The Cannes Lions is to reduce the size of its jury panels present in Cannes by 92 members across the board. “This,” reckons Cannes Lions MD Jose Papa, “will ensure the highest standard of meaningful debate can take place”.
The first phase of the voting process for the Promo & Activation, Media and Direct Lions will now be completed in the weeks before the festival by a shortlist jury. The jury members will be selected using the same process and criteria as the awarding juries and held to the same “rigorous standards of neutrality and fairness”.
Jury panel sizes will also be reduced across the Film, Radio, Print & Publishing, Outdoor, Digital Craft, Creative Effectiveness and Mobile categories.
Titanium ‘the gold standard’
“Protecting the integrity of the Lions is down to getting the right people in the judging room,” said Jose Papa. “Some juries have been much larger than others in the past as a result of the number of entries they have to judge – but it is the Titanium jury, of 10 extremely well-qualified people, that is the gold-standard,” he said.
“After extensive consultation with previous jurors and the wider industry, we have concluded that we can reduce the number of jury members while still allowing them plenty of time to judge the work.”
2016’s Titanium jury president John Hegarty, founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, said: “I would rather be judged by fewer jurors who are more focused, more responsible and better qualified. Collective responsibility and the quality of discussion are lost if you have too many judges. Size is no guarantee of strength.”
Cannes Lions ceo Philip Thomas said: “The standard of judging and quality of our juries is one of the major factors that contributes to the longstanding value of Cannes Lions. Upholding the value of the Lion is paramount.”
The 2017 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will be held from Saturday 17 June to Saturday 24 June.
Share this Post
