Shortlists Announced for the 2023 AICP Show, the AICP Next Awards and the AICP Post Awards

The AICP Awards today released the Shortlists for the 2023 editions of its three competitions: The AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the Commercial, the AICP Next Awards and the AICP Post Awards. To review the full Shortlist for each competition, click here.

The Shortlists are the results of a bifurcated judging system that began earlier this year with a series of panels with experts in various fields from around the globe, nominated by their peers, who judged the work across their respective categories. The Curatorial Committees for all three shows serve as the final arbiters of the awards, confirming eligibility and appropriateness to category, as well as selecting the Best of Show for each competition. For the AICP Show, the Advertising Excellence/Campaign and Advertising Excellence are Best in Show; For the AICP Next Awards, it is the Most Next honour; and Best in Show for the AICP Post Awards. 

Heading up these curatorial sessions were Sally Campbell, founding partner of Somesuch, and chairperson of the AICP Show; Greg Hahn, co-founder and chief creative officer at Mischief @ No Fixed Address, and judging chair for the AICP Next Awards; and Jen Dean, senior editor at Cut+Run, and chairperson of the AICP Post Awards. 

Honorees for all three competitions will be celebrated at live, in-person events during AICP Week, which kicks off on June 6th in New York, and culminates in a presentation and gala at The Museum of Modern Art on June 8th. Ticket information for AICP Week is available here.

The AICP Show Shortlist

Leading the list of production companies on the AICP Show Shortlist was MJZ, with a total of 26 pieces across the Show’s 22 categories, which includes three co-productions with OPC and one with La Pac. SMUGGLER had the second most in the total production company Shortlist count, with 23 entries, which includes one co-production with Tempomedia, followed by Somesuch, with 14. Other top performing production companies included Iconoclast, which appeared on 12 Shortlisted entries, followed by Academy Films, which posted 10 Shortlisted entries. 

The top agency on the AICP Show Shortlist this year was TBWA\Media Arts Lab, which scored 19 entries, followed by the in-house agency of Apple, which had 18 Shortlisted entries. Other high-scoring agencies included various offices of Wieden+Kennedy, which posted 13 Shortlisted entries; the in-house agency at Squarespace, which earned 11; and Droga5 and Uncommon, which each earned 10 Shortlisted entries.

The list of top brand achievements was dominated by Apple, represented with 37 Shortlisted entries, followed by Squarespace, which was honoured with a total of 11. Up next were Meta and Nike, each with nine items on the Shortlist.

The AICP Next Awards Shortlist

The AICP Next Awards recognise outstanding work and the creative forces behind it, but are much more than an Awards competition – Next is a platform for thought leadership and analysis, and recognises work that points the way forward. Leading its roster of Shortlisted brands was Coca-Cola, which earned five spots on the Shortlist, followed by ERA Coalition, Michelob ULTRA and WhatsApp, each of which posted four Shortlisted entries. 

Leading the list of Shortlisted agencies were offices of McCann, including Commonwealth//McCann, with a total of 14 Shortlisted entries. It was followed by Ogilvy, whose offices totaled 10 entries; R/GA US, with a total of eight entries; and the New York offices of FCB, which appeared on the Shortlist seven times, and TBWA\Chiat\Day, which had five appearances.

Among production companies, m ss ng p eces was at the top of the Next Awards list with 10 Shortlisted entries, followed by PRETTYBIRD, with six entries, and Partizan and SMUGGLER, both of which earned five Shortlisted entries. A collaboration between 465 Studios, Lord + Thomas and Unit 9 were honoured with four Shortlisted entries. 

The AICP Post Awards Shortlist

The AICP Post Awards are unique among the AICP Awards in that they’re presented to individual post production artists and not companies. Topping the list with six Shortlisted entries to their credit were Alex Snookes, VFX supervisor, and Greg McKneally, head of CG, both with the VFX studio Electric Theatre Collective.

A number of post production artists were credited with four Shortlisted entries each. This list includes Beau Dickson, editor at Cut+Run; Charles Deenen, sound supervisor at Source Sound, Inc.; Daniel de Vue, colorist at Trafik; Geoff Hounsell and Jeff Ferruzzo, editors at Arcade Edit; Nathan Rodgers, editor at Cabin Editing Company; James Sindle, head of 3D, Patrick Krafft, CG lead and Ryan Knowles, VFX supervisor and head of 2D, all of whom are with Electric Theatre Collective; Sam Ashwell, sound designer and mixer at 750MPH; and William Town, editor at Modern Post.

In terms of aggregate Shortlist honours per post production company, the artists associated with Cabin Editing Company collectively earned 16 Shortlist mentions, followed by artists with Electric Theater Collective, which earned 15 Shortlist mentions. They were followed by Shortlist totals of 13 for Cut+Run, 12 for Arcade Edit and eight for Trafik and Source Sound, Inc.

The list of agencies whose work was recognised in the AICP Post Awards was led by Droga5, which earned a total of 19 Shortlist mentions, followed by offices of Wieden+Kennedy, which posted 12 mentions. adam&eveDDB came in next, with six Shortlist mentions, although it shared an additional two with DDB Chicago. Among the agencies credited with six Shortlist nods were BLITZWORKS; EA Games and Electronic Arts; and several offices of TBWA, including TBWA x Fresh Juice, TBWA\Chiat\Day and TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

Brands whose work was recognised with Shortlist achievement included Nike, with nine entries (which included one for the Jordan brand); Apple, with eight; and Coca-Cola, Levi’s and The New York Times, each with six.