Presents, Scout And The Best New Faces Of 2013

We love discovering new talent. Through our Presents screenings (you know the ones – we pitch up in places like Toronto, Shanghai or London and show off a bunch of top short-form content) and directors repository The Scout we get to highlight the wares of some SERIOUSLY gifted individuals to the ad world at large. The unsigned section of the Presents screenings in particular often generate whoops and cheers of delight, as the unfettered creativity on show stimulates the imagination glands of everyone in the audience.

But we also know that not all of you can come to the screenings, and not all of you have delved into the filmic wonders of The Scout. So, this being the season of goodwill and all that, we thought we would highlight a handful of the very best shorts, pop promos and experimental pieces that have delighted us and global audiences throughout 2013. You're welcome.


Jamie Stone



If there's one thing we love at The Scout, it's ideas. Smart ideas, playful ideas, inspired ideas – we can't get enough of artistic invention and filmic mischief in the work we showcase. Such is the case with Jamie Stone and his wonderfully exciting 'Moving In The Dark' promo for Dizraeli & The Small Gods. Setting up a compelling and creepy protagonist whose facial features are made up of an iPad and two iPhones, the film explores an unexpected set (or should we say location), numerous supporting players and some of the smarted budget lighting effects in its impressive single-take shot. Endlessly finding new ways to entreat you, this music video blew us away on first (second, third…) watch and, judging from the reactions at our London and Toronto screenings, does a number on audiences everywhere. Check out his Scout entry here.


Nathan Boey



We know our audiences well, so it was a safe bet that this performance piece covering the many stages (and frustrations) of film post-production would strike a chord with attendees at our Presents screening. A smashing teamup between Boey and 'locker/b-girl' dancer Kim Sato, what could quite easily have been a one-joke flick actually ends up as a boundlessly ingenious routine. Check out Nathan's Scout page here.


Virgilio Villoresi



We first caught site of Virgilio Villoresi with his alarmingly playful yet poignant short film 'Fine', but with this year's 'Submarine Test' hey managed to blow us away all over again. Taking the conceit of Victorian optical illusion parlour tricks, the vid manages to combine a subtly sombre mood with a joyful sense of experimentation, all the while perfectly matching the John Mayer track it backs. You can see Virgilio Scout page here.


Alexis Beaumont & Rémi Godin



French animators Alexis Beaumont and Rémi Godin sure know how to tell a story. In the 3:35 playtime of this impressive music video we follow a dedicated astronaut's journey through the ranks up to his lunar voyage itself, and then to… well to give away the explosive turning point would be doing the surprises in store a disservice. Suffice to say, throught our many screening of this promo we've had some of the biggest laughs of the run. You can see their Scout page here.


Matt Luck



It's OK, the pangs of jealousy, admiration and longing felt whilst watching this video are completely normal, as director/choreographer/dancer/all-round-good-guy is quite the prodigious talent. When the research team at The Scout unearthed a 'conceptual dance film to a cover of a Bruce Springsteen track' it's safe to say that hopes were not high… but how wrong we were. Brilliantly capturing the poignancy in The Boss' lyrics, Luck's film impresses on numerous levels. Easily one of the most popular films we've ever screened at Presents, and that's not just because our Editor is a Springsteen fan. You can see Matt's Scout page here.


Madeline Sharafian



Short films don't come more crowd-pleasing than Madeline Sharafian's gorgeous 'Omelette'. Provoking deafening levels of 'aw' whenever shown, the tale of an exhausted man and his doting chef dog never fails to delight audiences around the world. Charming character design and a snappy pace compound to mark Miss Sharafian out as an animation talent to pay close attention to. Bear in mind, this was merely a student film - we have a feeling there's loads more to come. Eggcellent!


Don't forget, you can find hundreds of unsigned talents like this on our Scout site, with full contact details and biogs, and we're updating it ALL THE TIME.