LSAC Brings Home the Gold in Digital Awards Competition
What began in 1994 as a celebration of the audio-visual arts has evolved into the prestigious AVA Digital Awards—an international competition designed to recognize and honor excellence in digital creativity, branding, and strategy. These annual awards pay tribute to the growing ways in which we engage our audience through the innovative union of digital arts, technology, and information.
LSAC joined the list of 2021 AVA Digital Awards winners, earning the gold statuette in the video production category for “Law School Stories,” a project filmed in collaboration with the faculty, staff, and law school students at Brigham Young University.
“Law School Stories” was produced in March 2020 as part of BYU Law’s annual national storytelling event which enables students to write a true story about their life and the law, with up to 10 storytellers selected to perform in front of a live audience. LSAC was invited to record these true student stories, all vastly distinct, yet united by one common thread—how studying law provides a sense of purpose in life.
Under the leadership of LSAC’s Creative Director of Experience Design, Michele Giorgi, Multimedia Designer Jenn Brady captured the individual perspectives and paths that inspired four BYU Law students to pursue legal education, from Ruben, who had his own personal run-ins with the law, to Lily, who struggled to balance conflicting ideas on race, culture, and education while remaining focused on her goals.
“It wasn’t about increasing my economic potential,” says Ruben upon reflecting on his decision to study law. “It was about enabling people to have access to things that I didn’t have access to growing up.”
The video also features dean and faculty interviews regarding the personal connection stories like these evoke with their audience—a connection that can ultimately motivate others to discover their own path to law school.
“People are persuaded by stories,” explains Dean D. Gordon Smith. “They’re not persuaded by facts and figures. They’re persuaded by compelling emotional connection.”
The AVA Awards are administered and judged each year by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, one of the oldest and largest evaluators of creative work in the marketing and communications industry. Honors are awarded to work ranging from digital campaigns to audio and video production, website development, social media engagement, and mobile marketing. The AVA statuette, designed to pay tribute to the evolution of the digital arts, is crafted by Society Awards, the same design and manufacturing firm responsible for the redesign of many of the world’s top creative awards, including the Golden Globes and American Music Awards.
“It was a pleasure collaborating with Jenn Brady on the story arc,” says Michele Giorgi. “She worked diligently to prepare for this event. She even wore multiple hats and vests—literally one that she could attach her camera to so she could interview and record simultaneously. The result was a high quality and impactful video.”