How the search for new talent has changed over three decades

With the Cannes Lions festival happening next month, it also means that the 2026 edition of the Young Director Award is almost upon us. 

Now in its 29th year, the YDA is an annual event which highlights the new directorial talent making its way into the industry and is recognised as one of the most prestigious awards shows for – and accurate indicators of – the next generation of directing talent.

But after almost three decades of existence, has the ways in which production companies seek out these new directors changed, and has what they are looking for changed with it? The best place to look for answers to such questions is at the coal face of the production community, so we spoke to the heads of four production, all of which are Prime Sponsors and longstanding supporters of YDA, and all of whom have vast knowledge of what new talent looks like, how and where to find it, and the challenges that talent faces in 2026.

Final YDA entry deadline; Friday May 15 2026

Below, we hear from Tobias Paul, Executive Producer & Managing Partner at Simon & Paul; Daniel Bergmann, Founder and President of the Stink Group of companies; Jérôme Denis, CEO of La Pac, and Mal Ward, Partner in and Managing Director of Arts & Sciences, and who is also the chair of this year's YDA jury.

Above: [clockwise from top left] Daniel Bergmann, Jérôme Denis, Tobias Paul and Mal Ward. 

What are the differences - if any - in looking for new talent in 2026 than in 2016, or 2006?

TP: The biggest shift is really about the liberation of the tools and what that has done to who gets to tell stories. In 2006 you largely needed film school or years working your way up on set before anyone would take you seriously. By 2016, a DSLR was enough to build a reel that could turn heads, and today a phone or even AI tools can produce work that stops you mid-scroll. That democratisation has completely blown open who gets to be a director, and the voices coming through now are more diverse and unexpected than ever before. What has not changed is the one thing no tool can give you, a distinct point of view and the ability to make people feel something.

MW: Over the past few years the majority of the new talent we’ve brought on has come from the film and episodic TV world, especially if the work has cultural cache and relevance that will resonate in the advertising work. It’s also the logical evolution of our company, given Arts & Sciences film division. We also consistently sign and develop directors who have developed their work and reputation through an agency or client’s creative department. Obviously, their understanding of the dynamic between client, agency and production company puts them in a strong position to succeed. 

 By 2016, a DSLR was enough to build a reel that could turn heads, and today a phone or even AI tools can produce work that stops you mid-scroll.

DB: The principles are the same, the techniques are quite different. There's much use of more social media, like LinkedIn and Instagram.

JD: In 2006, simply put, you couldn’t be a director without a production company. The barriers to entry were too high. Today, it’s the opposite. You can shoot a film on your iPhone and finish it on a laptop. You can build a treatment using references found on social media or generated with AI, and put together a team through an Instagram post. There are no longer any barriers to entry. And that’s great — everything is possible, everything is allowed. The result: films are everywhere, across every possible medium, in every field of expression. Gone are the days of religiously watching the shots DVD, the Saatchi & Saatchi Showcase reels, the YDA, or any other festival promoting emerging talent. That was 2006. In 2026, it’s an endless stream.

Above: The biggest filmmaking shift has been around the tools available to up-and-coming filmmakers.

In the past, spec films or music videos were the places to find emerging talent; where do you look today?

TP: Spec films and music videos are still valid hunting grounds, and will probably always have a place in how we discover new directors, but social media has completely transformed the game, opening up talent discovery globally in a way that simply was not possible before. A director on the other side of the world can stop you in your tracks on a Tuesday morning just by showing up in your feed, and that is genuinely one of the most exciting things about the industry right now. 

At the same time, platforms like the YDA play a crucial role because they do the hard work of filtering and curating, bringing the most exciting emerging voices into one place and giving them the visibility they deserve. The tools have multiplied, but the thrill of discovering someone who makes you think differently about what film can do has never changed.

Talent is no longer absolute; it’s deeply relative, because talent is everywhere. 

DB: No so much spec films, only school specs, like the ones from Germany's Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, but yes, music videos, and also passion projects. We also look into schools and, of course, social media.

JD: Talent, in theory, now comes from everywhere. That’s the new reality. However, in advertising and music videos, the ability to engage with the format still matters. Talent is no longer absolute; it’s deeply relative, because talent is everywhere. Only those who actually step in and play the game have a chance. It’s all about commitment. Music videos and commercials remain privileged arenas. Fashion content and short films as well. You recognise talent not so much in doing something 'well' in absolute terms, but in doing it better than others. [It's about] those who endure over time, who withstand the test, because even in a world that accelerates, a career is still built the same way: over time. Social media signals and excites, but only the long term turns those sparks into something lasting.

Above: Being able to present yourself, your work and your ideas on Zoom is an important trait in 2026.

What qualities do you now look for in a young director?

TP: A distinctive voice and a genuine point of view that you cannot easily place or predict. What excites me about the new wave of directors is that they are redefining not just what films look like but how they are made, bringing a more inclusive and collaborative approach to the whole process. That shift in mindset matters deeply to me because the energy on set always finds its way onto the screen. Beyond that, we look for directors who are deeply curious, who reference the world - and not just other advertising - broadly, because that is where the truly unexpected ideas come from.

