National CineMedia to Launch the Official US Lions Community at Cannes Lions Festival

Senior Executives From Google, Grey, Papa Johns, Translation and Uber Are Named as Inaugural TEAM USA Advisors

National CineMedia (NCM), the largest cinema advertising platform in the country and the US representative to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, announces the winners of the 2024 US Young Lions competition. Over 500 teams comprised of young professionals across the advertising, digital, media, creative and PR industries registered for the competition this year, up 20% year over year. There were 333 official competition entries, an increase of 17% compared to last year. The five winning teams were named and honored last night by NCM at the TEAM USA Winners Announcement event, hosted by Initiative, with all 25 finalist teams in attendance.

The winners will compete in person as TEAM USA in the global Young Lions competition at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the world’s leading celebration of creative marketing and communications, taking place from June 17-21 in Cannes, France.

2024 US Cannes Lions Young Lions Winning Teams Comprising TEAM USA:

• Digital: Jessica Nugent, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA & Rachel Findlay, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA
• Film: Emma LeMay, Weber Shandwick & John Chavez, Weber Shandwick
• Media: Cara Miller, Initiative & Christian Savino, Initiative
• PR: Morgan Biles, Weber Shandwick & Lena Church, Weber Shandwick
• Print: Chloe Bayhack, FCB New York & Victoria Rocha, FCB New York

The TEAM USA winners and their work, along with a list of all 2^nd and 3^rd place awards, can be seen here.

Participants were tasked with crafting an innovative campaign to propel the 2024 Young Lions Non-profit Partner, Gold House, and their seminal A100 List, to new heights, with a focus on captivating Gen Z audiences. The A100 honors the 100 most impactful Asian Pacific leaders across industries and distills their contributions to changing culture and society. For the first time, the Young Lions Non-profit Partner has committed to utilize competition work in-market. Gold House will be implementing elements of the campaign idea from3^rd place Digital Team, Riya Gupta and Payton Cianfarano, both of Burrell, in their A100 marketing strategy this May.

This year, NCM announced TEAM USA Advisors, a new mentorship program that will provide the US winners with personal guidance in advance of the global Young Lions competition. The chosen executive leaders each have a unique connection to Cannes Lions and a commitment to advising the next generation of the industry’s rising stars. The 2024 TEAM USA Advisors are:

• Digital: Laura Maness, Global CEO, Grey
• Film: Jonathan Johnsongriffin, Vice President, Global Brand & Creative, Google
• Media: Jaclyn Ruelle, Vice President, Head of Brand, Papa Johns
• PR: Chaucer Barnes, Chief Marketing Officer, Translation
• Print: École Weinstein, Global Creative Lead, Delivery, Uber

Global CEO of Grey and TEAM USA Digital Young Lions Advisor, Laura Maness said, “Winning is a mindset. It requires self-belief, grit and focus on progress. More than half of the competition will come down to framing the challenge and preparing for the unexpected. I’m looking forward to helping my Digital team get ahead by getting them mentally ready — as Honest Abe would say, ‘give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe’."

NCM to Launch the US Lions Community at Cannes

Following two years of investment and redesign of the US Young Lions program, NCM will be formally launching the US Lions Community at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this June. With the vision to bring together, inspire and educate young creatives and established industry leaders alike, the US Young Lions program now includes a Mentorship Program with webinar content from a wide variety of agencies and brands, the TEAM USA Advisors program with one-to-one guidance to support the competition winners, an application process to become a US Young Lions juror, along with a growing number of partnerships, sponsorships and special events. The US Lions Community will offer ongoing value as a vital hub of networking, thought leadership, and career growth opportunities to US brands, agencies, media companies and other organizations within the advertising industry.

“We redesigned the Young Lions competition experience two years ago to raise awareness, drive greater participation, and deepen industry support to help advance and amplify young, diverse talent in advertising. This growing community brings together past and present competitors, jurors, partners and sponsors,” shared Amy Tunick, CMO at NCM. “We are thrilled to see the impact of this effort and the value it brings to the entire US Lions Community, which includes professionals at all phases of their career.”

This year Delta Air Lines joined the US Lions Community as the official 2024 Travel Sponsor of the US Young Lions competition, and will be providing domestic and international flights for finalists and the TEAM USA winners heading to Cannes. The IAB NewFronts has come on board as the official 2024 Young Lions US Jury Networking Partner, and will be hosting NCM and Young Lions jurors at the annual conference for a panel conversation about Gen Z and premium video followed by a cocktail reception on Wednesday, May 1. Initiative, an official 2024 Event Sponsor of the US Young Lions competition, hosted the TEAM USA Winners Announcement event last night at their New York office. In addition, our Young Lions category sponsors Digitas (Digital), Pereira & O’Dell (Film), UM (Media), Weber Shandwick (PR), and Monotype (Print), are all key partners who support the competition and ensure TEAM USA is able to attend the Cannes Lions Festival in June.

On the Ground at Cannes Lions

NCM will be activating at the 2024 Festival in Cannes on behalf of the US Lions Community with the following events:

• Monday, June 17 – NCM hosts the TEAM USA Welcome Reception at the Known Villa
• Tuesday, June 18 – NCM presents the US Lions Community Celebration hosted by Delta Air Lines and ATTN: at the Brands & Culture Villa

About National CineMedia

National CineMedia (NCM) is the largest cinema advertising platform in the US. With unparalleled reach and scale, NCM connects brands to sought-after young, diverse audiences through the power of movies and pop culture. A premium video, full-funnel marketing solution for advertisers, NCM enhances marketers' ability to measure and drive results. NCM’s Noovie® Show is presented exclusively in 42 leading national and regional theater circuits including the only three national chains, AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:AMC), Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CNK) and Regal Entertainment Group (a subsidiary of Cineworld Group PLC, LON: CINE). NCM’s cinema platform consists of more than 18,400 screens in over 1,450 theaters in 190 Designated Market Areas® (all of the Top 50). National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) owns and is the managing member of, National CineMedia, LLC. For more information, visit www.ncm.com

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