ADFEST announces more future-forward speaker sessions in a 3-day festival full of inspiration and ideas, that runs from Thursday 23 – Friday 25 March in Pattaya, Thailand. From AI, to the Metaverse, to the Makers of Tomorrow, to the World’s Creative Campaigns, to sustainability, this year’s sessions will not only inspire greater creatives, but better citizens of the world.

THURSDAY 23 MARCH, 14.30-15.05

“How Al Impacts the Creative Industry”    

Nikola Stefanovic, Head of Color & Director, The Mill Shanghai

AI is showing – and developing – what it can do at a rapid rate. Its powers are particularly obvious in visual content, where it is revolutionising the world of content creation for visual artists. This is the foundation of Nikola’s session. He will take her audience on an exploration that covers how AI is being used to generate personalised content, create realistic visuals, and automate tedious tasks. He will discuss how AI can be used to enhance an artist's creativity, as well as the potential challenges and implications of AI-driven creative work. Lastly, he will look at the future of AI in the creative industry and the potential it has to reshape how creatives work.

Nikola is an award-winning colourist and visual artist, who has built his expertise in all major Asian advertising hubs including Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai. As one of The Mill’s in-house directors, he has been the creative driving force behind many of its memorable and visually impressive works. He has also used his creative skills in many different genres ranging from live action beauty campaigns to full CG animation. In the process, he has become known for delivering beautiful images with well-thought-out design and a strong visual language, whatever the platform and no matter the brief.

THURSDAY 23 MARCH, 16.15-16.50

“Your Future in the Metaverse”    

Emile Rademeyer, Executive Director, Creative Strategy, VANDAL, Sydney

We're speeding towards our creative future in the Metaverse. Will you shape the Metaverse? Or will the Metaverse end up shaping you? Join Emile Rademeyer from creative production studio, Vandal, on a mind-boggling journey as he reveals our future in the metaverse and how it's redefining art, culture, creativity, fashion and entertainment like never seen before.

This entertaining session explains what the metaverse is and showcases the craziness of this emerging technology and how it’s redefining our world, upsetting the status quo at unprecedented speed.

Emile Rademeyer is Executive Director, Creative Strategy at Vandal in Sydney, and a leader in his field. He is regarded as one of Australia’s most prolific creative, new media trailblazers and keynote speakers. VandalL is one of the top production companies in Australasia, a media-independent creative, art and production studio with a passion to bridge the gap between art, advertising, digital media, content and culture. Emile also oversees curation of the VANDAL Art Gallery in Redfern, which was recently named as one of the best art galleries in Sydney. 

THURSDAY 23 MARCH, 16.50-17.25

“Makers of Tomorrow: Learn how to harness the tools that will build the ideas of the future”    

Joe Braithwaite, Head of Creative Works, Southeast Asia, Google 

In an uncertain climate, the only constant is the power of creativity to drive real-world impact for brands and consumers. In this session, Google Creative Works’ Joe Braithwaite will show why creativity continues to be the No.1 driver of campaign ROI, why Human X Machine can be an unstoppable force, and how to leverage the wider Google creative canvas so you can master the tools of tomorrow, and make brilliant work.

Joe Braithwaite, Head of Creative Works at Google Southeast Asia, comes to ADFEST Sessions with career experience that blends global marketing best practice with local market cultural understanding, contextual nuance and, most importantly, empathy. That career has proven to him that believes that creativity is the most powerful force in business, closely followed by data. He will show how to harness the tools that will build the ideas of the future.

SATURDAY 25 MARCH: 9.30-10.05

“WARC Creative: Trends from the World’s Most Creatively Effective campaigns”
Rica Facundo, Asia Editor, WARC Asia Pacific, Singapore

Industry experts have declared a “crisis in creative effectiveness”. The industry is in an uncertain place so it’s more important than ever to learn from the best. WARC has spent over 35 years making sure its clients’ creativity is commercially effective. It is an expert on great work that works well. For anyone who is serious about making creativity that does what advertising creativity is meant to do, WARC shares the top trends from the world’s most awarded campaigns, brands and advertisers. 

The session is presented by Rica Facundo, whose expertise is in uncovering and framing human-centered and culturally relevant opportunities for brands and businesses, with more than a decade of experience working in agencies and publications. A marketing practitioner and journalist, she also speaks and consults with major trend-watching publications and trade bodies and believes that stories, data and culture are at the heart of great innovation.

Prior to WARC, Rica was part of a strategic design consultancy creating innovative solutions at the forefront of web3 and healthcare. She is part of the inaugural batch of the See It Be It program for female creative leaders in 2019 and was nominated for Campaign Asia’s Young Achiever of the Year in 2016.

SATURDAY 25 MARCH, 10.40-11.15

“2023 the year of travel…But at what cost?” 

Carly Stone, Founding Partner, Madam Films, London

Anna Hewitt, Madam Sustainability Coordinator, Madam Films, London

Gabi Kay, Green The Bid

Claire Wilkie, Limitless Broadcast

Rob Payton, Arri VP Stage

As we move further away from the pandemic years, the old ways of production are returning. But we are a species that has the capacity to innovate technologically and understand the consequences of our actions. We are therefore very well placed to evolve our production methods. This session will explore why we need to do that and how to make it happen.

This sessions’ panellists come with long-held expertise that draws on a sustainable production focus to form their business models. Together, they will discuss key areas of planet-positive production, driving company culture and setting policies that actually work. They will provide a snapshot of tools to help global production teams make quick changes and strive towards long lasting goals. Finally, they will analyse how remote production’s technical advancement is used across different industry sectors and how the benefits of virtual production offer boundless possibilities. The future is already here and the sustainability agenda is very much at the heart of it, they say. Don’t be left behind.

Carly Stone is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Madam Films, one of the UK’s leading production service companies. Prior to launching Madam in 2013, she was Managing Director of Crossroads Films UK, the sister company to the long-established Crossroads Films US and began her career in London at industry-leading Cowboy Films. This has given her the privilege of working with some of the industry’s most respected directing and producing talent across advertising, music and feature film projects across her 20+-year career. Sustainability and inclusion are hallmarks of her leadership and the focus of her agency as Madam continues to work in these areas at a greater depth.

ADFEST is a non-profit-making entity that believes passionately in its role to nurture and support the creative industry in the Asia Pacific and MENA region. It is one of only 8 regional creative festivals included in the WARC Creative 100 Rankings.

Save the date of 23 – 25 March 2023 and RISE with us at ADFEST 2023. For more information, visit www.ADFEST.com