Face to Face with... Francois Chilot

Now in its thirteenth year the cfp-e/shots Young Director Award is a staple part of both the Cannes fringe and the wider directorial proving ground. As the deadline looms for the 2012 event, the YDA's chairman and god of all things YDA-shaped, Francois Chilot, talks about the purpose and the potential power of the competition.

Can you tell us a little bit about what the cfp-e/shots Young Director Award looks to achieve each year?

Since we began the Young Directors Award 13 years ago, discovering and promoting new directing talent to the international advertising community has been our raison d’être.  The next generation of film makers is the life blood of our production industry, so as producers it is only natural to want to create a showcase for tomorrow’s directing stars. Although the work entered is among the directors' first four pieces of work, those that excel at the craft and bring a fresh and original quality to their work rise to the top.

The competition has been going for more than a decade now; how important is it to champion new and upcoming talent?

The YDA’s role has become even more important over the years as nowadays anyone with a camera and desktop editing  programme can make a film.  In some ways it is even more difficult for producers to find really good talent from this enormous pool.  It is the YDA’s role to sift through the hundreds of entries to select the really strong work.

Production companies are on the look out for unsigned talent and agencies and clients are on the look out for good new directors who have a production company backing them. By championing upcoming talent it helps the collaborative nature of our business to function.

Many of the directors who have won at the competition– Ringan Ledwidge, Alexander Bach – have gone on to have successful careers; do you think the exposure and prestige of the competition has aided that?

We just ran a series of interviews with previous winners of the YDA on our blog called Alumni and unanimously they said winning at the award generated a great deal of exposure and kick started careers.  It opens doors that would have most likely remained shut had it not been for the YDA award. Also the validation and honour of winning boosts many directors’ confidence in their style and ability. 

Would you agree that it’s becoming ever-more difficult for directors to break into the upper echelons of advertising, and is that because new directors aren’t strong enough or clients and agencies aren’t brave enough?

In this current economic climate, agencies and clients quite naturally will take fewer risks so it is perhaps currently more difficult for young guys to break through when tried and trusted directors are picking up the scripts. However there are some areas where new directing talent is excelling – there has been a resurgence in experimental music videos and video art is an area where there are some excellent personal projects which often lead to commercial work adaptions. To cover this new exciting area the YDA has created a new category for Video Art.

What are you and your fellow judges looking for in a director when they enter the awards?

The wow factor of being blown away by a piece of work because of its crafting and originality. It’s a gut reaction, you know when you’ve found a pearl.

Do you have any advice for directors thinking about entering the awards?

If you are proud of your work enter it. Even if it doesn’t win one of the top accolades, it will be viewed by hundreds through the judging process and stands a good chance of getting coverage and exposure on YDA’s media channels. Of course if you do win, well the world’s your oyster.