As always, [it's about] talent; the ability to deploy the right craft in the right way to elevate an idea. 

MW: The main thing is still vision, taste and point of view. But, honestly, if you cannot present your ideas or yourself over a Zoom, it’s going to be a tough journey. And then the days of waiting for your production company to generate all your opportunities is long gone. You have to be a partner in your success by, of course, delivering stellar work, but also by establishing a great reputation and forming and maintaining relationships with the people you work with, from the PA to the CCO. 

DB: As always, talent; the ability to deploy the right craft in the right way to elevate an idea. 

JD: As to the qualities expected, nothing has really changed. A director is, above all, a great playmate — a human being who energises a team. Someone who brings confidence, solidity, vision and who also knows how to share their doubts. Someone ambitious, yet capable of humility. Technical skills and art direction can be learned — especially in a world where AI is becoming part of the landscape. A director is first and foremost a way of seeing and approaching the world.

Above: Finding talent isn't the hard part, the difficulty is knowing who to bet on.

Apart from filmmaking talent, what is the most important quality a new director needs in order to achieve success?

TP: Resilience, without question, but also the wisdom to know which battles are worth fighting. This industry will test you constantly, and not every hill is worth dying on. There will be moments where you have to push back hard and moments where you have to let something go, and learning to tell the difference early is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.

DB: The ability to stay original, with a unique voice. 

What is the hardest thing about breaking new talent today?

TP: Finding talent is not the problem anymore, the world is full of it. The harder question is knowing who to bet on, because you can only invest deeply in so many people at a time. It is about reading potential rather than just presenting output, and understanding who has the hunger and the character to grow alongside the work. The directors who make it are rarely the most technically polished ones in the room, they are the ones with something burning inside them that you just cannot ignore.

Many agencies will no longer take a chance on a young director as the risk, real or perceived, is too much to chance. 

MW: It’s a buyer’s market for clients with no shortage of great directors available all of the time. And, like it or not, the creative bar for engagement has been lowered, so you see established director’s names on work you never would have a few years ago. And then, the other big hurdle with breaking new talent, is that many agencies will no longer take a chance on a young director as the risk, real or perceived, is too much to chance. 

JD: To break talent today requires patience. And the world has very little of it. The upside is that it quickly sorts things out. A24, Mégaforce or Kim Gehrig didn’t happen to be who they are overnight. I know the backstories.

Above: Breaking talent requires patience; Kim Gehrig didn't become the successful director we know overnight. 

In the past, being able to tell a story in 30- or 60-seconds was paramount for a successful career; is that still the case?

TP: The skill is still absolutely essential, but the goalposts have shifted dramatically. Where 30-seconds once felt like the ultimate compression challenge, we are now seeing formats that demand a complete emotional arc in 10- to 13-seconds, which is a different discipline entirely. At the same time, the landscape has expanded in the other direction too, with long form content and branded films giving directors more room to breathe. The directors who thrive today are the ones who can move fluidly across all of these formats, understanding that the fundamentals of storytelling remain the same, but the craft of hitting those beats has never been more demanding.

The skill is still absolutely essential, but the goalposts have shifted dramatically.

MW: It’s absolutely still the case, but now add the ability to tell a story in 6- or 15-seconds, which is generally the most important deliverables to a client given their utility in social and the viewer’s general lack of attention. 

DB: More or less, yes. But lets call it short form because, nowadays, the length is a little less restricted to exact formats.

JD: I believe advertising is the art of synthesis and shortcuts. It’s a delicate, demanding art, one that relies on intelligence rather than literalism. So, yes, in that sense, nothing has changed. If you can craft 30- and 60-second films like no one else, you’re welcome. Three-minute films in juries… we all know how endless they feel.

Above: Fear, and fighting the current economic tidalwave, means new talent may have fewer opportunities than in the past. 

Why do you think agencies/clients seem reluctant to give new talent more chances? 

TP: The honest answer is fear, and the current economic climate has made that fear louder than ever. When budgets are under pressure and every decision is scrutinised, clients and agencies naturally gravitate towards the safe bet, towards a director who has already made the film they are imagining ten times over. There is a certain comfort in a proven reel that is very hard to argue against when you are the one signing off on a significant investment. But what gets lost in that thinking is that safety rarely produces the work that anyone remembers.

MW: Mainly because of the fear of not wanting to be the one held accountable if the experience and end product isn’t stellar. Each and every account and client is so important to an agency, whether independent or giant holding company, that the appetite for risk has been lowered, to say the least. And, again, the climate of being a buyer’s market that is just overstuffed with incredible, established talent makes it harder for someone new to breakthrough.

The real issue today is the overabundance of talent, and therefore the difficulty of making any one voice stand out.

DB: The fear of failing, and the lack of confidence, often caused by lack of education and experience. 

JD: I don’t think that’s really the case. To begin with, here in France, some agencies do produce, and young directors benefit from it — though not sustainably, unfortunately. The real issue today is the overabundance of talent, and therefore the difficulty of making any one voice stand out. Desire spreads thin, attention dissolves into the mass. Many young talents get their moment — their Warholian instant — but only those who hold the course alongside their producer truly cross the Rubicon.