Last year Clemenger BBDO Sydney and I-Manifest
announced a new creative apprenticeship programme - The Forge - designed
to provide a foot in the door for young creative talent who may not
have attended university or completed AWARD school.
Jacqueline
Loh and Cindy Luu are the first of four teams to join the agency on a 3
month fully paid internship in the creative department.
Jacqueline
has recently graduated from South Sydney High and has always been into
telling stories, which she explores through her love of illustration and
writing. To land her place in The Forge Jacqueline made a short film
and has been involved with I-Manifest since 2014, including a project
shown at Vivid Sydney.
Cindy Luu graduated from Strathfield South High School in 2016. She
spends much of her spare time reading, drawing, and designing things
that would make a difference for people. To get into The Forge Cindy
designed and built a prototype for a smart cane to help the visually
impaired. Through I-Manifest Cindy had an artwork displayed as a part of
the 2016 Biennale of Sydney.
The presentations given by
students as part of the interview process were incredibly impressive,
says Josh Aitken, Creative Lead: "Our choice was made almost impossible
as all of the ideas, short films and product prototypes the finalists
came up with were insightful, entertaining and surprising."
Says
Emily Perrett, Managing Director: "We've worked with Jo and I-Manifest
for years and have always been so impressed with the programs and the
talent they unearth. We're excited to be able to partner with her to
provide genuine career pathways for some of their students. It's one of
several things we've got happening this year to improve the diversity of
people coming into our team".