On the Scene at ADFEST 2011

ADFEST 2011 Bounces Back

With a "Jump Start" theme, the Made In Asia Festival draws a full house
to Phuket with seminars, awards galas and a sense of optimism.

By Simon West

The object of Asian desire: the ADFEST Trophy.

They packed the house at the Movenpick Resort in Phuket last week for ADFEST 2011, so much so that there's word that the festival is thinking about heading back to its former venue in Pattaya. So says our man On the Scene, James Straker, Managing Director of SourceEcreative in London, who was in attendance at the festival this year along with Lee Michael, head of our Asia Pacific region. ADFEST limited the number of delegates this year to 800, the maximum capacity of the Movenpick, and in spite of the recent crisis and tragedy in Japan, the venue was full to capacity. Photos of the event appear below.

The overall mood at the event was said to be optimistic, tempered by a great sense of concern for the Japanese and an outpouring of sympathy. Many of the Japanese delegates who had planned to attend canceled to stay home in light of the crisis, says Straker.

Overall, the jury proved to be somewhat stingy in handing out medals this year. For example, in the Film Craft Lotus awards, there were 136 entries, but only five Golds were handed out, in addition to 13 Silvers and 12 Bronze.

The Gold Lotus winners included "Lucky Dog," for the New Zealand Lottery Commission, produced by The Sweet Shop in Auckland and directed by Steve Ayson, which won in the Best Direction/Single category; "Leaf Blower" and "Ride On Mower" for Sky TV, produced by Liquid Studios in Auckland; which won in the Best Direction/Campaign category; "It's In Our Nature" for the Shangri-La Hotel & Resort, produced by Quad in France, which won for Best Cinematography (this spot also on a Gold in the Travel, Tourism & Transport category of the Film Lotus Awards); "Secret Training Camp" for Optus Network, produced by The Feds, which won in the Best Special Effects category; and "Monkey" for the World Wildlife Fund, produced by Revolver Film, which won in the Best Original Music category.

This year, there were only three entries to the New Director Lotus competition, with a single Gold being awarded to a spot titled "Dad's Love" for Sunshine Sakae, produced by the Japanese production company TYO, Inc. and its Monster Division.

For a full rundown on the Film Craft Lotus winners, click here. For a full rundown on the Film Lotus winners, click here.

Ant McPhail from Luscious (right) in Australia with SourceEcreative's Lee Michael.

SourceEcreative's James Straker (left) with Kim White from The Network in South
Africa (center) and Jonbi Gudmundsson from At Swim in the Czech Republic.

Kristie Hokin of Kodak shares a moment with
Lee on the famous SourceEcreative steps.

Ringmaster Marko Klijn from Cirkus in New Zealand with our man James. The Cirkus
animated openings for the awards gala were a big hit.

James Hudson from Toybox in New Zealand (right) with Lee.

Suzanne Huisman from Fat Fred's in Amsterdam with
Sanky Sankarayya of D&AD in London.

Louisa St. Pierre (far left) and Dan Ouyand (far right) from B&A Reps of Shanghai
and New York with Lee and Geok Lem from Tribe in Shanghai.

Migiwa Ozawa from Film Construction with Lee.

Are they having fun or not? Members of the Cirkus troupe at the closing night party.