AdFest is proud to introduce this year's
'Fabulous Five' directors whose short film scripts were chosen from 49
entries representing 11 cities in the Asia Pacific and Middle East.
FINCH director Josh Patrick Dawson is the only director chosen from
Australia to participate in the 'Fabulous Five' program.
Every
year, AdFest invites emerging commercial directors to write a short
film as part of its 'Fabulous Five' program - one of the world's most
respected platforms for kick-starting the careers of commercial
directors. This year, directors had the task of writing a five-minute
script inspired by the theme of AdFest 2019, 'TMRRW.TDAY'. Their scripts
were then judged by some of the world's top production executives who
make up AdFest's 2019 Film Craft Lotus & New Director Lotus Jury.
This year's Fabulous Five include:
- Jo Motoyo, Director from Taiyo Kikaku Co., Ltd., Tokyo
- Josh Patrick Dawson, Director at FINCH, Melbourne
- Mai Murata, Assistant Director from Dentsu Creative X Inc., Tokyo
- Rin Soejima, Director from AOI Pro. Inc., Tokyo
- Tomu Yamaguchi, Director from AOI Pro. Inc., Tokyo
Says Jimmy Lam, president, AdFest: "This
is the first time that female directors have outnumbered male directors
in AdFest's short film competition. In an industry that has traditionally been dominated by male directors,
it's exciting to see young female directors making their mark in the
industry and having their stories heard."
Dawson, Murata,
Soejima, Uzawa and Yamaguchi now have just weeks to cast, direct, shoot
and edit their film scripts in time to premiere at AdFest 2019. 'The
Fabulous Five 2019' film screening will take place during AdFest 2019 on
Thursday 21st March, 3:40pm - 5.25pm, in a session moderated by Ali
Brown, Partner and Executive Producer at PRETTYBIRD in Los Angeles.
Says Brown, jury president of Film Craft Lotus and New Director Lotus at AdFest 2019: "I
loved reading this year's Fabulous Five scripts. It was fascinating to
see the various interpretations of the theme, TMRRW.TDAY, and I saw such
inventiveness in the screenwriting. We judged each script anonymously -
while there were many scripts that were in serious contention,
ultimately a select group of 5 rose to the top. I can't wait to see how
these scripts come to life between now and March."
Many
new and emerging directors who have screened their films at AdFest have
gone on to achieve great things. As a result, AdFest has expanded the
program from Fabulous Four to Fabulous Five for the first time this
year, giving more directors the chance to make their first big break.
Last
year, Huixin Law from Reservoir World Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur won a
Commendation for her Fabulous Four short film called, "Bird on a Wire".
Says Law: "AdFest 2018 provided me with the opportunity to showcase the passion
that I have for filmmaking. It is truly an honour that my script was
selected for the Fabulous Four program and to represent Malaysia. It was
also very humbling to be recognised as the first Malaysian female to
win the Fabulous Four Commendation because it reminded what can be
achieved with hard work and perseverance."
AdFest 2019 runs from
20th March to 23rd March at the PEACH, Royal Cliff Hotels Group,
Pattaya, Thailand. Tickets are available via
www.ADFEST.com.