For many years, The Lift has been a proud sponsor of the Ciclope Festival, a one-of-a-kind global community for best-in-class creatives, from filmmakers to CMO’s to composers and everyone in between who is passionate about visual storytelling. Ciclope holds an annual award show in Berlin, honoring the best short films, music videos, and commercials from that year. But the festival is more than just an award show, it is a unique two-day event with an amazing calendar of talks, case study presentations, networking events, parties, and of course, the award show.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ciclope took all of this year’s events online, including the 2020 award show, which was presented in a virtual ceremony last night. While we missed seeing everyone and celebrating in person, The Lift is excited that the Daniel Wolfe-directed Maurice and the Black Bear School spot for Hennessy, which we helped produce with Droga5 and Somesuch, won the Bronze award in the category for Direction 91 to 80 seconds!
Big shoutout to Ciclope’s founders and our friends Francisco Condorelli and Juan María, who have done an exceptional job producing enriching virtual events over the past few months. Recently we had the chance to speak with Francisco about the festival, it’s future, and the industry trends currently on his radar. Check out what he had to say below.
Q: What positive changes did this year bring into the world of production and craft?
A: I think the sense of community is stronger after the lock down, and we also learnt new skills, such as working remotely, working with noise, kids around and a total sense of uncertainty. It definitely showed us how adaptable we can be…
Q: What virtual or digital changes are starting to appear more frequently in productions around the world?
A: Well, obviously remote production, and less ‘live’ meetings, less travelling…all very positive I think.
Q: How have those digital changes affected projects and productions?
A: Less waste, less carbon in the atmosphere, and lots of dollar savings.
Q: What do you think the future of productions and craft will look like in one, two or three years from now?
A: I can’t really predict it, but what we’re seeing today looks like the new norm for the next few years.
Q: As an industry visionary, what are the most exciting challenges that are fast-approaching?
A: I think the number one challenge for most production shops is to get back to a certain ‘normality’.. and then, there will be time to think of a new one.
Q: Many companies have started to invest more in craft, why do you think this change is happening now?
A: It’s good to hear that. I think it’s more a matter of evolution. We, as consumers, are demanding more and better from those who entertain us.
Q: You’ve already spearheaded one of the world’s most important craft festivals. What do you have in store for the festival in the future?
A: Well, it’s not easy to predict, but I think although this pandemic changed us in many ways, the need for ‘live’ human interaction will still be there. In fact, I think we will all value it even more after lockdown. We all want to see, touch and smell people…we ‘read’ and trust more on people we had the chance to interact with ‘in person’ and being as this industry is so dependent on trust, I think the events that can deliver a good ‘human experience’ will succeed. At the same time, I think most of the content we used to deliver ‘live’ such as talks and screenings, will be 100% digital.
Q: What are you excited about?
A: About getting back to Berlin as soon as possible!
We would also like to extend our congratulations to all of our friends who received awards at this year’s Ciclope Festival!
Production Company of the Year: Somesuch
Director of the Year: Mark Molloy
Agency of the Year: Wieden+Kennedy
Biscuit Filmworks
Smuggler
Academy Films
Ian Pons Jewell
O Positive
Droga5
MJZ
Kim Gehrig
Reset
Partizan
72andSunny
Iconoclast
Stink Films
Nicky Barnes
Check out the complete list of winners here!