UAE creative talent shines as ten professionals join the Cannes Lions 2025 Shortlisting Jury, cementing the nation’s growing influence on global creativity
Cannes Lions has announced the panel of ten shortlisting jury members from the UAE who will participate in the initial judging phase for this year’s Cannes Lions awards, set to take place in Cannes, France, from June 16-20, 2025.
This announcement follows the earlier revelation of sixteen awarding jury members from the UAE, bringing the total representation to a record twenty-six professionals from the Emirates who will contribute to setting the global benchmark for creative excellence at this year’s Festival.
These ten shortlisting jurors will join experts from across 79 markets, representing the global industry’s leading talent from a diverse range of disciplines, with markets including Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, and Mongolia represented on the Shortlisting Jury for the first time.
Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said: “All our Jurors play a crucial role in shaping the work awarded at Cannes Lions. This year, we are seeing an unprecedented level of global engagement from deserving talent, with more markets, more voices, and more perspectives coming together to recognise the global benchmark. I’d like to extend my gratitude for their hard work and care in curating the work that will go on to set the global standard and make history.”
Regarding the UAE representation, Ian Fairservice, Managing Partner of Motivate Media Group, and CEO of Motivate Val Morgan said: “The selection of shortlisting jury members from the UAE, contributing to our record total representation across both juries this year, marks a significant milestone for our creative community. The incremental representation each year reflects the maturity of our creative industry and its increasing recognition internationally. I am sure these talented individuals will bring their unique perspectives to the judging process, ensuring the UAE’s voice helps shape global creative standards.”
Brand Experience & Activation: Sarah Berro | Head of Creative, Vice Media, MEA
Creative Strategy: Catherine Bannister | Chief Strategy Officer, TBWA RAAD, MENA
Direct: Martino Caliendo | Associate Creative Director, Impact BBDO, UAE
Film Craft: Nayla Chacra | Head of Post Production and Executive Producer, Prodigious, Global
Media: Lara Arbid | CEO, Initiative and Magna Global, MENAT
Media: Daniel Shepherd | Group Chief Strategy Officer, Omnicom Media Group, MENA
Outdoor: Michele De iuliis | Associate Creative Director, Havas Middle East, United Arab Emirates
PR: Peter Jacob | Managing Director, MENAT, Current Global, MENAT
Social & Creator: Estelle Khayat | Associate Strategy Director, Leo, MENA
Social & Creator: Mohammed Ajawi | Director of Digital Experience, Ogilvy, UAE
Further information on this year’s Festival and the Lions Awards can be found at visit www.canneslions.com.
Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan are the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE.
Source: Cannes Lions Press Release
See It Be It announces applications open for the 2022 programme
Five places are available for creative female talent to join the 2020/2021 cohort
This year’s See It Be It accelerator programme will take place at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity from 20-24 June 2022
Cannes Lions has announced that applications are open for the 2022 See It Be It programme, which aims to support creative female talent from across the global industry and accelerate them into senior creative roles.
Five places are available for female industry talent, from across the world, to join the 15 women already selected for the 2020/21 cohort. Together, they will take part in a unique development experience at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June, receiving an all-access Festival pass, travel to and from Cannes, and accommodation, courtesy of the Festival, the group will attend an exclusive programme of events, workshops and mentoring with some of the most respected leaders in the industry today. To date, over 100 women have taken part in See It Be It, and many alumni have progressed into leadership positions, won Lions awards and become Cannes Lions jurors.
The See It Be It Ambassador for 2022 will be Swati Bhattacharya, Chief Creative Officer, FCB India, who will guide the participants through the programme, alongside the See It Be It Chair: Madonna Badger, CCO and Founder, Badger & Winters.
Swati Bhattacharya commented: “The most important element of See It Be It, is bringing the brightest women together and supporting them to take the lead in their career, to shine brighter, and to own it. Peer mentorship is a delicate dance of lifting each other up to achieve more. Gender is part of us, but it doesn’t define us. Women can and must lead and the need for the See It Be It programme is greater now than it has ever been.”
