Ciro Sarmiento Dieste
The Cannes Lions parent firm Ascential has decided to eliminate the position of general director of the International Festival of Creativity as the first structural change following the 2018 edition. Dieste CCO Ciro Sarmiento sees this as an additional step toward achieving the goals initiated at this year’s event, namely, to simplify the process of celebrating great creative ideas. “Cannes wants to break free from complexities in every sense and get back to basics, to its essence” Sarmiento said. The reduction of categories, conferences and the duration of the festival were some of the changes in this year´s edition. “There are still too many things that need improving, too many categories and too much politicking. I don´t think an algorithm is going to solve what happens at a voting table. I respect Cannes Lions over any other event and think some amazing years for the festival are on their way. They definitely have the right idea about which way to go.”
