Best of Reel for Direction Craft awarded to Terence Neale at Egg Films for Adidas ‘Originals’.

Liam Wielopolski, Chief Creative Officer at DDB South Africa, awards the best in film craft by Production Companies this month. He was ranked number 3 Chief Creative Officer at the recent Loeries rankings, but more importantly, his Avi on Twitter is an egg, he has 11 followers and his one and only tweet reads: “First tweet, yehaa!’’ – that was back in June 2011… When Liam’s not strategically questioning and undermining the conventions of social media, he’s an industry leader and you need to take note of what he rates as South Africa’s best. We’re honoured to have you Liam…yehaa! 😉

Egg Films | Terence Neale
Adidas Originals ‘Original Is Never Finished’ (Direction Craft)

Lung Animation | Arri Reshke / Claudio Pavan / Rob Pita / Romy Latter / Vanessa Carrara / Andre Davids / Marlize Eckard / Frank Conradie / Gertan Agenbach / Matt Torode / Jean Mortlock
Woolworths ‘Find The Magic – Christmas Episode 1’ (Concept Art / Character Design / Direction / Animation / Grading)

Groundglass | Dan Mace
Tusker Lager ‘Finding 42’ (Direction Craft)

Judges Comments by Liam Wielopolski, Chief Creative Officer at DDB South Africa

Best of Reel: Terence Neale at Egg Films for Adidas ‘Originals’.

“Brace yourself for the bold new adidas Originals spot, “Original is never finished,” in support of its latest collection which recently launched worldwide. A visually stunning video, dark and menacing in its atmosphere, celebrates street culture, authenticity and going after one’s dreams. Features an inspiring remix of the iconic song “My Way” originally sung by Frank Sinatra, a lot of the spot’s visuals, whether it’s Snoop Dogg transforming into a canine, black basketballs raining from the sky or women destroying drones with baseball bats, work on shock value. And of course, some have been shocked. A quick scroll through the video’s comments on YouTube find as many accounts praising the ad’s visuals as labelling it “satanic”, “Illuminati” and just plain “weird”. But with over seven and a half million views since release, “Original is never finished” is already making a huge splash. Love it Terence Neale!”

Special Mention: Dan Mace at Groundglass for Tusker Lager ‘Finding 42’.

“Here’s to you, Dan, for a genuinely engaging and epic spot. Coupled with stunning visuals, a truly unique portrayal of this energetic and colourful nation and it’s people has been created. The images are stunning and beautifully art directed, the edit is dynamic and the sound design is powerful. It’s a truly impactful portrayal of Kenya, an energetic and colourful nation and it’s people. Just like the VO, I too felt warm inside after watching this.”

Special Mention: The team at Lung Animation for Woolworths ‘Find the Magic in Christmas – Episode 1’.

“A beautifully animated piece with great character design and direction. As Santa’s enchanting story unfolds, we are reminded that Christmas is a time for giving. It’s fun, it’s interactive and it’s a great way to help spread the love and the magic of storytelling at Christmas.”

About Our Judge

Liam is responsible for maintaining the high creative bar at DDB in not only Johannesburg but the rest of Africa as well.
Having cut his teeth on global brands such as Guinness, Land Rover, Virgin Atlantic Airways and P&G he’s more than ready to once again take on his favourite challenge of building a network of strong creative thinkers, producing great results with great creative work.
Both in his own right as an art director and as the lead of several creative departments over the last 20 years, Liam has collected an impressive array of international and local awards.
In the little spare time he has, he likes to chase a little white ball with a big stick around beautifully manicured lawns.