The ADVERTISING Club of New York’s International ANDY Awards, the first advertising award show of the season has released the ‘Face The Future’ film today, in partnership with creative agency, Pereira O’Dell – that illustrates how the ANDYs Jury has changed through the years by creating an amalgamation of faces.
As a part of the ‘Face The Future’ initiatives announced last December – a path forward to propel a new generation of leaders for the industry – the ANDYs launched the film to highlight the importance of having the face of advertising accurately reflect more individuals within the industry.
With the creative team behind the film hailing from across the globe and country, including Brazil, New Zealand, Colombia, and South Africa. Using AI, the portraits of each year’s jury were integrated, averaging each unique face into one, reflective of the group. Deep faked onto an actor, the amalgamation became the living, breathing, talking face of the industry. To make the evolution even more clear, the same thing was done with juries from other years and turned the video into a personified graphic on the morphing of how the face of advertising has been evolving.
"This film is almost an infographic we can watch frame by frame. It helps us see, in a very visceral way, the progress we've recently made, but also how much we still have to do,” said PJ Pereira, Creative Chairman of Pereira O’Dell and ANDY’s Jury Chair. “That perspective is important because what we are doing with the jury this year is an experiment that will pay off a decade from now. Hopefully together with a combination of other initiatives from agencies and industry organizations like The ANDYs, we are on step closer to a more inclusive and diverse industry.”
"The technical ask behind this campaign is a bit of 'VFX Inception'”, said Ruel Smith, Director and VFX Supervisor at Stept Studios. “What you are looking at is an amalgamation of faces - on top of a Deep Fake/Face Swap - on top of a head replacement. A technique within a technique, within a technique. My team at Stept Studios along with Pereira O'Dell was up for the challenge from day one and I wouldn't want it any other way."
In a year where agencies are heeding calls for diversity, the ANDYs goal is to hold up a mirror to the industry and show that progress is possible.
“Essentially, we are asking everyone to face the future with us and do their part,” said Gina Grillo, President and CEO of The ADVERTISING Club of New York and International ANDY Awards. “This is another initiative the AD Club hopes moves the industry forward. The ANDYs is asking the community to stand with us and face the future to create an industry that reflects us all.”
The ANDY Awards are inviting the industry into the judging room once again in the name of transparency, feedback, and education. The ANDYs ‘show’ will stream on April 1st, providing an inside look at the judging discussions as well as announcement of the 2021 top honors.
