National CineMedia Announces The Creative Ladder as Official Charity Partner of the 2023 Cannes Lions Young Lions Competition

National CineMedia, the U.S. Representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the largest cinema advertising network, announces The Creative Ladder, a nonprofit dedicated to making creative careers more accessible and inclusive for young people, as the official charity partner for the 2023 Young Lions Competition.

“Knowing we’re able to participate in providing fresh talent with the chance to creatively challenge themselves and be globally celebrated, while directly supporting our nonprofit’s mission to connect, inspire, and elevate an inclusive new generation of creative industry leaders, is beyond exciting.”

The Creative Ladder is featured in the 2023 U.S. Young Lions brief, with competitions open to young professionals aged 30 and under in the following categories: Film, Digital, Media, PR and Print. The winning teams will represent the country as Team USA at the live global competitions during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity held in Cannes, France from June 19-23, 2023.

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The Creative Ladder Co-founder Ryan Reynolds said, “It’s hard to imagine anything more valuable and energizing for a relatively new nonprofit like The Creative Ladder than having hundreds of America’s most creative minds brainstorming ideas to spread the word about what we’re building. I cannot wait to see the ideas the Young Lions competitors come up with. It’s so rewarding to know that today’s rising creatives will be helping us reach and inspire the next generation of talent. What an incredible example of lifting as you climb.”

Entrants in the Young Lions Competition will create an advertisement or communications strategy that can be implemented by The Creative Ladder. Participants will be tasked with helping the nonprofit address the awareness gap surrounding creative careers. According to an industry survey by The Creative Ladder, 75% of creative professionals—and 78% of nonwhite creative professionals—say they didn’t know their current careers existed when they graduated high school. That lack of awareness can delay the launch of a career by years, and it especially hurts those who come from backgrounds that haven’t been well represented in creative industries, such as people of color, immigrants, disabled people, and those from low-income households.

“We’re thrilled at the opportunity to have the incredibly talented Young Lions entrants develop ways to represent and share the impact we’re making,” said Dionna Dorsey Calloway, Co-founder & CEO, The Creative Ladder. “Knowing we’re able to participate in providing fresh talent with the chance to creatively challenge themselves and be globally celebrated, while directly supporting our nonprofit’s mission to connect, inspire, and elevate an inclusive new generation of creative industry leaders, is beyond exciting.”

This year, the Young Lions Competition has been reimagined by both NCM and Cannes Lions to increase engagement, community and inclusivity for the young creatives participating. Last month, NCM launched Represent!, its first ever campaign to support Young Lions, encouraging today’s rising stars to showcase their talents. Selecting The Creative Ladder as the 2023 featured charity aligns with NCM’s business and impact goals and links its prestigious role with Cannes to the young, diverse, 18–34-year-old audience that attends the movies every week.

NCM will be donating in-cinema national media to support Represent! across its network of theaters – AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Harkins and 50+ additional affiliates. In addition, for the first time, NCM is partnering with FCB New York to co-produce creative content with Noovie Studios, NCM’s in-house creative group. The video will feature the Young Lions competitors, judges, and Team USA, comprised of the 2023 winners across the Film, Digital, Media, PR and Print competitions.

SOURCE: Businesswire