Susie Walker, VP Awards and Insight, LIONS, added: “See It Be It launched in 2014, in response to the gender imbalance across the creative communications industry. The programme provides networking and an array of support for female industry talent from across the globe in their career and leadership ambitions. We are delighted to extend the See It Be It programme in 2022 and support creative women in the industry from across the world to achieve personal and professional success.”
The 15 females already selected to take part in See It Be It 2020/2021, who will join the five newly selected creatives for the 2022 cohort in Cannes, are as follows:
Allie Steel, Senior Writer, DDB – Australia
Andrea Auz, Creative Director, Paper – Ecuador
Denise Tee, Creative Consultant – Philippines,
Ellen Fromm, Senior Copywriter, AKQA Amsterdam – Netherlands
Geetanjali Jaiswal, Senior Creative Director, McCann – India
Javiera Wuth, Senior Copywriter, Pedro Juan y Diego – Chile
Karo Gómez, Social Media Strategist, Media.Monks – Mexico
Lauren Ferreira, Creative Director for Apple, TBWA\Media Arts Lab – USA
Letícia Rodrigues, Associate Creative Director, FCB Brazil – Brazil
Mica Gallino, Brand Creative Director, Nike – USA
Nedal Ahmed, Senior Writer, Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo – Japan
Rachel Chew, Associate Creative Director, Ogilvy – Singapore
Rosa Guerrero, Creative Leader, MoM Marketing of Minds – Dominican Republic
Tescia Deák, Creative Director, TBWA\Chiat\Day – USA
Applications close on 16 February 2022 and the full See It Be It 2022 cohort will be announced in March. Click here to apply
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will take place from 20-24 June 2022, in Cannes, France. Click here to purchase passes.
Source: Cannes Lions Press Release
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has confirmed that it will return to Cannes, France, from 20-24 June 2022.
Philip Thomas, Chairman, LIONS, said, “We can’t wait to reunite the industry and bring the community together once again. For over 67 years, Cannes Lions has served as a convening force for the global creative community. As the world continues to shift and change we know that our role as conveners needs to evolve. Building Cannes Lions as a hybrid Festival will allow us to continue to reach our expanded creative community who we have welcomed through our digital initiatives over the last 18 months. It provides us with an opportunity to democratise, innovate and reinvent the Festival for the future.”
Plans for the Festival, which will build on LIONS Membership, the subscription-based, digital offering launched in March 2020, and which now has more than 10,000 members, are being developed to offer the global community even more flexibility and easier access to the home of creativity.
Simon Cook, Managing Director, LIONS, said, “We are putting the foundations in place to build a purposeful Festival that allows our community to come together in a meaningful way. Through highly curated content, community networking opportunities and agenda setting initiatives Cannes Lions will provide an annual forum for the global industry to address the most pressing issues the industry and world are facing today. In doing this, sustainability is top of mind for us – as it is for the industry – and we’ve committed to putting a sustainability agenda in place. Together with a number of partners, we are striving to deliver our most sustainable Festival in history.”
In early November 2021, LIONS opened its annual State of Creativity Study Designed to uncover the industry’s attitudes and approaches towards creativity, and paint an accurate picture of what will impact the creative economy tomorrow. The results of the study will form the LIONS 2022 editorial agenda across all of its platforms and events. Cannes Lions will open its call for content in January.
Speaking about the 2022 Cannes Lions juries, Susie Walker, VP, Awards & Insight, said, “Returning the Festival to Cannes means that we can once again bring our jurors together in person. Our unique judging technology allows us to carry out the initial judging stages remotely, but we’re delighted to be bringing the jurors back to Cannes to complete the final stages and award the Lions – as they have done since 1954. We can’t wait to hear the discussions and insights as our juries deep-dive into the work and set the global benchmark in creative excellence.”
Over the last 18 months, Cannes Lions, together with owners Ascential, has developed a health and safety standard that delivers industry best practice at live events. The Festival will adhere to the latest health guidelines leading up to and at the event. Cannes Lions will open for entries and registrations on 20 January 2022.
The LIONS Membership platform is the year-round home of creativity. For access to exclusive content, resources, training and networking find out more here.
