YDA
The CFP-E (Commercial Film Producers of Europe), whose goal is to promote the added value that production companies bring to agencies and advertisers, and to safeguard the future of production companies, along with its then President and henceforth Honorary Chairman François Chilot, inspired and created the Young Director Award some 22 years ago.
Until 1984, François Chilot was Head of All Productions at TBWA when he chose to move on to found his own company – LES PRODUCERS, a name he embraced with the intention of conveying the philosophy that humour is the greatest elixir ever and, at the same time, underlining Les Producers’ across-the-board, multicultural identity.
— Our primary goal is to discover and nurture young directing talent.
Until 1984, François Chilot was Head of All Productions at TBWA when he chose to move on to found his own company – LES PRODUCERS, a name he embraced with the intention of conveying the philosophy that humour is the greatest elixir ever and, at the same time, underlining Les Producers’ across-the-board, multicultural identity.
In 2000, Les Producers entered the ‘Palme d’or’ list at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and became one of the 10 top-ranking production companies in the world.
Over the last three years, Les Producers has entered the world of entertainment with the short film “Love Birds”, and the feature “A Beautiful Curse” currently in postproduction, both directed by Martin Garde Abildgaard and produced by Rikke Katborg.
François Chilot and the CFP-E are acknowledged for making the Young Director Award (YDA) the only non profit organization in the world to exclusively support and promote debuting, international creative talent in commercial film production, and the only award exclusively-dedicated to up-and-coming, young filmmakers.
YDA’s uniqueness has led it to become a groundbreaker. It has paved the way, offering new directors remarkable opportunities for creating with state-of-the-art technology and cutting-edge techniques.
Maximizing global media coverage and heightening awareness of various stakeholders and players in the profession, YDA highlights the fact that one of the most essential roles of producers is to discover, nurture and promote directors.
It has become internationally recognized as the most important “must-see” fringe event of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity where, every year, over 500 participants and 900 spectators give prize-winning directors extraordinary exposure.
Since its creation, YDA has benefited from the support of a myriad
of international partners and sponsors from the world of advertising, production and communication who have consistantly teamed up with YDA, to offer commitment, contribution and promotion of YDA’s vision to position gifted young directors on the world stage.
Undeniably future-oriented, YDA regularly welcomes new partners, sponsors, and visionaries on-board.
The YDA jury panel includes a host of highly-regarded industry producers, executive creative directors, and well-known journalists such as Danny Edwards, Editor of Shots and YDA Review, and Lyndy Stout, Founder and Editor of the online magazine 1.4.
Beyond his work for YDA, François Chilot is frequently invited as a highly- demanded guest speaker and jury for advertising festivals and award events and ceremonies throughout the world, such as the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, D&AD, AICP Show, AdFest, FilmBrazil, Ciclope, AD Stars, PIAF to name but a few.
Throughout his career, François Chilot has forever pursued his adage for talented creatives: “without inherent desire, hard work, phenomenal talent and a pinch of luck, success is unattainable… When you make a film, make it stand out from the crowd!”