What counts

The bar is the best human craft. AI-made work never sets it.

• Award-level or visually outstanding human-made work only (decided). AI-made work is never a reference and never a sourced still, however good it looks.

• One exception, at the idea level only (decided): an award idea in which AI is the subject, or the only way to tell it, may be compared in the originality check and the idea bar (see The idea → Ranking, and the originality check). It is never a visual or craft reference.

• AI festival winners are evidence for methods and tools, never references for an ad's look.

• Judged sources first [proven], in this order:

  1. Cannes Lions and Dubai Lynx winners and shortlists (their Film Craft subcategories map one to one onto departments), D&AD Pencils (archive open back to 1963), The One Show, Effie and MENA Effie. The full Cannes Lions archive is paid.

  2. Curated platforms with full credits: LBB, shots, Directors Library, Vimeo Staff Picks.

  3. For stills: FILMGRAB (open), ShotDeck and Frameset (paid), film stills, photography and art.

• Avoid Pinterest and unlabelled social feeds (now full of AI images), stock libraries, and anything without credits.

• Vision first, then references [proven]. Write the decision, then find the work that proves or sharpens it. Starting from images makes everyone's work look alike.

• References are used as the craft needs. There is no rights check, release or consent step on references or sourced stills (decided).

Why: the 2025–26 juries rewarded in-camera, practical craft, and asked AI entries to justify themselves. Pip Smart, president of the 2026 Film Craft jury, said work that feels made by an imperfect, funny, clever human will be at a premium.

Sources

• Pip Smart (shots interview); the 2026 Film Craft winners (shots); Justine Armour, D&AD 2026 Entertainment jury (D&AD Annual).