Porsche Awards 2013 Winners: Denis Parchow

As a proud partner of the Porsche Awards since its inception, shots was delighted to see its 10th anniversary celebrated with what was regarded by all as the best event yet.

The annual competition, sponsored by the car manufacturer and held at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart, awards student filmmakers from schools around the world for their work in advertising.

Prize money ranges from €3,911 to €911 (a nod to Porsche’s 911 model) in two categories: Traditional advertising; and New Ways – which celebrates longer form advertising such as branded content.

This year, two new prizes were handed out: a special International Production award for a non-German film; and an Automobile award for a car brand spot – the prize for the latter being the opportunity to work on a real Porsche commercial, which will likely be shot in Australia or South Africa next year. In addition, a special jury mention went to directors Kyra Buschor, Ännie Habermehl and Constantin Päplow, who narrowly missed out on a prize for their incredible animated series of trailers for Stuttgart’s Festival of Animated Film called Rollin’ Safari.

Our features editor, Joe Lancaster, joined jury president Michael M Maschke, head of creative services, Saatchi & Saatchi Germany and Switzerland; Lyndy Stout, editor, OnePointFour London; Daniel Peiron, art director, Amsterdam Worldwide; and Danish actress Inez Bjørg David to select the winners and hand out prizes at the grand ceremony. The high standard of entries led to much debate, but ultimately it was agreed that the filmmakers who received the golden slingshot trophies (which signify their David-esque struggle against advertising’s Goliaths) were more than worthy winners. Check out their work on the shots 147 DVD and read on to hear their stories.

First prize Traditional category

Denis Parchow

Steiff: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

With two schoolteacher parents, I wasn’t allowed to watch commercials on TV as a kid, so there has always been something mystical about them to me and I haven’t lost that feeling to this day.

As far as I remember, I always wanted to be a buildings blaster, but unfortunately I really suck at chemistry. So the first shorts I shot on VHS always featured explosions. But I do believe that being a blaster and a director have a lot in common – you always need to be well prepared and have a clear vision of the finished project.

The idea for the Steiff film came from a meme I saw on Facebook of a sleeping kid being protected by his teddy bear. I thought, ‘this is a great insight, why is there no commercial using this idea?’.

Luckily, Steiff supported us. As soon as I had written the script the producers told me that we would need way more money than we had, so we pitched it to the client – several times – until they loved the idea as much as we did.

We shot two days on location and two days in the studio. I had the opportunity to work with so many great people in different departments: the puppeteers who brought the teddy to life; the costume designer and the stuntmen inside the monster suit; and the VFX guys from Pixomondo who rocked the post production. Unfortunately, the original boy I cast and rehearsed with for weeks broke his leg three days before the planned shoot, and we had to reschedule the whole thing. Besides that, everything went fine and the team was great.

The directors who inspire me change all the time. At the moment they are Dougal Wilson and Martin Krejci, as they both have their very own style of telling a story. As for my own ambitions, I want to shoot a short I finished writing this year, but my heart belongs to commercials.

It’s a great honour to get this award just before I leave university. Since I still have the chance to shoot a last spec at the Filmakademie, I’ll be using the prize money for the shoot.

German, aged 28

Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, diploma year

Representation Mad Cow Films (UK); Driven by Creatives (Germany)