AdFest 2012: Day two of the craft judging

George Mackenzie, regional managing director of The Sweet Shop, is jury president of Film Craft Lotus and New Director Lotus at this year’s ADFEST. Check out George’s observations – plus other judges – over the next week as they write for Campaign Brief Asia.

Hello all from Pattaya. I have survived two nights out and one day of judging. ADFEST have been fabulous hosts so far. It has been a lot of fun meeting or catching up with all the different jury members.

We the craft jury, have worked our way through all the entries. Today we will discus our shortlist.

We have seen some excellent examples of craft but I would have to say they were scarce this year. Some of the good work here has already done well at other shows. Some of it is fresh. It’s actually a very good mix. I do not think their will be to many surprises from the craft jury.

I could easily be proven wrong. You never know what will happen once the debate for metal starts.

This year there are lot of long format films in the entries. It seems the move from seconds to minutes is definitely in motion. Big is not always best though. I am keen to see how the results for the traditional tvc compare to those of the du jour webisode etc.

Interestingly, I have noticed small numbers of entries in craft from NZ and Australia. I am guessing marketing budgets are tight this year for both production companies and clients.