And the film winner of the EVCOM Industry Awards is…

The first ever EVCOM Industry Awards ceremony brought together the most successful corporate and brand campaigns of 2017. The competition was forged from gold winners at the EVCOM Screen Awards, Clarions and Live Awards, plus categories for entering directly.

That might sound like a complicated recycling of previous awards, but there is a clear and relevant logic. EVCOM is the association that represents all corporate and brand communications. In a world of integrated campaigns, it makes sense for them to combine film, digital and live awards.

The ceremony revealed the winners of the most prestigious categories including Production Company of the Year. What did that tell us about the most successful films and the people who made them? We did our usual number crunching.

Outstanding films

Just 14 EVCOM Industry Awards were handed out for films or agencies who make them. That places the 10 production companies who won in a select group. If you’re looking for one winner on the night (it’s what we do), one name stands out.

Media Zoo ran away with it – three golds, a silver and a bronze, and the only agency to win more than one. They retained the Production Company of the Year gong they earned in 2016. To the best of my knowledge that’s a first for the EVCOM awards and their predecessors the IVCA Awards.

Three awards were for Media Zoo’s work for INEOS. They won both gold and silver in the highly-prized Communication Effectiveness category.

Some of the most outstanding films of the year were rightly recognised. It was quite a week for RAW London/NDAS whose ‘Control’ was named Clarions Film of the Year, adding to their success at the Lovie Awards two nights earlier. Plastic Pictures/Unilever won Film Craft of the Year for #Collective Action, as well as a place on the Lovies shortlist.

It wasn't a big surprise that public security films featured strongly. Affixxius Films/Leicestershire Police deservedly picked up External Film of the Year for ‘Kayleigh’s Love Story’.

Internal Film of the Year was ‘Seen and Heard’ by Whiteboat TV for The Children’s Society and Department of Health. The much-viewed ‘Run, Hide, Tell’ by Embolden for NCTS/FCO/ABTA won bronze in Brand Communication.In Internal Communication Zinc Media/Nationwide’s ‘Bereavement & Vulnerable Customers’ grabbed silver and  Buddy Films’/the Co-Op’s ‘Ways of being Co-Op’ was Highly Commended. A-Vision were named Challenger Production Company of the Year for smaller companies, while Heehaw and Somersault were shortlisted for Production Company of the Year.

It’s worth remembering film winners in five categories were up against live and digital projects, so their achievements are all the greater.