By Claire Fennelow
Just over a week ago, we celebrated cause-driven creativity in the corporate film and live sectors on the rooftop of DRPG’s studios. I arrived at noon, and following a visit to DRPG’s Covid test centre, we began rehearsal. I was joined by our lovely host for the day, Kate Sturgess, and a selection of our speakers who were able to join us in person. The DRPG team worked tirelessly to get us ready for the 4PM ceremony start. Over a hundred people, including members and their clients, tuned into the live broadcast from their homes and offices. Throughout the ceremony, whilst Kate announced our brilliant winners, I interviewed guest speakers about key topics for our industry.
Following Kate’s introduction of the ceremony, our first speaker was Steve Garvey (Moving Image). He and I discussed the trends he had noticed in our entries on the film side this year. Covid-19 was evident in many films, he said, from films about the pandemic to topics that have been affected by Covid, to films created under restrictions. Steve talked about the creative techniques evident across the entries, including UGC, animation and spoken word. Creativity has flourished, he said, and these entries are testament to our industry’s response to Covid. It was a vital insight into this year’s entries, and a great way to start the ceremony. You can find Steve’s writeup of the ceremony here.
Next, I interviewed Sam Wilson (Syntiro Associates) about the key trends in
sustainability for the creative industry. Sam spoke about collaboration, food sourcing and carbon, and sign posted people to her fantastic guide to certification, which you can find here. Dale Parmenter (DRPG) then joined the conversation, having worked extensively with Sam to achieve DRPG’s ISO 20121, the first agency in the UK to do so. Dale also spoke about the development of a public Charter, driving forward specific objectives such as solar panels (which already cover the roofs here at the studio) and biodiversity.
Later in the ceremony, I was joined by Ashanti Bentil-Dhue (Diversity Ally), and we discussed what she has noticed about the impact of Covid-19 on diversity and inclusion programmes, and what companies can keep in mind as the world reopens. Ashanti shared with us a diagram called the ‘wheel of power’ which emphasised the whole spectrum of diversity that she recommends considering in these conversations.
To end the ceremony I spoke to Charlotte Gentry (Pure Comms Group), our Board Chair, about her thoughts on the future of the events industry. We discussed how the industry has adapted, and will continue to adapt as the world changes once again. She also spoke about client relationships, and recruitment, and shared her perspective on what the next 6 – 12 months might look like.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, and we do hope you enjoyed the event!
Here’s some comments from our audience:
The team at Studio Giggle who received three awards for three fantastic films said, “We’ve loved working on all three of these projects and we’re over the moon to see them gain more recognition and spread even more awareness to these important causes. Now we’re off to celebrate (albeit virtually!).” Find out more about their winning projects here.
Faye Jackson from The Edge Picture Company said of the ceremony, “The Clarion Awards were held this week and we were delighted to take home a SILVER in Education and Training for Safety Conscious: Driving for Standard Chartered Bank. Whilst still being held virtually, the ceremony was also a refreshing change for our industry. Many of the films entered by our competitors not only featured much more diverse talent than has been seen before, but many films and topics from corporate clients were brave and challenged the norm. The ceremony featured several thought leadership pieces throughout and there was much talk of change within the industry, from pushing clients to tell the real stories, to ensuring that our companies are comprised of talent from diverse talent pools, and ensuring that this is kept at the forefront of our minds forevermore. The wheel of power (attached) as a concept was discussed. How close you are to the middle, the more privileged you are, some people may never sit in the middle, others may fluctuate. To see this discussed at an EVCOM event really gave hope that this is the beginning of change.” Thank you so much for joining us Faye!
If you missed it, you can watch a recording of the ceremony below: