After a long wait due to COVID, ADFEST, is
delighted to finally reveal the identities of the Fabulous Five up-and-coming
directors at ADFEST 2023 on Friday 24 March at 11.50 – 13.00.
Every year, ADFEST invites emerging
commercial directors to write a short film as part of its Fabulous Five program
– one of the world’s most respected platforms for kickstarting the careers of
commercial directors. In 2020, directors were challenged to write a five-minute
short film script inspired by the theme of ADFEST 2020, Fired Up! The session,
Short Films for ADFEST 2020 by the Fabulous Five, was unable to be held because
of Covid. The 2020 Fabulous Five will finally debut their films at the Short
Films for ADFEST 2020 by the Fabulous Five session this March.
The Fabulous Five New Directors 2020 were
chosen by ADFEST 2020’s Film Craft Lotus & New Director Lotus Jury
from 31 submissions from 9 cities including Bangkok, Chiba, Hong Kong, Kuala
Lumpur, Manila, Melbourne, Shanghai, Singapore with 20 submissions from Tokyo
alone.
It has been a difficult wait for these new directors,
who worked with such enthusiasm to get their work ready for an ADFEST debut
that could not be. ADFEST is intensely proud of their patience and delighted to
support their excitement to show what they can do in March.
The Fabulous Five New Directors are:
Apiwat Pattalarungkhan:
Freelance Director & Creative
Director, TJT Creative Lab, Bangkok
Masashi Fukuda
Director, TAIYO KIKAKU Co., Ltd., Tokyo
Ryo Matsumoto
Director, Dentsu Creative X Inc., Tokyo
Shay Zhao
Former Writer & Assistant Director, WOWWOWTANK,
Hong Kong
Yuriko Minami
Director, FIELD MANAGEMENT EXPAND Inc., Tokyo
“It’s not easy to make your name as
a director, so the Fabulous Five is a much-needed mentoring program to
support talented directors who are just embarking on their careers in
filmmaking. It was wonderful to see such different perspectives on
the theme, Fired Up!, I think the five scripts we’ve selected are all very
promising, and I’m very curious to see the final films,” says Michael
Ritchie, Jury President of Film Craft Lotus and New Director Lotus
at ADFEST 2020.
“Ashes” by Apiwat Pattalarungkhan
Freelance Director & Creative
Director, TJT Creative Lab, Bangkok
Apiwat started his career as a graphic designer but found his true passion
in advertising as an art director. Fast forward 15 years, he’s now
applying his experience to a new challenge, TJT Creative Lab, a creative
start-up he co-founded in Bangkok. TJT stands for Tang Jai Tham, which
means "working wholeheartedly" – a name that reflects
the philosophy of the company. While he is still a Creative Director, he
has begun experimenting with scriptwriting and directing. In 2018 and
2019, he produced food documentary content for the China market and a
commercial for TJT Creative Lab's client, and had so much fun, he’d like
to continue pursuing this new path as a director and scriptwriter.
Apiwat’s film, Ashes, is a story about the tragedy of love.
“Tempest” by Masashi Fukuda
Director, TAIYO KIKAKU Co., Ltd., Tokyo
Born in 1991, Masashi started his filmmaking career in university and
joined TAIYO KIKAKU in 2017. Now he mainly directs TV commercials and web
movies. He is always trying to create videos/films with cinematic quality
and strong storytelling and hopes that his works will move someone's
emotions.
Masashi’s film, Tempest is about the powerful and inescapable force of
anger.
“Last Message” by Ryo Matsumoto
Director, Dentsu Creative X Inc., Tokyo
Born in 1996 in Aichi prefecture, Japan, Ryo has always loved to draw. In
middle school, he decided to move to Tokyo to pursue his dream of becoming
a professional manga artist. But while studying Graphic Design at
university, he discovered the world of advertising. After drawing
his first storyboard, he realized that he enjoyed it even more than
drawing manga. In 2019, after graduating from university, he joined the
Direction Department of production company Dentsu Creative X Inc.,
where he is mainly involved in the production of TV commercials.
Ryo’s film, The Last Message, is a story about communication and legacy that
bond you to those you love.
“Crossroad In Jianghu” by Shay Zhao
Former Writer & Assistant
Director, WOWWOWTANK,
Hong Kong
Shay grew up in Shenzhen along with her Peking-style grandpa, the Chinese
four arts were her daily homework. She is a storyteller who always goes to
different places to explore new cultures and ways of life. After
completing a master's program at The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
she started her career as a copywriter at WOWWOWTANK in Hong Kong. Thanks
to the owner, Tan Khiang, Shay got the opportunity to become involved
in branding projects, advertising campaigns, scriptwriting as well as
commercial film production. Since 2019, Shay challenged herself to take
the assistant director's position. Her Fabulous Five film, ‘Crossroad in
Jianghu’, will be her directorial debut.
Shay’s mythical film, Crossroad in JIanghu, explores the complex role of
Jianghu in modern life.
“Escape Lockers” by Yuriko Minami
Director, FIELD MANAGEMENT EXPAND Inc., Tokyo
Born in 1990, Yuriko studied law at Kansai University but longed for the
world of design, so she enrolled in school again to study graphic design
and photography, later joining advertising production company TYO. In
2019, she started directing in the planning and production department.
She likes to make films that are visually graphic and emotional.
Yuriko’s film, Escape Lockers, is about acceptance and the struggle to be free
to be who you are.
Don’t miss the long
awaited premiere of Short Films for ADFEST 2020 (at ADFEST2023) by the Fabulous
Five on Friday 24 March at 11.50-13.00. Delegates will also get to vote for
their favourite short film to determine the Popular Vote winner of the Fabulous
Five. The ADFEST 2023 program is now also online with over 30 sessions lined
up.
ADFEST 2023 Lotus Awards is still open for entry submissions. The Final Deadline is next Friday 13 January 2023. For more information, visit www.ADFEST.com
