• by Kelly Samardak , June 9, 2010

2010 AICP Show and Awards, Museum of Modern Art, New York
June 8, 2010

Last year I opted out of the AICP Awards and Show Reception/party of beautiful magic because of Internet Week. I ended up at a party that wasn't half as amazing and punched myself in the face eight times for bowing to the pressure of the Internet masses. This year I hoped to be invited again -- and I was. And it was everything I looked forward to, and more!

I'm not sure why the check-in process is still snooty, but you know what, it just adds to the museum charm. Once the 6:30 p.m. arrivals were herded into the screening room, the housekeeping began. Matt Miller, president and CEO of the AICP was dapper in his cream tux jacket and big fat red boutonnière as he thanked sponsors, members, and the industry itself. "We think about the future so much...and some times we forget the past," he said as he introduced the Jay Eisenstat Award, created to honor people who shaped the past -- which in turn creates the present. The award was accepted by Frank Steifel, who infused his acceptance speech with sarcasm and an obvious love of the business and the roles he has played and is playing in it.

Stiefel is a man sharing my thought process, reminding the audience that they have the best jobs in the industry. "We are sitting in the auditorium of MoMA," he noted, his emphasis affirming my feeling of being lucky to cover such an incredible event, "We celebrate in this place, where the rest of the industry celebrates at The Hilton...you're having a better time than anyone with a straight job." Preach on!

After the reel rolled of the latest AICP winners (which are now part of an installation at MoMA), the crowd poured out of the auditorium, itching to attack the sculpture garden and soak in the open bar and delicious passed food. The weather played nice and the MoMA sculpture garden was painted with a pale blue brush as the sun ran away from Manhattan. I got to work immediately, shooting Ravi Krishnaswami, the music and sound producer for the Next Awards and dude behind stopbabiesandpuppies.com/ and Richard Hammond, a bass-playing musician who has worked with artists like Joan Osborne.

I also met Brian Carmody, executive producer at Smuggler. He was about to walk into a shot I set up while trying to sneak a cig with Cristine Jackson, who used to be in the biz but didn't divulge what she's up to now. I left them and ran into AgencySpy's Kirin Aditham. We talked about Matt Van Hoven and rumors of his career transformation. I met Danny Rosenbloom of Brand New School, part of the team who put together the kick-ass stop-motion sponsor-thanking reel. If you have to sit through credits, that's the way to do it. I could have watched that style of filming for two hours.

The sculpture garden quickly turned into a symphony of breaking glass, slurring schmoozing, flagrant flirting, busted smokers, and the delicate ribbon of pot. I looked across the garden and it was a sea of heads -- as if every pink car from the game of Life unloaded into one location. Food was scarce, instantly plucked up by pickled guests as they sloshed their tumblers of dark liquid courage.

Under a sweeping tree, I discovered Nina Davenport, executive producer at Uproar; David Cornman, partner at Crew Cuts; Andy Witkowski, online editor at Crew Cuts; and Anthony Vagnoni of SourceECreative, who exclaimed "you were with that weasely guy with the moustache!" upon realizing where we knew each other from. The "weasely guy"? His pet name for AgencySpy's Matt Van Hoven. Don't worry Matt, I defended your honor. I let him know the moustache is gone.

Hanging out by the back bar (one of at least 5 huge bars I saw) was Jack Strachan ,a director rep for Crossroad Films. He was scoping out the scene with Buongiovianni, an interactive rep at Big Wheels. Behind those two I found John Budion (pronounced together like "jonbuhdon") a director at Humble and Justin Matley, an audio engineer.

Near the back bar, avoiding yet another broken glass, I found Allie Wasserstein, producer at KBSP; Shelby Sexton of Wild Plum, a production company; Sandy Haddad, also of Wild Plum; Amy Zale of Spontaneous Design; Liz Mason of Run Outpost Digital; Tyler Neely of Radical Media; and Brooke Kaylor of KBSP.

I loved being outside so much I completely forgot to scoot indoors and see what kind of damage was going on in there. Perhaps because there was more space to move around, the inside was amped up to 11. It was like the Players Ball in there with lower-back touching and long, sloppy hugs running amok.

I skittered upstairs to breathe and found a bunch of people from Made in NY! We talked tattoos and gratitude. The Management at Made in NY should be proud to know that their crew is not taking for granted the opportunities that their jobs are giving them. We were all impressed with the awards from the night before. The group included Monique "G" Garnett, Production Assistant/Stylist; Eusebio "Anthony" Cabrera, Production Assistant; Edgar Velez, Production Assistant; and Jared Dancier, Production Assistant and budding photographer.

I met so many creative people last night I could fill three pages with names, and I don't think either of us wants to read that. If I can remember who everyone is based on my cryptic notes, I'll try to tag everyone appropriately in the Flickr set because they all deserve a little recognition.

Photos are up on Flickr, with tons more coming!

Oh, right, and you can find the kick-ass AICP Winners online!