The New Creators' Showcase Is a “Live Organism of Opportunity”

Jessica> Like everybody in the industry, I revered it in exactly the same way that you're just saying. It was very much a moment in the calendar. It was something that you could tie so much meaning to with trends. If you were up on those directors you felt great because they were included and if you didn't know them it was horrifying (how quickly could you get to start to know them?). It was a real litmus test for a producer. And also incredibly inspiring. There was always a heady mix of Saatchi's as an untouchable, amazing, long-standing agency that is special in its own right and has its own special place at Cannes – its own lane from a creative and production perspective. It was also quite intimidating to look at from afar. I was at Grey, and remember we struggled to get directors to buy our scripts in the early days because we had no profile. Although that changed. 

It's always been an incredibly important fixture for producers and creatives in the industry. And I'm not sure of another agency that's got the same type of fixture. It is quite unique, quite special. And it's always felt like that, from afar. And now inside the agency, it feels the same.

Jessica> Again, I think the evolution of the industry, full stop. Once being the New Directors' Showcase, it was a very specific thing in terms of moving image and what directors were doing. Of course now, it is much more inclusive, including creators. That's a powerful marker for the fact that how much the industry has changed, something that's 30 years old has gone on that journey as well. 

It is quite simple. And I guess from afar when I was being ungracious I'd say it's just a showcase. Then when I really understood more about it, I realised it's the industry taking control of its own creative destiny. Even back then I knew people who had contributed to it and had either worked on it at Saatchi's or production companies who really invested time to think about who they might want to try and submit. It was a real talking point. 

Now coming into it, I think Kate [Stanners, global CCO] has always been, in her tenure of New Directors' Showcase, incredible at breathing new life into themes each year, taking the temperature of the industry, using the alumni, giving it the right platform and keeping it going. This stuff is quite difficult. The fact that it's run as long as it has is in itself quite incredible.

Jessica> For me and for the team here at Saatchi today, we do want it to mean more and go further. As part of the initiatives that we've got going on with the rest of the agency in terms of Upriser or RAW – the Real Audience Window – this is quite a pertinent moment of advertising still being essential and relevant to the creative arts. How do you nurture that emerging talent? That's what NCS has always been, but how do we look at that through the lens of modern Britain? 

The team have always done some really interesting things, got great panellists and had great themes, but I feel like bringing Channel 4 on last year was incredibly important because those are the same challenges that they have. They have challenges to make sure that they're hiring emerging talent, they don't keep going to the same production companies, they don't keep hiring the same writers, they're pushing themselves, they're really asking themselves the questions about the type of creative work they're making. That's what NCS feels like now to me on the inside. I wanted to continue the juggernaut but evolve it. 

Loads of articles are written on LBB and lots of places saying we're in a talent crisis and asking what the future of creativity looks like. Then you create a showcase that has an amazing audience and an amazing ability to launch people's careers. And we need to hire them. That needs to be a real honest commercial agenda for the wider industry and when looking at NCS. These people should be hired. That's how we keep our industry hungry and alive and exciting.

Jessica> It is the broadest possible definition. But I also believe that visual filmmakers are incredible writers. One of the things that we wrestle with a lot in agencies is the ideation that comes from a creative agency is incredible, but we always look to the external market to elevate our ideas. 

You look to production companies, you look to the writers, the VFX artists, the illustrators – to elevate that ideation. That's why I think the word 'creator' is important now. That artistic and creative lens that our partners bring to us – we no longer just work with a production company that may have 15 directors on their roster. We work with loads of companies that have illustrators, photographers and AI specialists. And there are lots of creators who would define themselves as traditional directors and photographers and a multitude of other things. That's why it's got to be wide. That's why it's essential. Because that's the evolution of the incredible talent that's out there. And the young people making work are probably also social influences, brand experts, etc. I speak to directors who also manage bands on the side and do all their music videos. So I think that's why it's important for it to be so all encompassing. It's not nebulous by mistake. It's broad on purpose.

Jessica> It's a real, live organism of opportunity. It isn't a passive list of people. There is huge debate around the people featured. There's huge time and effort spent thinking about the context of the entries. We've got quite an interesting criteria because it is as much of a curation as it is a showcase. And so it's essential that we get the mad animators and the really different thinkers because there isn't one way of doing this. This is ever-bubbling and effervescing; that's what makes it really special. It's not like we choose our films in January and pack up shop and the edit gets done. It lives and breathes constantly. 

Also, I need people to know that The Daniels were featured in the NDS and they've won Oscars. The alumni that have featured are absolutely extraordinary. And it's made people's careers. It's really that pertinent to this funny little industry we have. It's an accolade. 

Jessica> I've been looking at submissions and it is such a privilege and a thrill to immerse myself in this work. People running production companies, agencies or brands all over the place should allow themselves to indulge in this showcase. That's the thing that I get so excited about. I think I know who's out there and I realise I don't know. It challenges me by age and by my position. I realise I have to also think about the people making this. It's normally crazy 21 year olds who've made it in their bedroom or done it as a university or art school film project or something. I just think "How do these people come up with this stuff?" 

Particularly this year. We've always talked about bedroom makers and all the rest of it. What people are able to do becomes more and more extraordinary. In the old days you needed a certain level of equipment, lots of investment. There were a lot of things holding young people back from really being able to give themselves an opportunity. It's not like that anymore, and that's why this is so exciting.