A Short Film for Smirnoff Ice Wins The Second Annual Tribeca X Award

By Jeff Beer , April 24, 2017

It’s a looooong way from Bros Icing Bros. The Tribeca Film Festival tonight officially announced Smirnoff Ice’s Chris Fonseca: Keep It Moving, directed by Zachary Heinzerling, as the winner of the second annual Tribeca X Award, the top prize for “excellence in creative, original and authentic storytelling that is sponsored or underwritten by a brand.”

The film, created with agency 72andSunny, beat out an impressive line-up of finalists, including BMW Films’ The Escape, starring Clive Owen and created by Neil Blomkamp, For Every Kind of Dream from Square, Kenzo’s The Realest Real directed by Carrie Brownstein, and more.

The winner was chosen by a jury that included Hearst COO Joanna Coles, CCO, Creative Artists Agency CCO and co-head of marketing Jae Goodman, directors and comedy legends Tim & Eric, former J. Crew president and creative director Jenna Lyons, and Upworthy CEO Eli Pariser. And since this is related to marketing… the judging also included a proprietary A.I. solution developed by Celtra, that the festival says provided quantitative creative analysis based on performance data and insights from hundreds of thousands of video advertising campaigns powered by Celtra’s creative management platform.

 

 

“There was something special in Keep It Moving that resonated unanimously with the group,” Lyons said in a statement. “The message was not only important and poignant – it was expressed with beautiful imagery as well as a unique play on sound that allowed the viewer for a brief moment to possibly imagine what it might be like to live in Chris’ world. It was moving and beautiful as well as inspiring.”

This year the number of entries for Tribeca X tripled to reach 600. Tribeca Enterprises CEO Andrew Essex says he hopes its a signal that more brands are taking seriously the role that great content can play in a well-rounded marketing strategy.

 

 

“It is a time where people are thinking about the implication behind something like The Lego Movie, to know there is a sequel in play, and that other brands are communicating in a way that’s designed to attract an audience rather than repel them,” says Essex. “I think it’s a symptom of some very large, secular changes within the industry.”

And let’s face it, the more brand content like this, maybe the less crappy ads there will be for us all to be subjected to. Dare to dream, people. Dare to dream.

Fast Company

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