Christian Mondragon, associate creative director of Conill, debuted as juror in the UK Young Lions Competition in the Film & Digital category. Unlike other festivals where eyes were trained on reviewing the work and production skills of the agencies, this time the jurors concentrated on evaluating the big ideas of young creatives. “It’s my first time as a juror, and the fact that it’s in the United Kingdom makes it very special, because when I started out I used to admire very much the films produced in that country, and having the chance to be a juror in its festival of young talents in the Film category drives me to keep working for creative excellence,” he said. “When we speak of Young Lions we don’t expect big productions, since it’s quite a challenge to meet the requirements of a brief in a few hours and with little in the way of resources, so we could say that in Young Lions we focus more on the big idea rather than its execution,” said Christian, who has been a juror in the Clio Awards, NY Festivals and Radio Mercury Awards. The excellence of the works in Film & Digital should be in the thought behind the idea. “In the case of film, it’s essential to know how to tell a story through an insight that is relevant for the audience and for the brand, but still more important is finding a strong concept. In the case of digital, one ought to know how to relate a case story from a different point of view, or with relevant data turned into an idea that makes me envious, or at least full of emotion,” Christian said. From his point of view, three points are essential for judging in this category: it’s essential to have attended the Cannes Festival, to understand its essence, its culture and especially to do an immersion in the Young Lions competition at Cannes, since it allows measuring the impact that the festival has on the careers of young professionals.. Secondly, the previous judging in other festivals is also essential, since they come up with arguments and more solid foundations for measuring ideas, not only from the creative viewpoint but also from the strategic angle. And finally, I believe it’s essential to be mentors more than jurors, so that “the winning work we choose should send a message to the losers, who took part and must surely feel frustrated, that the winning work is an excellent example of how those who didn’t win should have addressed the brief.”