JWT Worldwide Brings Music to the Forefront at Cannes International Ad Festival

JWT Worldwide Brings Music to the Forefront at Cannes International Ad Festival

Music Heavyweights Vaughn Arnell, Michelle Curran, and Chris Milk to Discuss Effects of Music on Film and Film on Music at JWT Event

MUSIC Changes What You SEE. PICTURES Change What You HEAR.

NEW YORK, June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- JWT Worldwide, the largest advertising agency in the U.S. and fourth largest in the world, today announced that it is bringing music to the forefront for the first time ever at the 52nd Annual Cannes International Advertising Festival by hosting a seminar that will examine the effects of music on film and film on music.

Themed, "MUSIC changes what you SEE. PICTURES change what you HEAR," the event will take place on Wednesday, June 22nd from 17:00-17:45 at the Debussy Theater in Cannes, France.

"Music can move people from laughter to tears and a million places in between. Yet, in our business, music is often an afterthought; people do not give it enough time, attention or money," explained JWT Worldwide Chief Creative Officer Craig Davis. Aside from a handful of stand-out examples, such as the annual recipients of the Cannes Lion for Excellence in Music, "Most advertising doesn't realize music's full potential. We are putting music squarely on the agenda at Cannes and want to spark discussion and debate around it."

Speaking at the JWT event will be three music heavyweights: Vaughan Arnell, an award-winning music video-and-commercial director, known for his work for such artists as Robbie Williams and David Gray and such clients as Stella Artois, Levi's and Smirnoff; Michelle Curran, founder and president of Amber Music, the company behind the sound design for Honda's widely-acclaimed "Grrr" spot and the music and sound design for the first season of BMW Films; and Chris Milk, a renowned music video-and-commercial director, whose offbeat style ranges from charming to razor-sharp whether promoting Sprite, Nintendo or Nike or musicians, like Kanye West and Courtney Love.

"We are very interested in music as a network and intend to keep music in the spotlight at the Festival each year," Davis said. "People should walk away from our event with a new appreciation for the significance of music in advertising, so that they start thinking about it early and often during an idea's development. When done right, music packs emotional power and has a profound effect on the end product."

About the Speakers

Vaughan Arnell made his directorial debut in the early '80s for Paul Young's "The Love of the Common People." In 1983, he paired up with Anthea Benton, and as Vaughan + Anthea, they co-directed videos for artists, such as Simply Red, Jamiroquai and George Michael, and commercials for clients, like Stella Artois, Smirnoff and Levi's. Striking out on his own in 1996, Arnell went on to direct award-winning videos for The Spice Girls ("Say You'll Be There") and Robbie Williams ("Rock DJ," "Millennium," "Feel," "Something Stupid"). He joined Pagan in late 2002, and since then, has directed commercials for T-Mobile, Guinness, The RAF, Vauxhall and Grolsch, as well as an internationally acclaimed Lux spot featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, and has shot videos for David Gray and Big Brovaz, among others.

Michelle Curran is the president and founder of Amber Music, the company behind the sound design for Honda's widely acclaimed "Grrr" spot and the music and sound design for the first season of BMW Films and title music for the second season. Dubbed "the queen of the ad music scene" by Boards magazine, Curran produces "tracks that have an edge" for such marketers as Beck's and American Express. Her 13-year-old London-based company, which has offices in New York and Los Angeles, has gained various awards for such ads as "Can You Kick It" for Nike, "Would I" for the Non-Profit Campaign Commission for Racial Equality and "Fish" for PBS, to name a few.

Chris Milk is an award-winning music video-and-commercial director, who has worked for such artists as Courtney Love and Kanye West and such brands as Sprite, Nintendo and Nike. He made his music directorial debut for English electronica sensation The Chemical Brothers. Following that, he created a fractured fairy tale for the Courtney Love video "Mono," which was voted "Music Video of the Year" in France. For Kanye West, he has directed "All Fall Down" and "Jesus Walks," which is currently in the running for "Video of the Year" at both the upcoming BET Awards and the Much Music Awards. At the 2005 Music Video Production Association Awards, Chris won the award for "Directorial Debut of the Year" and his John Mellencamp video took home "Adult Contemporary Video of the Year."

"Vaughn, Michelle and Chris deal with music as a starting point. They are hyper-conscious of the integral role music plays in making films memorable," Davis said.

To promote the event, JWT is including album covers from artists ranging from Susan Vega to Arlo Guthrie into the 7,500 delegate bags at the Ad Festival.

Two Current JWT Firsts

JWT is bringing two firsts to Cannes this year. In cooperation with Donald Gunn, JWT will gain first and exclusive access to the Gunn Report Library's best-of-the-best advertising prior to its launch to the rest of the industry in October. And through its collaboration with the Festival, JWT is pushing music to the forefront in Cannes for the first time.

In addition to JWT increasing the profile of music at Cannes, the agency is putting music first in its work for its client roster of the world's most renowned marketers. Some of JWT's most recent examples of excellent use of music in film include:

For Smirnoff "Diamonds," JWT London used "A Fifth Of Beethoven" (based on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony) by Walter Murphy from the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack. The funky disco beat seamlessly weaves together the story of a couch potato, who fatally chokes on a cracker, and his path from a carbon- based corpse to a girl's best friend.

For Nestle KitKat's "Animal Lover," JWT Paris employed The Carpenter's "Close to You" to act as the seemingly campy backdrop to dozens of birds flocking to a KitKit lover. The 1970's song provides a perfect payoff when the reason for the animal attraction is revealed.

For Ford's "King Kong," JWT Bangkok juxtaposed dramatic, horror-film-like music with a heart-string-tugging tune to take the viewer from baby King Kong ramming the Ranger OpenCab into a mountain-demonstrating that it was "Built Ford Tough"-to Papa King Kong scolding him for doing so.

*** Photo opportunities are available.

About JWT

JWT, which celebrates its 141st anniversary this year, ranks as the fourth largest full-service network in the world. Its parent company is WPP (NASDAQ:WPPGY).

Source: JWT

CONTACT: Samantha DiGennaro (The Americas), +1-212-210-7309, Mobile: +1-212-361-9170, samantha.digennaro@jwt.com, or Chrissie Barker (EMEA, Asia Pacific), Mobile: +44-7710-158-627, chrissie.barker@jwt.com, both of JWT

Web site: http://www.jwt.com/

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