Kerstin Emhoff: In the pipeline

Corralling a global jury into one virtual space across multiple time zones is the kind of logistics the crew behind Cannes Lions must take in their stride as 2021’s virtual festival, covering two years of work, prepares to land at a virtual connection near you. 

For Kerstin Emhoff, President of the Film Craft jury – on which she served in 2016 – there are 13 separate categories to keep spinning in the air until a winner is decided, making it, she thinks, “maybe the hardest of any Cannes category”. 

Once we’ve looked at each individual craft and what has made that shortlist, then we can really look at how the work changed from 2020 to 2021. 

“My role is to make sure the jury is involved, that the jury is connecting and able to discuss the work,” she says. “And we’ll look at the work the same way we always do.” Not that she’s exactly looking to replicate those solid 14-hour viewing sessions at the Palais. “Once we’ve looked at each individual craft and what has made that shortlist, then we can really look at how the work changed from 2020 to 2021. My message to the jury is to look for work that you love. Then we’ll discuss how craft was involved in making that work great.”

As Film Craft president, as well as CEO and co-founder of Prettybird, and a hugely experienced executive producer, knowing what makes work great must be second nature. Prettybird, after all, has a formidable rep – it was Ad Age’s Production Company of the Year in 2015, and its offices in LA and London are home to a rack of awards and a diverse roster of filmmakers, creatives and collaborators including the likes of Melina Matsoukas (who won the first-ever Music Grand Prix at Cannes in 2016 for Beyonce’s Formation), Matt Lambert and The Daniels. 

She was already heading up HSI Productions before launching Prettybird with Paul Hunter in 2007. The impetus? “To take the beauty of the commercial production company model, where we act as agents and managers and creative producers and therapists; to take that community and make it stronger, make it where the directors mentor each other, and you’re looking at writers, at people coming from all different kinds of creative areas, building a community that feeds off of each other. That’s what we did. And our directors collaborate with each a lot. They mentor each other, and they mentor other directors, and that’s unique in the industry.” 

So many of us that judge have great memories of being in that space with your peers, really digging in and talking about the work.

She points to one of Prettybird’s first spots from the start of lockdown last year, when Uber put out the message ‘stay at home!’. “We put the brief out to all the filmmakers, said shoot what is happening, and almost everyone, including some of the assistant and off-roster creators, sent clips in, so that first Uber spot was truly directed by Prettybird. That’s the best example of how our talent feels and acts like a community.”

That sense of community, that circle of trust, is something she wants to replicate with her Cannes Film Craft jury, even across time zones and Zoom screens. “I definitely miss the global camaraderie, and I can't wait to get back,” she says of the physical space along the Croisette. “From a judging perspective, the festival has done a great job of creating this remote world. We haven’t started our official jury deliberations, so it’ll be interesting to see if we get Zoom fatigue. 

"But I do think there’s something very magical on any jury, and that’s why so many of us that judge have great memories of being in that space with your peers, really digging in and talking about the work. There’s something really rewarding about it, it makes you feel there’s a pride that goes with it. We’ll miss that, but we’ll do our best to recreate it.” 

Above: Prettybird's lockdown-recognising Uber spot.

One of the big questions will be how the pandemic, remote shooting and socially distanced sets, has impacted film craft. “Everyone on my team will say it’s been a lot harder than it’s ever been, but there’s something about the personalities of producers that thrives on those challenges. It’s like we’re all adrenalin junkies, like, ‘Yeah, just make it tougher’. Everyone got excited and challenged, though there is some fatigue now, in how much effort it takes, with testing everyone all the time, the regulations, I do feel fatigue now.” 

As for what she’s already seen as Film Craft president, “Although you see the type of work that obviously had been modified for lockdown limitations, I’m pleasantly surprised by the level of craft. Everyone’s going to be fascinated when they look at the work that’s winning, because a lot of great stuff has been done, and a lot of it has to do with the way the pandemic swept over the globe. 

What we have to look at is in how craft took [the work] to the next level, and is it at the level that we would still be worthy of a Lion if there wasn’t a pandemic?

"While we were in full lockdown in California, you could fully shoot in Australia, and so you’ll see a lot of amazing work coming out of there. We’re seeing a lot of amazing craft. There have been some very strong ideas through this global pandemic. What we have to look at is in how craft took it to the next level, and is it at the level that we would still be worthy of a Lion if there wasn’t a pandemic?

“If you think of what we’ve all gone through,” she adds, “the fact that there is so much work, and a lot of really, really great work – that’s been very inspiring to see in the first round, just how much stuff is there, from all over the world. Great pieces from India, Asia and South America. That is what is so exciting about Cannes.” 

Presiding over a category with 13 awards and masses of entries to choose from gives Emhoff the chance to step out of her own professional bubble as an executive producer at Prettybird. “When you see what others have done, it’s very inspiring,” she says. “It’s my favourite part, looking at the stuff, even in the first round, in a lot of cases seeing work for the first time.”  

Above: 2019's Film Craft winner.

Coaxing innovative new work, and nurturing innovative new talent is central to her work at Prettybird. So central that she’s set up Pipelines, a new initiative to widen the creative gene pool. “We did a Beta launch at the end of last year,” she says. “It’s an app and a web platform, focused on bringing access and opportunities to under-served communities in the creative, entertainment and tech industries. We’re working on getting people on the platform, getting the word out – a lot of people want to do things in this area, but it takes a lot of effort to get them to do it. There’s so much talent that’s looking for a chance to get in the door.”

[Music videos] were the most creative form of expression, and people I was working with were doing the most amazing things

Emhoff’s own entry through that open door of opportunity came when she was waitressing in LA, while attending film school and searching for the way into Hollywood. She was waiting at a table where a commercial director had taken his agency out to dinner. “They told me I should get into advertising,” she remembers, “and I said, ‘no, that’s a cheesy profession’.” She laughs. “Cut to a month later I called him, and said maybe I’ll try and see what you guys do.” Cue sound of doors opening. “And I was hooked.” 

Her speciality was music videos, and this being the 1990s, they were prime time, audacious, innovative, brilliant. Oh, and amazing fun to make. “They were the most creative form of expression, and people I was working with were doing the most amazing things,” she says. “And they have been an amazing opportunity for women and people of colour to get into the industry, before any other doors would open, and that was a big focus of mine for a long time, getting music video directors into commercials, so they could then go into film and television.”