Cinemark, the local representative for Cannes Lions, will give the winners of the competition the opportunity to travel to Cannes to compete in the international festival.

Cinemark’s Young Lions competition, open to all South African creatives under the age of 28, will this year see the range of dynamic and talented judges who know a thing or two about the industry playing jury duty. The judges have a host of experience under their belts and are ready to take on the challenge of choosing which innovative team will represent South Africa at Cannes.

Vanessa Gibson, creative director of Black River, for example has won three gold Cannes Lions awards along with at least 15 Silvers and Bronzes. She says, “The awards are obviously highlights of my career, but I remember a lot of other things too. Like the time our print ad for Boystown was used as a comprehension question in one of the matric final English papers. Or the time our little meaningless ad broke sales records and saved a business from closing its doors. I cherish working with amazing minds.”

There is a lot to learn from these judges, who have experienced the industry back to front. Sanjiv Mistry, creative group head, Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town, has won two Lions – one Silver and one Bronze. Even though he is a law school graduate, his passion is for words and ideas. He soon found himself working his way up in advertising after completing a post-graduate copywriting course at the AAA School.

Greig Watt, senior art director at Net#WorkBBDO, has juried at the local Cannes Streetpole Awards and has received two Bronze Lions. Highlights of his career include winning Cannes Streetpole and attending the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival twice.

Picked for their creativity, flare for competition and judging, this jury will decide the fate of young creative hopefuls who want a chance at Cannes.

Avital Pinchevsky, creative director of DDB, has judged at The Loeries, Ad of the Month and the local Young Lions competition before. Her achievements include winning Cinemark’s Young Lions competition in 2003, four D&AD Awards, One Show Bronze and Gold as well as two Clio Awards. She worked in New York for two years and got to shoot with Janusz Kaminski and Harrison Ford.

Another man to learn a thing or two from at the 2012 Young Lions competition is art director at FoxP2, Ryan Barkhuizen. He jokes that he got into the industry because he heard he could wear shorts to work but adds that a highlight is “being part of a small start-up of seven people and watching it grow over the next six years, while still holding onto the principles and beliefs the agency was founded on”. Barkhuizen won a Silver Lion in the Film category in 2011.

Entrants will be briefed on Tuesday, 26 February on a Lead SA initiative. They will be given just 48 hours to deliver an advert filmed on a mobile device. The winners will travel to Cannes in June to represent their country against some of the best in the world at the 60th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.