Cannes Radar: Jessica Brillhart

What work do you expect to win big in Cannes this year?

I haven't seen the nominations yet, so tough to say. I did hear that DeepMind's AlphaGo system is in the running? What an incredible prospect!

What app will you be using on your phone during festival week?

All sorts, but probably going to be hitting the Google Translate icon a bit more frequently.

What’s your social platform of choice for festival news and updates?

Good ol' text messaging from trusted friends and colleagues.

What device (s) did you travel to the festival with and why?

Macbook Pro for work stuff. A bunch of SSDs (those are devices right?). My Nexus 6P to find where all my co-workers went...

What do you think will be the hot topic of the week this year?

"What will those crazy folks at Google VR be wearing on stage this year?" Last year, it was Cardboard t-shirts and cargo shorts. Tough act to follow.

Where were you when inspiration last struck?

I was just at the Sheffield Doc/Fest. Just being around other creators, watching the stuff they've been working on, discussing the possibilities – it's energizing.

What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it?

VR has gone beyond pragmatics and is a lot more actionable. We're seeing a language emerge, more cameras are out there, you can see this stuff online with phone, doesn't matter if it's Android or iOS.

I also think overall – the quality bar for content coming from inside tech companies is much, much higher. When I started it wasn't so great. But now we're seeing creatives embrace nuance of how we work with technology, how it affects us, telling much richer stories.

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

How diversity is being handled. We need to more than just checking a box.

It's much more about tossing out any spreadsheet that asks you to keep track. The point is that some day all of this will just seem outrageous and silly. We'll all just be involved and it will be very natural and make a lot of sense to all of us.

What or who has most influenced your career and why?

Computer games – specifically everything made by Cyan (Myst, Riven, Cosmic Osmo). Immersive content started there for me. I learned a lot, and I've applied a lot of those learnings to what I do now. It's made me a much better VR creator than I would have been had I not played those games.

Perhaps odd, but Apple ads from the mid-80s to the early 2000s, mostly done by TBWA/Chiat Day. One of my favorites is called Snail (below) from the Think Different campaign where they put an Intel processor on a snail – and that was it. Just a computer chip on a snail moving slowly across the screen. It was genius.

Also, Jurassic Park. I sat in the front row of the theater. I was eight. We flew over the island and that score by John Williams boomed all around me. Something happened to me, in that moment. Like a shock to the brain. And I remember vividly remember going home that night and spending a solid two hours trying to figure out that theme melody on the piano.