Announcing the top 3 finalists for the 2023 Young Lions Print, Film and Digital categories

The Globe and Mail, the Official Festival Representative in Canada for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, is pleased to announce the Top 3 teams for the 2023 Canadian Young Lions Competition in the Print, Film, and Digital categories. Modeled after the Cannes Global Young Lions Competition, Print, Film, and Digital entrants received a brief and had to complete the challenge for their respective category within a 24-hour period.

Each year the competition jury chairs select a non-profit organization as the subject of the competition briefs. This year the Nature Conservancy of Canada was chosen for the creative categories.

Nature Conservancy of Canada Background

Nature Conservancy of Canada protects, restores, and sustainably manages the most ecologically important Canadian lands in the urgent fight against climate change and bio-diversity loss. With your donations NCC purchases and protects land – permanently, from coast to coast. In this, NCC is unlike any other environmental organization. When you donate, the difference you make lasts forever. 

Young Canadians are deeply worried about the environmental crisis. They understand that solving climate change will require a collective effort, but real progress seems to have stalled out. They want to know how they can make a sustainable difference in protecting nature, to have true impact.

They are looking to make a permanent difference and to help accelerate conservation. 

Print Category: Competitors in Print are given 24 hours to develop a print ad that drives awareness and support for the Nature Conservancy of Canada among a younger demographic. The goal is to build the community: add 500,000 new supporters by 2030.

Film Category: Competitors in Film are given 48 hours to develop a 60-second commercial that drives awareness and support for the Nature Conservancy of Canada among a younger demographic. The goal is to build the community: add 500,000 new supporters by 2030.

Digital Category: Competitors in Digital are given 24 hours to develop a digital campaign that drives awareness and support for the Nature Conservancy of Canada among a younger demographic. The goal is to build the community, and add 500,000 new supporters by 2030.

These category submissions were judged by an esteemed panel of 18 industry leaders, led by returning jury chair Mary Maddever (Brunico).

The semi-finalists in the Print category are:

IMMORTAL LANDSCAPE

• Emma Laberge, Art Director, Rethink

• Laurent H. Tremblay, Copywriter, Rethink

THANKS FOR NOTHING

• Grace Guan, Junior Writer, Taxi

• Kyle Simpson, Art Director, Taxi

THE DEFORESTATION DEFENSE

• Jaclyn McConnell, Art Director, Rethink

• Shawn Weidman, Copywriter, Rethink

The semi-finalists in the Film category are:

HOLD ON

• Frédérick Pelletier, Freelance Director, Clark Influence

• Gabrielle Roy, Strategist, Clark Influence

DO NOTHING FOR SOMETHING

• Cory Hansen, Senior Writer, Milestone Integrated Marketing

• Anthony Curran, Motion Designer, Milestone Integrated Marketing

FOREVER HOME

• Samantha Beauchamp, Art Director, Rain

• Rebecca M. Williams, Senior Copywriter, Rain

The semi-finalists in the Digital category are:

PAY-PER-VIEWPOINT

• Andronicus Wu, Art Director, The Garden

• Jon Dawe, Senior Copywriter, The Garden

TIP YOUR TREES

• Ethan Gans, Writer, Rethink

• Ekenechukwu Oduh, Art Director, Rethink

THE VPN THAT VIRTUALLY PROTECTS NATURE

• Sammy Lo, Art Director, LG2

• Peter Sreckovic, Senior Copywriter, Sid Lee

The winning teams will be revealed on April 26th, at the CMDC’s Annual Canadian Media Summit at the W Hotel in Toronto.  

In addition to being crowned as Canada’s best, Gold-winning teams also win a trip to Cannes, France, to attend the five-day International Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity from June 19 to 23, 2023, the largest gathering in the creative marketing community, where they will compete in the Global Young Lions Competition, taking place during the festival week. As the Competition Sponsor, The Globe and Mail awards a prize per Gold-winning team, which includes registration fees for the Global Young Lions Competition, delegate passes to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, and the cost of flights and accommodation.

This year’s competition saw 680 people registered, making up 340 competing teams across the five categories: Digital, Film, Print, Media and Marketers –53 teams for Print, 14 teams for Film, and 58 teams for Digital.

To view the profiles of this year’s competition jurors please visit https://globeandmailyounglions.ca/jury/.

Print, Film, and Digital Top 3 Teams pictured (top row, from left) 

Gabrielle Roy, Kyle Simpson, Sammy Lo, Laurent H. Tremblay, Emma Laberge, Grace Guan

Ekenechukwu Oduh, Rebecca M. Williams, Jon Dawe, Andronicus Wu, Shawn Wideman, Cory Hansen

Peter Sreckovic, Jaclyn McConnell, Ethan Gans, Frédérick Pelletier, Samantha Beauchamp, Anthony Curran