The prestigious, fiercely competitive Young Guns show – a worldwide contest for creatives under 30 years of age, with professional and student divisions – recently launched its call for entries. Young Creatives are to upload work they’ve created specifically around the theme, which will resonate with anyone who’s ever toiled in our industry’s salt mines: ‘Quit in Style’.
“Quit in Style” is the Guns’ first foray into recognizing User Generated Content, “an area that sits at the forefront of the industry’s future yet is largely ignored on the global awards circuit.” The theme grew out of an idea by Droga 5 to create a new category, Craft in Quitting, which ultimately grew into the whole contest theme for the year. The idea, fittingly enough, originated with Droga5’s youngest team, Ben Smith and Neil McGuirk.
We’ll quote from Droga5’s press release, one of the rare ones that actually does say it all. In the words of Droga5 Sydney’s Creative Head Matty Burton: “Some of us are still young enough to remember the lashing we got as juniors… [It’s] like army boot camp, but with less sleep and more beatings! Quit in Style is designed to become a sort of secret “Fight Club” for junior creatives, where they can meet to compare war stories and more importantly ideas of getting one over on their slave master CDs before they move on to the next challenge. It’s basically a tool-box for the underdogs.”
His co-CD Cameron Blackley adds, “We’ve created over 25 films thanks to collaborating with directors from as far away as HungryMan in New York and greatguns in Los Angeles but I think it’s just the beginning. Juniors are nothing if not crafty, and when they realize they can become infamous … I reckon they won’t need much encouragement to pull out the camcorder.”
Those who prefer more uplifting themes can check out the separate Young Gun of the Month contest, which closes on the last day of every month.
Before entering, check out the Showcase of previous winners. If you genuinely think you have a chance, then you can fork out the entry fees, which begin at A$100.
Check out the campaign (and upload your own shiny, happy contribution) on www.quitinstyle.com and www.ygawards.com.
