Ukraine. I’m hoping to see even more diversity in the mediums and makers submitted. I’m proud that the showcase continues to change however it needs to in order to showcase the most exciting creativity out there.
This year I'm also on the jury for film at Cannes Lions, so I’m looking forward to digesting a brilliant mixture of established and new work in the next few months.
LBB> Last year your colleague Jessica Ringshall told me "it's the industry taking control of its own creative destiny." What sort of engagement from the broader industry would you like to see this year in order to achieve that?
Franki> Our goal is and will always be to inspire the industry as a whole to hire new. This is about agencies putting exciting new names on their pitch lists, yes, but it’s also about helping our brand partners see and get behind the incredible value that comes in taking a risk on working with emerging talent.
LBB> She also said "These people should be hired. That's how we keep our industry hungry and alive and exciting." Has that been happening with the shortlisted creators from previous years?
Franki> Last year we announced that the showcase would unlock additional, longer-term commercial support for all the creators shortlisted.
This means that we’ve committed to ensuring that each creator has the opportunity to collaborate on at least one agency project in the 12 months following the showcase. We launched this commitment with the support of some of our biggest brand partners including John Lewis & Partners, British Heart Foundation and EE, and is one that extends opportunity across the Saatchi global and Publicis Groupe networks. It’s been incredible to see last year’s creators, including Eugen, working with brands such as Nivea and Deutsche Telekom as a result of that commitment.
LBB> Eugen, when did you first hear about the NCS and what convinced you to enter?
Eugen> When I first heard about the showcase, it was still called the New Director’s Showcase. I was at film school at the time. It was kind of this thing that we heard about, but for some reason, we never really entered because we always thought it's for higher-level work or something. I don’t know why it was like that, because actually we’re exactly the kind of people who should be entering.
While entering your work into festivals makes perfect sense, a lot of them charge you to enter, and as a young filmmaker, that’s often prohibitive and not a good use of resource. I've entered festivals in the past where you pay tonnes of entry fees and it doesn't get you anywhere. But there are a few – and NCS is amongst those – where I really do feel like it really gives you the right kind of exposure to the right people. People in the industry see your work, not just some festival internal circuit that don’t actually hire people. So, really, enter your work. Don't be afraid!
LBB> That misconception about what is worth entering is why Saatchi & Saatchi has a researcher, of course. The agency welcomes entries but also seeks out talent that should consider entering. That’s what happened to you right?
Eugen> Yes! I was actually approached by Saatchi’s researcher Louise Hake directly, which was quite cool. She saw my work at another festival – Ciclope – and she asked me if I would be up for submitting it, basically. Wow, I didn't expect that. Of course, I submitted - and it worked out.
LBB> Then after your film, 'The Boy Who Couldn't Feel Pain' was selected, what did it lead to?
Eugen> I read on the website, back then when I got selected, that the showcase wants to support young filmmakers and create opportunities. And I kind of thought, you know, sounds good, but a lot of things sound good but don’t come to anything. But this was different – after the showcase, Saatchi called me and said, “Hey, we want to get to know you to see what kind of opportunities could work for you.”
And I did get opportunities. It's not like I suddenly started shooting stuff, but scripts from Saatchi came through that I actually won. That was unexpected for me personally, because in the advertising space, promises are usually very vague, let's say. So that was cool to see.
I’d also signed with Academy Films the year before the showcase. Of course, that just kept on pushing me into scripts and I got more exposure as a director. I started getting more recognition, more scripts to pitch on, not only from Saatchis.
The ideas of nurturing young talent actually did work out in this case. So I'm super happy about that.
LBB> What have been the highlights of the past year since your inclusion in the Showcase?
Eugen> I did a Deutsche Telekom campaign, which was pretty big for me. That was through Saatchi & Saatchi Germany which was a highlight, and I’ve pitched on and worked on a couple of other things with Saatchi & Saatchi too since.
I did a music video that I really loved for Rudimental through Academy Films. That was shot on film, a small-town vibe in Essex, England. I loved that.
It was a pretty cool past year. And I moved to LA.
LBB> What else are you working on at the moment?
Eugen> I’m just pitching on a script, so let's see if that works out. I’m also working on feature film ideas, and I’m going to be shooting something in Spain with a production company. I've been at it for a long time. I started in 2015 and graduated in 2020. But even during film school, I was pitching on stuff. Now slowly things are coming together. I’m getting to know more and more production companies, more agencies. It's kind of a slow but steady roll upwards – that's what it feels like. It's never an overnight thing.
