Sevda Cemo’s Cannes Diary #1

Sevda Cemo, head of film and content production at Special is representing Australia on the Cannes Entertainment Lions jury. Cemo, along with most of the other Australian and NZ jurors writes exclusively for CB.

This is a year of firsts for me…
First time in the South of France
First time judging Cannes Lions Entertainment category
First time meeting the esteemed jury members in my group.

Cannes Lions started in 1954 where apparently approx 180 plus entries came in from around the world, cut to 70 years later and there were roughly 27,000 global entries.

It’s pretty wild to see how creativity has grown over this time. What a privilege it is to be here
with some of the world’s most fierce and creative minds.

The Entertainment Lions category celebrates creativity that turns branded content into culture. The work is to demonstrate ideas that are unskippable; entertainment which captivates in order to cut-through and communicate a brand message or connect with the world in a fresh and new way. With nearly 300 entries this was a fascinating and yet mammoth task.

The things we are seeing… diversity and inclusion being at the forefront, how technology and AI are being used, nostalgia, brand & IP integration, social justice above all how we experience and engage with entertainment in its various forms.

Cannes 70th Birthday is a pretty momentous occasion and with it will come some pretty historical work…

So here it goes we’re about to embark on another big day of judging the best of the best… No pressure !

Stay tuned…