The new initiative will profile the best brand films from six seconds to 60 minutes across all marketing and communications disciplines, says Haymarket.
The festival will showcase the year's most artistic, creative, and effective branded content films, from Vines to YouTube videos to long-form documentaries.
Submissions will be open until 22nd February 2016, after which the best films will be selected by a high-profile jury comprising of top creatives from the worlds of PR, advertising, digital, production, film, and media.
The jury will review the most creative activations across sectors including CPG, sports, healthcare, and sustainability; branded entertainment such as documentaries, animals, heartstrings, and LOL moments; engagement metrics such as viral and user generated; craft criteria including editing, direction, screenplay, foreign language, and silent; and Best of the Best.
PRWeek US Editor-in-Chief Steve Barrett and Campaign US Editor-in-Chief Douglas Quenqua will also be part of the jury. The top films will be screened at a gala event in May.
“Brands have become content owners and the Brand Film Festival will celebrate the most creative films across 28 categories,” said Steve.
“Video now sits firmly at the heart of communications and marketing, whether lasting a few seconds on SnapChat, Vine, or Instagram, a few minutes on YouTube or Vevo, or full-scale documentaries on mainstream TV.”
Agencies and brands of all types are staffing up with directors, editors, graphic designers, broadcast journalists, developers, art directors, producers, and other specialists to help place themselves at the centre of the modern creative offer.
The Brand Film Festival will profile the work of this new generation of marketers, recognizing the evolution from distraction to entertainment, while rewarding the brands, agencies and craftspeople leading the way in their fields, says Haymarket.
