Micah Walker’s LIA Diary Wrap-up: The Highs and Lows of Judging TV, Cinema and Online Film at LIA
Micah Walker, founder and CCO of Bear Meets Eagle On Fire represented Australia on the LIA TV & Cinema and Online Film jury. Here, Walker reflects on his time in Las Vegas exclusively for Campaign Brief.
That’s a wrap – Film and Online Jury
A shiny scrapyard of sin. Thick perfumes emitted to hide cigarettes tickling your nose hairs as you walk the never-ending carpets. The constant buzz of roulette wheels and all manner of digital ding-dings. Melting hot sun. Plastic decorations and implants. Old people in miniskirts. All the shiny things.
Welcome to Las Vegas.
Maybe the perfect place for an Advertising Award show.
It’s my first time judging LIA. And even though ole Sin City isn’t really my thing, the show itself and judging experience, was great.
I was one of ten jurors on the TV, Cinema and Online jury. It was four, solid days of judging with over 600 entries covering everything from Branded Content and Entertainment, Online Film, TV and Cinema to more specific categories like humour, copywriting and even the odd endline and tagline. I’ve missed a few, but you get the idea.
LIA really is a well-run show, with a helpful team of folks that make judging as comfortable as it can be when you’re watching everything from 15 second spots to 40 minute content pieces each day, all day. The way they also intertwine the LIA ‘Creative LIAisons’ program for younger creatives into the week, was also great. The younger creatives have their own things going on with mentoring and workshops, but they also came in to watch us judge live on the last day for the important shiny stuff, which I hadn’t seen before. If you get a chance to take part in the LIAisons program, do it.
It was a tough jury. Fair and thoughtful, but tough. So, anyone who received metal this year, in this category, it’s a real achievement. Overall, it wasn’t a standout year though. Everything that took home something shiny is very well deserving, but as a category overall, the work was a bit underwhelming. I’ve heard other categories were a bit stronger, so we’ll see.
The lack of craft broadly, was a big discussion point with all the judges, as was the lack of proper work that did the job, without also trying to be some other shaped thing. Judges openly talked about the slow move away from the purpose award addiction, but there’s still a fair share of that kind of thing. Occasionally it’s powerful. A lot of the time, a bit dull or even icky.
Aside from some wonderfully weird Thai work, humour across the board, was also sorely lacking. Again, a big discussion amongst the jurors and when something did make everyone laugh, it reminds you just how much comedy cuts through when done well. Especially with so much work that takes itself very seriously. It’s an important thing to remember, it’s ok to be a brand that makes you smile or laugh, not everything has to be so self-important.
Simple and memorable still wins. Craft, when it’s there, stands out.
In the end you can only judge the work in front of you, and I think the best work was recognised.
We named two Grand LIAs, rather than the four we were allowed, both for pieces that are genuinely deserving and powerful. Congrats to those winners and everyone else who claimed some shine this year.