We’ve had a load of response to the Festival, mostly positive.

It’s clear there is a desire for an online advertising festival out there, but there have been a few questions and comments that need clarifying:

Q: Are you aiming for people to submit One Shot commercials that have actually run, or are you looking for amateur/student films that have been specifically made for the festival?
[Ben Kay - ITIABTWC]

A: Both. We’re not distinguishing between great One Shot ideas that have gone through the wringer of deadlines, research, client approval, etc. and great One Shot ideas that have gone through the wringer of being made on a shoestring with limited equipment. The important thing is that the idea is great and simple [hence the ‘One Shot’ restriction].

Q: I’m a little confused by the connection between One Shot ideas, and ideas for our cash-strapped times. After all you can have great, low-cost ideas that have cuts in them – Lego Kipper – and equally you can have One Shot ideas that cost a fortune, like the recent Philips Widescreen.
[Gerry Farrell, The Leith Agency]

A: Several people have raised this point. I guess our answer is that the restriction of using only one cut does at least tend to make you create simpler, lower-cost ideas. It’s a bit arbitrary, I guess, and, yes, we will miss out on some great ideas that have more than one cut, but that’s the formula we’ve hit upon.

Q: In what way will this become a festival? Will there be seminars and speakers, etc. online? [Ben Kay - ITIABTWC]

A: Initially, it will just be a whole load of great One Shot films in one place for everyone to go and see. In future, though, there’s no reason why we couldn’t have seminars, lectures, even live Q and A sessions online.

Q: I love the name of these awards and the spirit of them, but I find the ‘one shot’ concept a little too limiting and a little close to Straight8. [Justin Tindall, The Red Brick Road]

A: We did think of the similarity to Straight8, but we felt that it wasn’t too close – Straight8 features films, not just ads; although everything is shot in camera, Straight8 films do have ‘cuts’ of a sort; Straight8 films are eventually shown at an actual live event – ours are in an online festival.

Hope that answers at least some of the questions. This kind of feedback is great to receive – the project is only just starting and we need your input to get our thinking straight and get things in good shape. We’ve now added feedback buttons so you can easily send us any comments. Please keep them coming.