MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Make an excuse–to reach goals, to inspire others, to start that change–that is the message of “Make an Excuse” for the youth, the Philippines’ entry to the Film category of the Cannes Young Lions 2021 competition.
Created by Iya Parungao and Eden Sarmiento, art directors from MullenLowe TREYNA, the one-minute video reclaimed the often negative action of “making excuses” and turned it into a firestarter and a battle cry.
“It’s okay to make plenty of excuses, but use them to inspire change for good. In short, make excuses to build a better world,” said the duo.
Iya and Eden were given 72 hours to come up with a one-minute film about how they can celebrate the young leaders of the One Young World Summit during the International Youth Day.
Defying how the youth is seen as a generation who always makes excuses, the duo celebrates young individuals who use excuses to do good and help others, recognizing how it can spark change and provide endless opportunities to effect positive change in society.
“The youth have made their excuses to further their drive for a greater purpose [and has led] to many breakthroughs. We need more of these excuses. Make an excuse, make it good,” said the video.
Despite not being shortlisted, the duo’s entry was able to send a strong message to their generation–an invitation to act and maximize the youth’s potential to create a ripple of positive changes.
The Cannes Young Lions is an annual creative competition for young creatives, putting the spotlight on the next generation of creative stars.
The duo previously won at the local Jam for Good creative competition in 2020 which earned them their slot in the prestigious international competition. The local competition was a collaboration between the Creative Guild of the Philippines and Create with Google, a program that promotes creativity on the platform. For the duo, representing the Philippines and being mentored by some of the world’s best creatives is already a win on its own.
“At Cannes, basically, losing is gaining something as well. In terms of creativity or knowledge, you always get a lot better and wiser than when you first joined. One of the most exciting parts of the learning process is to see for yourself other people’s work, especially the winning entries. You get a different kind of creative inspiration from seeing them, you could feel the creativity at play in the background. And that is fuel for inspiration and further learning,” said Ms. Sarmiento.
“Losing always sucks, admittedly. But looking at the whole experience, you see the bigger story. You were pitted against the best after all, and you competed well. You worked hard and were happy with what you’ve presented. Then you get to discover how to make it even better. For a true creative, that’s so much better than just winning,” added Ms. Parungao.
For young Filipino creatives gunning for a chance to represent the Philippines at an international event, watch out for this year’s Jam for Good competition.
