AdFest creates a portfolio night to call its own

• AdFest 2009 launches AdFest Academy
• Academy will see 60 young creatives get their portfolios reviewed by a number of this year's jury members.

Regional - AdFest will launch the AdFest Academy at this year's awards show, a new initiative which will see 60 young creatives get their portfolios reviewed by a number of jury members.

AdFest President Jimmy Lam announced the news today, saying that the festival is "committed to fostering young talent in the Asia Pacific region, and the AdFest Academy is a rare opportunity for ambitious young creatives to learn from the world's brightest minds".

To qualify, the creative has to be an AdFest delegate and under 30 years of age. The first 60 eligible applications will know if they have been accepted into the AdFest Academy before the annual regional festival kicks off in mid-March.

Mun Tuck Wai, BBDO Malaysia's creative director, is keen for the jury to review the portfolios of young Malaysian creative talents. He feels the Academy will be a chance for local talent to "get noticed" and have their work seen by the "big guns".

"I hope the Academy will give constructive criticism for the young creatives to work harder and improve their portfolio," he said.

Well-known creative Nick Souter has signed on to be Resident Lecturer for the Academy and he will lead the lecture sessions of the two day initiative, along with a handful of AdFest jury members. Tomaz Mok, chief creative officer for McCann Erickson China, has also been named as the Principal for AdFest Academy. The portfolio review sessions follow after the lecture sessions.

"For all young kids, any major award show is about learning and this makes the learning more personal," Farrokh Madon, McCann Erickson's Singapore executive creative director, said.

Madon, who is also on this year's Press Lotus jury, adds that although the review session may be similar to ihaveanidea's Portfolio Night effort, the benefit of what the Academy offers is an "opportunity to get views from creative directors from across the region or nationally which adds a bit of a broader perspective to things."

"Different people form different countries look at ads or approach creativity in different ways," he said.