Zulu Alpha Kilo Extends Partnership of The Immortal Awards Canadian Jury
The Immortal Awards is delighted to announce that Zulu Alpha Kilo, the award-winning indie agency with offices in Toronto, Vancouver and New York, is continuing its sponsorship of the Canadian jury for the 2023 competition.
The continued partnership reinforces the pair's commitment to highlighting and showcasing the country’s best creative projects, companies and individuals to a global audience.
The Immortal Awards introduced the local, country-based jury days in 2021 to shine a spotlight on the wonderful work being created at a grassroots level. The aim of the local juries is to give every market a platform on the global stage to highlight and celebrate its best work, with juries selecting a body of work to represent the country on a regional stage.
Last year saw the Canadian jury come together and judge in person for the first time ever, as Zulu Alpha Kilo hosted the jury day in October. The panel selected 11 projects to qualify for the North American round as Canadian Finalists, with two projects - Penguin Random House’s 'The Unburnable Book' (submitted by Rethink) and the Royal Ontario Museum's 'Immortal' (submitted by Broken Heart Love Affair and Moonlighting Film Production Services) - going on to receive Commendations in the final, global round of judging.
The continued partnership also means that The Immortal Awards will return to Canada this year, again judging in person thanks to the support of Zulu Alpha Kilo.
Zak Mroueh, founder of Zulu Alpha Kilo, says: “I have always been a big fan of Little Black Book, as well as the mission and intent of The Immortal Awards. We had such a blast hosting all the Canadian judges last year. Many of us hadn't seen each other in years because of the pandemic. We decided to host the judging again for the simple fun of it, which will create some nice energy and buzz in our office now that we’re back. As an agency, we also like to support the pursuit of creativity. Coincidentally, I first met Tim Gordon while judging the Immortal North American awards two years ago. Today, he’s a partner in the agency and leading our New York office. So, there may have been a little bit of karma involved too."
Continuing, Zak adds that he loves the way the show is run. "The fact that you have regional and local shortlists helps foster the local creative community and builds their confidence," he adds. "I think the Immortals has a strong global view of creativity by celebrating work that might fly under the radar at some of the bigger, more politically plagued awards shows. You really care about the work first, regardless of where it’s from or which country or holding company was behind it, which makes all the difference. You don’t have to appease anyone.”
Paul Monan, awards director, comments: “Canada is a market close to the heart of the team at Little Black Book, so we are beyond happy to be returning for judging this year thanks to Zak and the crew at Zulu Alpha Kilo. Since year one, we’ve seen that a lot of the truly incredible work entered into the Immortals comes from Canada. The selections that our Canadian juries have made in the last two years are unbelievably strong, as seen by the fact that four projects made it to last year’s global jury day - of which two picked up prizes. It feels like Canada is on a roll creatively, and we can’t wait to get back to Toronto later this year to celebrate the best of it with our jury."
On Canada’s recent resurgence as a creative powerhouse, Zak says: “I’ve always been a big believer in the talent we have in our country. There have been many great moments of Canadian creativity, as far back as two decades ago. Back then, there were only a few agencies getting recognized on the global stage. We were doing it at TAXI at the time, along with Palmer Jarvis/DDB and a few others. But today, it’s the sheer volume of Canadian agencies creating globally recognized work that’s making a big dent on the world stage. Collectively, it’s all contributing to our reputation and overall creative haul as a country. This newfound confidence and swagger have been years in the making. I think our country’s unique creative voice has finally been unlocked with a distinct Canadian style. Because we don’t have big budgets, it’s the idea that has always had to take centre stage here. There are so many talented creatives who’ve grown up in this market, learning how to create big things with very little. In a weird way because of these budget constraints, it’s forced us to be even more creative.”
The Immortal Awards entry system is now open and entries will be accepted until September 7th 2023. All entries must be made for a commissioning client, and must have first aired, broadcast, displayed, launched or published between September 1st 2022 and August 31st 2023.
Every member of LBB is entitled to up to five entries as part of their membership. To enter, visit the submissions portal here. The full list of rules, including eligibility dates, can be found here.
If you’d like to enter the Immortal Awards but you’re not yet a member of LBB, sign up here today.
Thanks to our wonderful Immortal Awards partners
