Somesuch’s Sally Campbell named AICP Show Chairperson

Campbell
(Courtesy AICP)

Sally Campbell, Founding Partner of the production company Somesuch and a leader in the industry’s efforts for equity and inclusion in the production ranks, has been named Chairperson of the 2023 AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the Commercial.  Matt Miller, President and CEO, made the announcement earlier this week.

Also announced is the full lineup of experts from a cross-section of the industry who will serve on the 2023 AICP Show Curatorial Committee.

“Sally has proven herself to be an industry leader in so many respects, from her involvement with AICP to the consistently high level of creative excellence that’s seen in the work of her directors at Somesuch,” offers Miller. “She leads with her heart and her head, and just the right smidge of piss and vinegar. We’re excited for her involvement in all aspects of the AICP Show. It’s going to be quite a year.”

“I was very, very flattered,” Campbell says of her reaction to being tapped for the AICP Show Chairperson role. “It’s really an honor to be in the company of all the past Show Chairs, and build on what they’ve achieved. I’m looking forward to living up to the role.” 

Somesuch was launched in the UK in 2010 by Campbell, a former agency producer, and her husband, the director Tim Nash. The pair relocated to Los Angeles in 2017 to launch the US office of the company. A native New Zealander, she emigrated to London at the age of 21 and got her start as a runner at The Mill, later joining the storied agency BBH as a producer.

Her company has consistently been in the forefront of setting creative benchmarks and upholding the highest standards for craft, whether working in music videos, commercials, brand content or long-form entertainment. 

With a firm commitment to diversity, Somesuch boasts one of the highest numbers of women directors on its roster in the industry. The company is also dedicated to producing socially-conscious work, and has done so for brands like Gillette, Nike, Secret and Libresse, earning Grand Prix and Gold and Titanium Lions at Cannes and a Black Pencil at D&AD in the process.

Somesuch’s Home, produced for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, won the BAFTA for Best Short Film in 2017, while another short film, The Long Goodbye, a bracing look at racism in Britain, won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short last year. 

As Executive Producer, Campbell has served on the juries of some of the most discriminating competitions in the world, and the strength of Somesuch’s output, coupled with Campbell’s drive to promote and nurture underrepresented talent in the industry, culminated with her being named to Ad Age’s Leading Women in Advertising list in 2022. 

Her goal for the AICP Show in 2023 is to boost international exposure and participation across the board. “I love that we’re being more inclusive now, and that we’re increasingly looking at each other’s work from both here and abroad,” she notes. “It means we’re not being complacent, we’re reaching out and attracting the best work from all over the world, and being inspired and challenged by it. That’s hugely rewarding for me.”

Assembling the AICP Show Curatorial Committee

In assembling the Curatorial Committee, Campbell says she’s impressed by the bifurcated judging process that the AICP Show employs, in which work is initially judged by a carefully selected group of industry experts before it reaches the curatorial stage. The Curators determine the appropriateness to the category and the final disposition of the winners of the AICP Show. 

“I like how this phase of the judging happens with everyone in their own space, watching the work, and not talking about it with their friends and peers at other companies,” she says. “Given the breadth of the judging juries and the curatorial committee, I feel the results have the ability to be more genuine, and more objective; it just feels more legitimate. And that’s reflected in the strength and value of winning an AICP Award, in that it’s been rigorously judged by people who truly know their craft inside and out.”

The entry deadline for the AICP Show, along with the AICP Post Awards and the AICP Next Awards, is March 6, 2023. Full entry details can be found here. 


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Campbell
(Courtesy AICP)

Sally Campbell, Founding Partner of the production company Somesuch and a leader in the industry’s efforts for equity and inclusion in the production ranks, has been named Chairperson of the 2023 AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the Commercial.  Matt Miller, President and CEO, made the announcement earlier this week.

Also announced is the full lineup of experts from a cross-section of the industry who will serve on the 2023 AICP Show Curatorial Committee.

“Sally has proven herself to be an industry leader in so many respects, from her involvement with AICP to the consistently high level of creative excellence that’s seen in the work of her directors at Somesuch,” offers Miller. “She leads with her heart and her head, and just the right smidge of piss and vinegar. We’re excited for her involvement in all aspects of the AICP Show. It’s going to be quite a year.”

“I was very, very flattered,” Campbell says of her reaction to being tapped for the AICP Show Chairperson role. “It’s really an honor to be in the company of all the past Show Chairs, and build on what they’ve achieved. I’m looking forward to living up to the role.” 

Somesuch was launched in the UK in 2010 by Campbell, a former agency producer, and her husband, the director Tim Nash. The pair relocated to Los Angeles in 2017 to launch the US office of the company. A native New Zealander, she emigrated to London at the age of 21 and got her start as a runner at The Mill, later joining the storied agency BBH as a producer.

Her company has consistently been in the forefront of setting creative benchmarks and upholding the highest standards for craft, whether working in music videos, commercials, brand content or long-form entertainment. 

With a firm commitment to diversity, Somesuch boasts one of the highest numbers of women directors on its roster in the industry. The company is also dedicated to producing socially-conscious work, and has done so for brands like Gillette, Nike, Secret and Libresse, earning Grand Prix and Gold and Titanium Lions at Cannes and a Black Pencil at D&AD in the process.

Somesuch’s Home, produced for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, won the BAFTA for Best Short Film in 2017, while another short film, The Long Goodbye, a bracing look at racism in Britain, won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short last year. 

As Executive Producer, Campbell has served on the juries of some of the most discriminating competitions in the world, and the strength of Somesuch’s output, coupled with Campbell’s drive to promote and nurture underrepresented talent in the industry, culminated with her being named to Ad Age’s Leading Women in Advertising list in 2022. 

Her goal for the AICP Show in 2023 is to boost international exposure and participation across the board. “I love that we’re being more inclusive now, and that we’re increasingly looking at each other’s work from both here and abroad,” she notes. “It means we’re not being complacent, we’re reaching out and attracting the best work from all over the world, and being inspired and challenged by it. That’s hugely rewarding for me.”

Assembling the AICP Show Curatorial Committee

In assembling the Curatorial Committee, Campbell says she’s impressed by the bifurcated judging process that the AICP Show employs, in which work is initially judged by a carefully selected group of industry experts before it reaches the curatorial stage. The Curators determine the appropriateness to the category and the final disposition of the winners of the AICP Show. 

“I like how this phase of the judging happens with everyone in their own space, watching the work, and not talking about it with their friends and peers at other companies,” she says. “Given the breadth of the judging juries and the curatorial committee, I feel the results have the ability to be more genuine, and more objective; it just feels more legitimate. And that’s reflected in the strength and value of winning an AICP Award, in that it’s been rigorously judged by people who truly know their craft inside and out.”

The entry deadline for the AICP Show, along with the AICP Post Awards and the AICP Next Awards, is March 6, 2023. Full entry details can be found here. 


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