Listen up: 2014 AICP Award judge Regina Brizzolara wants to be wowed

April 24, 2014

The 2014 AICP Award shortlist is announced tomorrow, and McKinney Director of Broadcast Production Regina Brizzolara is anxious to see who made the cut. She was behind the work of McKinney’s five shortlisted entries in 2011, 2012 and 2014, and this year she helped judge the Performance Dialogue category.

According to their website, The Association of Independent Commercial Producers was founded in 1972 and “represents the interests of companies that specialize in producing commercials on various media for advertisers and agencies.” Their members account for 85 percent of all domestic commercials aired nationally, and, last month, Regina spent a few hours watching 107 of them.

Considering the category she was assigned, she listened as closely as she watched. “The copy better serve the idea behind the spot if it’s entered in the Performance Dialogue category, so I paid attention to the basics of dialogue,” she explains. “If the copy is meant to be funny, did I laugh? If the copy is meant to be serious, was it too cliché? Did it provoke? Did it make me think differently? Basically, did I think the dialogue paid off?”

She was familiar with much of the work she judged — from major cereal brands and automakers to animal rights organizations and commercial broadcast networks — but she was most surprised by a spot for a Fortune 500 broad line closeout retailer, a tough category to advertise. “The actors were singing their lines because the spot was a musical, and that made the dialogue even more important,” Regina recalls. “Also, I really liked the casting and thought it was an all-around well done spot.”

Regina was most critical of work in the car category. “If you have one of the biggest budgets in the industry, I shouldn’t be simply impressed or entertained by what you’ve entered. I should be wowed.”

While in New York in June for AICP Week, she and the other attendees will be able to watch all of the wow-inducing, award-winning spots. “I think it’ll be especially fun to go to the show having been a judge. Plus, the sessions are targeted to things we are thinking about almost daily — like legal issues in the digital age, new affects approaches and bidding approaches. And it’s always a great way to connect with others in the industry,” says Regina.

The AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Commercial will be held at the Museum of Modern Art on June 12.